Iris E. Hendriks (PhD) defended her thesis on settlement of bivalve larvae in 2004 at the University of Groningen (the Netherlands). She then moved to Spain, where after several years working as a post-doc (JAE-DOC, Juan de la Cierva, Ramon y Cajal) is now a permanent researcher working for the Spanish Research Council (CSIC) at IMEDEA (Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies), Mallorca. The main focus of her research is on marine macrophyte habitats, in particular seagrass meadows, through their interaction with hydrodynamics; evaluating particle retention and wave attenuation as well as fragmentation and habitat connectivity on bigger scales. She also examines the chemical ecosystem-engineering role of vegetation through modification of the carbonate system by primary production and possible facilitation of calcification for associated fauna under future scenarios of ocean acidification. Since 2018 she is leading a monitoring series in the Balearic Islands measuring coastal pH and Green House Gases (GHGs), and evaluates how much of the observed variation is caused by marine vegetation. She is interested in the carbon drawdown behind the pH signal and subsequent burial by coastal vegetation. In combination with wave attenuation and protection against sediment resuspension, these are important ecosystem functions for climate change mitigation and adaptation.