AERS
NEERS
SEERS
GERS
PERS

The Best is Yet to Come
Report from the President

Dennis M. Allen
ERF President
dallen@belle.baruch.sc.edu

The Federation accomplished remarkable things in its first 30 years, and there is every indication that the best is yet to come. We are proud that our membership continues to grow, our finances are sound, our journal is flourishing, and our Governing Board is motivated to advance the quality and relevance of our organization.
In April, two meaningful events took place at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory. With the leadership of Don Boesch and Anne Giblin, ERF hosted a National Science Foundation-sponsored biocomplexity workshop focused on effects of global climate change and variability on estuaries and coastal systems. More than 40 attendees representing many disciplines contributed to discussions that are leading to the development of recommendations for future research.

Federation Welcomes California Affiliate
Following that workshop, the Governing Board held its semi-annual meeting to conduct the Federation's business and break new ground on several issues. The Board's deliberations began with an orientation session to familiarize new members with the workings of the organization and their responsibilities.
In addition to welcoming newly elected Affiliate Society Presidents (see page 2), we welcomed Sylvie St-Jean representing the Gulf of St. Lawrence Estuarine Research Society (GSLERS) to their first Board Meeting. GSLERS is the first affiliate society that is not principally based in the United States-the majority of its members live and work in eastern Canada. GSLERS' status as ERF's newest affiliate society was short-lived, because the Board unanimously approved the request from the California Estuarine Research Society (CAERS) to become the seventh regional society to join the Federation.

The addition of two new regional affiliate societies increases our understanding of geographic variations in estuarine research and issues and provides a stronger basis from which the Federation can pursue its goals. At the same time, the growth of the Governing Board membership has prompted us to reevaluate our governance structure.

President-elect Linda Schaffner presented a summary of alternative Board structures and stimulated discussion about how we can maintain a relatively small board and ensure full representation by the affiliate societies. Discussions will continue at the fall Board Meeting in October. In the meantime, Board members are evaluating the pros and cons of alternative structures and encouraging all Affiliate Society members to become ERF members as well.

Communicating Research to Management
Another topic was ERF's role in communicating the results of our research to the management community. One of our organization's missions is "to be available as a source of advice in matters concerning estuaries and the coastal zone." Though we can cite many examples of how ERF and its members have played important roles in advancing this mission over the years, the current Board is seeking to elevate our activity in this area. Members at Large Holly Greening and Peter Doering developed presentations and discussion points that kept the Board in a vigorous late-evening discussion about different mechanisms to disseminate scientific knowledge to the many levels of coastal decision makers.

Ideas for future projects included working with a professional science writer to translate papers from Estuaries for nontechnical audiences, developing specific programs for managers within our conferences, and partnering with other organizations to provide this information.

Although the Board will continue to develop and implement strategies for strengthening the science to management link, it is important that we have input from ERF members in this regard. The coastal management community wants to understand the results of the research we perform, and your interactions with decision makers can result in better decisions for estuarine resources and systems.

Recommendations for US Commission on Ocean Policy
Many ERF members have been involved with the information gathering process being conducted by the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy (USCOP). The Commission is charged to undertake a study of U.S. ocean and coastal programs. USCOP will make recommendations for a coordinated and comprehensive national policy on a broad range of environmental and economic issues.

ERF and many other organizations have been developing and delivering statements at the USCOP's regional meetings. At the South Carolina meeting in January, I presented three recommendations on behalf of ERF. They were to encourage:

· a broad- or ecosystem-based approach to setting policy for coastal systems,
· an expansion of both the scope and completion of scientific information bases and enabling infrastructure, and
· improved access to and use of existing scientific information for decision making.

The Governing Board is currently developing a statement for the Commission that addresses specific estuarine and coastal ocean issues and possible actions. That statement will be posted on the Federation's web site.

The USCOP process has resulted in increased interactions among a broad array of organizations involved with estuaries. ERF is working with the American Fisheries Society to reinforce each other's statements to the Commission. We welcome your thoughts and recommendations regarding the coastal and estuarine research community's contributions to this important process.

Significant progress has occurred in other areas, including journal development, international collaborations, programs supporting student education, the scientific Award programs, and conference planning. We are already discussing locations for the 2007 conference. Any volunteers? Special recognition goes to Joy and all of the staff, volunteers, and Board members who work so hard to make ERF such a dynamic and respected organization. Please let us know if you would like to become more involved.