Seagrasses are submerged flowering plants with deep roots that are found in meadows along the shore of every continent except Antarctica. Although they get little attention, seagrasses are a vital part of the marine ecosystem - per hectare, seagrasses can store up to twice as much carbon than terrestrial forests. Sadly, they are among the world’s most threatened ecosystems, with annual global loss of around 1.5%. We discuss this marine powerhouse with Dr Jillian Ooi, a teaching and research academic at the Department of Geography at the University of Malaya, who is also part of Team Sea Habitats, which studies the functional role of seagrass meadows and coral reefs in the South China Sea.