Professor
Earth and Environment
Institute of Environment
College of Arts, Sciences & Education
Stephen Leatherman is a professor in FIU’s Department of Earth and Environment, widely known as “Dr. Beach” for his annual Top 10 U.S. beach rankings, which he has issued since 1991. In recent years, sargassum has become a major factor in his beach evaluations, with Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park excluded from his 2026 Top 10 list because of excessive seaweed buildup. Leatherman has written about how sargassum blooms, once rare before 2011, now regularly inundate the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico, and Florida coastlines each summer, driving away tourists, harming fishing industries, and requiring costly cleanups. Leatherman can speak to the ecological role sargassum plays at sea; its damaging effects on beaches, sea turtles, manatees, and coral reefs; and the economic toll it takes on Florida’s coastal communities
Office: 305-348-8364
Email: leatherm@fiu.edu