People - Faculty
Jim Fourqurean is a marine and estuarine ecologist with a special interest in benthic plant communities, food webs, and nutrient biogeochemistry. He developed a love of seagrass ecosystems while doing his dissertation research in Florida Bay. He has specialized in the application of elemental and stable isotopic composition of organisms as indicators of ecosystem processes. He is an expert in carbon storage and fluxes in coastal ecosystems, and the importance of these ecosystems to climate regulation and mitigation. He has current research interests the Florida Keys, the Gulf of Mexico, in Mexico, Panama and Bermuda, the western Mediterranean and Australia. CV
Tom Frankovich -CV
Technical Staff
Sara Wilson - I began studying marine science and seagrass ecosystems while earning my B.S. in Biology from the University of South Florida. I earned my M.S. in Marine Science from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute. My thesis used monitoring data to examine spatial and temporal patterns in seagrass percent cover, species composition and nutrient assimilation for seagrasses along the Texas coast as part of the Texas Statewide Seagrass Monitoring Program. I am interested in working with adaptive seagrass monitoring programs that are capable of detecting trends in seagrass condition across various scales, and that use monitoring results to further seagrass research, conservation and restoration efforts. As the Lab Manager of SERL, I help coordinate lab and field work as well as oversee day-to-day operations in the lab.
Susie P. Escorcia
Students
Jason Howard is interested in how ecological and environmental conditions shape net CO2 production and carbon storage in coastal ecosystems. Jason likes science communication, ecosystem ecology, the carbon cycle, and bicycles. website
Christian Lopes, MSc student - My research interests include multidisciplinary studies of seagrass and coral reef communities, encompassing genetics, ecology, chemistry and biology. I have a particular interest in Nutrient Dynamics across altering seagrass and coral reef biotopes, and how it affects the community structure. As a Miami native raised by Cubans I have lived a life on the water. I was fishing when I could hold a rod, swimming before I could run, and diving ever since. Now I am blessed to be in this lab and collaborate with others to understand the world I am comfortable as I find my realized NICHE.
Sonja Smith studies subsidy ecology and nutrient flux on sandy shorelines.
Undergraduates
David Barahona
Kai Lopez