Johanna L'Heureux, a Ph.D. candidate at Northeastern's Marine Science Center in Nahant, Massachusetts, is tracking how plants in salt marshes contribute to the carbon storage process. L'Heureux measures carbon dioxide in the plants and microbes of the marsh, which act as a buffer between the land and the ocean. If scientists can better understand the plants and microbes in the marshes, they will be better able to predict changes and be prepared for the future, she says.