AERS News

As the dates for the AERS Spring 2006 Meeting draw closer (March 9- 11), we look forward to seeing our members and guests in Philadelphia. Our host institution and co-sponsor, the Academy of Natural Sciences, promises to be a fantastic venue for the meeting. Dave Yozzo and Dave Osgood visited the Academy in August 2005, and toured the current exhibits and museum facilities. They observed an extensive collection of plants, fossils, and every possible type of animal specimen that could be stuffed into a jar of formaldehyde, including a hellbender (a salamander the size of a small dog), bats, and monkeys. They also met Dr. Ruth Patrick, the distinguished limnologist and Senior Curator at the Academy. She founded the Academy's Limnology Department, now the Patrick Center for Environmental Research, in 1947.

Our Program Chair, Dave Gillett, is busy assembling the agenda of contributed talks and poster presentations. As always, an impressive and diverse array of estuarine and coastal topics will be represented. Joel Hoffman is at the helm of the AERS web site, and constantly updating the Meeting page with new resources and helpful links. Many of our familiar member institutions are well-represented among the abstract submissions and there will be some new faces present, as well. We have an expert team of panelists, led by Jonathan Sharp, University of Delaware, to inform us about the environmental condition of Delaware Bay, and plans for future improvements. Ken Hayes, President of Aqua-Survey, Inc., will be on hand to entertain us at the Friday evening banquet with tales and slides of his recent underwater archaeological expeditions in Egypt. At the conclusion of the meeting, on Saturday afternoon, a field trip will be conducted at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum Marsh, a tidal freshwater wetland located close to the city's urban core.

Although we are busy with the final preparations for Philadelphia, we have already started to plan our Fall 2006 Meeting,, which will be held at the Community College of Baltimore County, Dundalk, MD. AERS Board member David O'Neil will be our local host. The latest AERS news, gossip, and information on the Spring and Fall 2006 AERS meetings can be found at www.aers.info.