The Southeast Environmental Research Center (SERC) promotes, coordinates and conducts environmental research in the southeastern United States and the Caribbean, with special emphasis on issues related to the Everglades, Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay, Big Cypress, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and other freshwater and coastal areas. Additionally, SERC provides an organizational structure for regional environmental initiatives and coordination of interdisciplinary environmental investigations in the region.

Interdisciplinary research activities are performed in combined field and laboratory efforts, mainly (but not exclusively) in the aquatic environments of South Florida and the Caribbean region, and are supported by state-of-the-art SERC laboratory facilities housed at the FIU University Park Campus. These facilities include specialized laboratories for nutrient, mercury and trace organics analyses, soil microbiology, ecotoxicology, and hydrogeology, a stable isotope facility, and several labs equipped for general biogeochemistry and environmental geochemistry work. In addition, logistical support for field-related work is supplied by a fleet of SERC vehicles and research vessels.

SERC presently has more than $6 million in research support, awarded for both fundamental and applied research. Among the major contributors and funding agencies are: the National Science Foundation, US. Environmental Protection Agency, South Florida Water Management District, Department of the Interior - National Park Service, Department of Energy, Army Corps of Engineers, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, and Florida Department of Environmental Protection. SERC research activities are focused broadly on the ecology and biogeochemistry of fresh water and marine environments. Established research programs under SERC include: Florida Coastal Everglades LTER http://fcelter.fiu.edu/, Water Quality - Nutrient Lab http://serc.fiu.edu/wqmnetwork/, Seagrass Lab http://www.fiu.edu/~seagrass/, Terrestrial Ecosystems Lab http://www.fiu.edu/~serp1/eco/index.htm, Wetlands Ecosystem Lab http://www.fiu.edu/~ecosyst/, Stable Isotope Lab http://www.fiu.edu/~sil/, Periphyton Research Lab http://serc.fiu.edu/periphyton/, Ecotoxicology Lab http://serc.fiu.edu/fiuwww/ecotox.htm, Environmental Analysis Research lab http://earl.fiu.edu, and Microbial Ecology Lab http://serc.fiu.edu/microbe/

SERC has 16 faculty with diverse interests and expertise; 10 of those are on halftime assignment in four Departments at FIU: Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, and Environmental Studies.