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We dedicate this special issue to the memory of Dr. Evamaria Koch, a renowned seagrass ecologist, who passed away in 2014. Eva was a lead principal investigator on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administraion Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research Shorelines project (https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/project/influence-shoreline-changes-chesapeake-delmarva-bay-ecosystems/), which supported the majority of the research in the issue.

Eva’s scientific career began at the Universidade de Rio Grande, Brazil, where she graduated with a B.S. in Oceanography. She then attended the University of South Florida earning a M.S. in Biology and Ph.D. in Marine Science. After conducting postdoctoral studies at the University of Connecticut, she went on to become an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory, where she worked for nearly 20 years.

Throughout her career, Dr. Koch’s research led to important advances in seagrass ecology, especially to our understanding of seagrass-sediment interactions. She authored or contributed to more than 60 publications, served as major advisor to more than a dozen graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, and was a research mentor to undergraduate students. In addition to serving on several scientific committees and workgroups in the Chesapeake Bay region, she was also a founding member of the World Seagrass Association.

Eva’s enthusiasm for seagrasses and research, in general, was evident to all who worked with her. She loved scuba diving through seagrass meadows and was committed to contributing to seagrass restoration efforts locally and throughout the world. She is greatly missed.