Rate My Professor James Fourqurean

James Fourqurean is a Distinguished University Professor of Biological Sciences at Florida International University, where he has been on the faculty since 1993. He serves as Associate Director of the Institute of Environment, leading the Coastlines and Oceans Division, and manages the Aquarius Reef Base Underwater Laboratory and Blue Carbon Analysis Laboratory. Fourqurean earned his B.A. in Biology and Environmental Sciences in 1983, M.S. in Environmental Sciences in 1987, and Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences in 1992 from the University of Virginia. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Tomales Bay Long-Term Ecological Research program at San Francisco State University. As director of the Fourqurean Lab for Seagrass Ecosystems Research, he specializes in marine and estuarine ecology, with emphasis on benthic plant communities, nutrient biogeochemistry, and seagrass meadows. His research addresses ecological and biogeochemical processes in coastal ecosystems, including carbon and nutrient cycling, plant-plant and plant-animal interactions, food web structures, and long-term monitoring of seagrass communities in areas such as the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Biscayne Bay.

Fourqurean has translated blue carbon science into policy as a lead scientist in the International Blue Carbon Working Group and scientific representative to its policy working group, contributing to the inclusion of coastal ecosystems in national greenhouse gas inventories. He was elected president of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation. Notable publications include "A marine heatwave drives massive losses from the world's largest seagrass carbon stocks" (Nature Climate Change, 2018), "Global Trends in Air-Water CO2 Exchange Over Seagrass Meadows Revealed by Atmospheric Eddy Covariance" (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2021), "Species Traits and Geomorphic Setting as Drivers of Global Soil Carbon Stocks in Seagrass Meadows" (Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 2022), and "Measuring and Reporting on Seagrass as an Essential Ocean Variable for Science and Management" (BioScience, 2025). His work underscores the role of seagrasses in climate change mitigation and ecosystem services.