CERF 2009: Change Is in the Air

Bob Emmett, CERF 2009 Scientific Program Co-Chair,

Robert.Emmett@noaa.gov

Walt Nelson, CERF 2009 Scientific Program Co-Chair, Posters,

Nelson.Walt@epa.gov  

CERF 2009 Science Program Update

The Scientific Program Committee wants to thank everyone who proposed, and will chair, a session for CERF 2009. We were amazed at the eagerness of individuals to take on this responsibility. Our members’ enthusiasm and their dedication to our Federation meetings is what will make the scientific program exciting, relevant, and diverse. We especially want to encourage students to submit abstracts to give oral and poster presentations, and to get involved with CERF 2009 as much as possible. Detailed information on the major topics and proposed sessions and workshops is provided in this newsletter. What follows is a short summary of what we hope will be highlights of the CERF 2009 Science Program.  

Workshops

The Workshops Committee has put together an exciting way for you to spend Sunday afternoon before the Conference. Be sure to check out the list of hot topics, ranging from “The Future of Applied Environmental Research” to a “Short Tutorial on Scientific Writing and Publishing.” The Workshops are a must-do for CERF 2009. Workshops run from 1:30 to 5:00p on Sunday, so plan your schedule accordingly. These workshops have been especially valuable for students and early career scientists and part of the continuing education component that CERF offers its members.  

Plenary Speaker

We arranged to have Jane Lubchenco, an outstanding, thought-provoking speaker for the Sunday evening Keynote Address. However, as we all know, we now have a new Administration. Dr. Lubchenco has had the honor of being invited by President Obama to join his administration. Nevertheless, we are still hoping that she will be able to take time to address us at CERF 2009. It is clear from President Obama’s recent appointments that science will play an important and vital role in the new administration. We invited Dr. Lubchenco to speak about how scientists can participate in integrating scientific knowledge into federal, state, and local administrative policies and management decisions.  

Scientific Program

The Scientific Program runs from Monday morning to Thursday afternoon, with oral presentations limited to 15 minutes. In addition, we will have two Chautauqua sessions, for which we have invited speakers to present and synthesize research findings and to identify future research direction for topics that will affect all of us is one way or another (climate, ocean acidification, etc.). We are indebted to all the individuals who have agreed to chair scientific sessions. As we receive abstract submissions, we expect that we may have to add additional sessions (chairs) for ‘emergent sessions’ that become identified during the abstract submittal process. We would like to encourage senior scientists (you know who you are) to consider presenting a poster instead of an oral presentation. This would enhance our poster sessions and also ensure that we have a strong mixture of student, young scientist, and senior scientist presentations in both oral and poster sessions.  

Chautauqua Sessions for Synthesis and Integration

We are reserving time on Tuesday afternoon and Thursday morning for three concurrent Chautauquas. The name Chautauqua comes from an adult education movement in the United States in the late 19th and 20th centuries. We consider these Chautauqua sessions to be an opportunity for the membership to learn and discuss how we can incorporate new knowledge on a variety of subjects into our research projects, and to provide a convenient venue to bring us all up to speed on current thinking.  

Posters

We will have a large, excellent poster space at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR. There will be a twohour combined lunch/poster session from 12-2 PM, a short poster break in the afternoon, and a Happy Hour/Poster session at the end of each day. We expect posters to be up for at least 24 hours. This provides lots of opportunities for poster presentations to be viewed and discussed. We will work hard to integrate oral and poster sessions. We suspect that many oral sessions will also have coordinated poster sessions, so that individuals should be able to fully immerse themselves in a subject. In addition to the standard poster format, we are also investigating interactive and demonstration formats. We welcome suggestions from CERF members on new ideas for the poster presentations. We are pleased that you are putting CERF 2009 on your 2009 Calendar. CERF 2009 is shaping up to be an excellent scientific conference that will not only provide you with an opportunity to present your research information, but also will provide the opportunity to learn, discuss, and initiate new collaborations with others.