Teaching, student mentoring, and research were continued in southeastern Florida for several years after my formal retirement from the University of Miami in May 2016. Teaching ranged from academically advanced high school students in the Summer Scholars program (University of Miami) to a graduate level course in Coral Reef Ecology (Nova Southeastern University). Mentoring upper undergraduate students who desired an opportunity to engage in research was also enjoyable and a privilege. The occurrence of benthic ctenophore populations in Miami waters (two species), an under-studied taxon, provided an opportunity to add to our knowledge of these enigmatic invertebrates. The discovery of an exotic brittle star and its negative effects on ctenophores signal an invasive species status. A Florida Keys study demonstrated that forces from storm-generated breaking waves can generate giant, > 1 m diameter, mobile spherical coral colonies (coralliths). A study in Peru found that Late Pleistocene (~ 13,300 cal BP) Pocillopora fragments at the pre-historic Huaca Prieta settlement are likely a result of human transport and not indicative of an established local population. Recent studies have demonstrated significant long-term changes in coral communities in the Galápagos Islands (since 1975–76), and in a high intertidal community on the Central California coast (since 1959–61).