A professor's quest for tenure has created a publish or perish mentality that universities perpetuate, stifling research that could impact our communities. Dr. Michael Burns talks about a program called CoSearch, which solves community problems through interdisciplinary research, while still supporting the tenure clock. Through unlikely collaborations, professors can use their research to change the world and help our communities. Dr. Burns is an award-winning Senior Lecturer in the Department of Communication Studies and the Honors College at Texas State University. Dr. Burns' professional experiences outside of academia include working for NBC’s Today Show at the 2006 Torino, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx