Tropical islands have an important ally when it comes to battling storms and sea-level rise: seagrass. During hurricane Irma, an extremely powerful Category 5 storm that hit the North Caribbean in 2017, NIOZ scientist Rebecca James witnessed how native seagrass meadows along the coast of Sint Maarten held their ground, reduced coastal erosion and lowered the chances of flooding. In the years of research during her Ph.D., she saw the pressures on this natural storm protection increasing. In her dissertation, The future of seagrass ecosystem services in a changing world, James warns that further loss of these green meadows will leave tropical islands vulnerable and will exacerbate the negative effects of climate change