My name is Dr Tom White. I am social scientist who uses qualitative and mixed methods to report on how different cultural groups and communities experience, adapt to and master significant legal, political and socio-economic change. Much of this work examines the encounter of traditional and religious groups in the Pacific Islands with global modernity, a field of study I call Pacific secularities. From researching these cross-cultural encounters in climate change adaption and university ethics courses to economic collapse, military coups and constitutional reform, I offer empirically-grounded insights for policy reform on issues of law, governance, tertiary education, health and well-being, and socio-economic development.