Those who have been regular attendees of ERF meetings over the years are accustomed to the general rhythm of our meetings – an exciting opening keynote, many great science sessions, some fun and special events, and, of course, opportunities to meet new colleagues while catching up with old friends. Your ERF 2007 Science Program team has been working hard to ensure that all of what you have come to expect from our meetings will be a part of the ERF 2007 conference. But Wait (as our favorite infomercial ads always implore), there are several exciting new twists that you should know about before you make your travel plans for ERF2007 in Providence.

NEW! Six Thematic Plenary Sessions: Following the synthesis sessions developed for ERF 2005, we developed a new twist that will commit two specific time slots for thematic plenaries. These will occur Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning. During each time slot we will present three concurrent sessions with no other types of sessions opposing them. Each of the three concurrent sessions will include time for questions and answers and/or panel discussion. Specific session descriptions and timing will soon be on the conference website. The topics for these interdisciplinary sessions are:

1. Marine Protected Areas & Ecosystem-Based Management
   Convener: Andy Rosenberg, University of New Hampshire
2. Coastal Integrated Ocean Observing Systems (IOOS)
   Convener: Geno Olmi, NOAA
3. Katrina and Large-Scale Natural Events
   Convener: Robert Twilley, Louisiana State University
4. Coastal Ecosystem Restoration
   Convener: Margaret Palmer, University of Maryland
5. Integrating Coastal Science & Management
   Conveners: Jerry Schubel, Long Beach Aquarium
   Margaret Davidson, NOAA
6. 2008 Gulf of Mexico Hypoxia Assessment
   Convener: Jim Sanders, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography

NEW! Sunday and Weekday Workshops: A number of exciting workshops will occur both on Sunday afternoon and on Wednesday afternoon, covering timely and important topics of interest to our community. The Wednesday workshops, titled Emerging Leaders, are focused on, but not limited to, topics that will help build the professional skills of investigators, young and old alike. Please see the Workshops page on this website for the conveners and an abstracts.

Opening Keynote Address and ERF Scientific Awards: Late Sunday afternoon, Rosina Bierbaum of the University of Michigan, formerly of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy will open ERF 2007 with the Keynote Address, focusing on the impact of climate change on our estuarine and coastal environments. ERF will also recognize the winners of the following awards: the Cronin Early Achievement Award, the Odum Lifetime Achievement Award, the William A. Niering Outstanding Educator Award and the Donald W. Pritchard Award in Estuarine Physics. The ERF 2007 President's Reception, the first of many opportunities to visit with colleagues, follows this opening session.

Science Program Sessions: At the close of abstract submission over 1,200 abstracts were received. We will be scheduling the conference's scientific program over the next month. We guarantee you four full days of terrific presentations offering the latest work in coastal and estuarine science. Sessions will include integrated oral and poster sessions, with focused time periods for posters.

Of course, there are a plethora of other exciting activities including field trips, social events and opportunities for networking during the meeting (see the ERF 2007 Conference-At-A-Glance and other articles in this website, plus browse through the ERF 2007 conference web site for more details)!

We look forward to seeing you in November!