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Scientific Program Taking Shape for ERF 2003

Andrea Copping
ERF 2003 Conference Chair
acopping@u.washington.edu

With the June 30 deadline for special session proposals passed, the conference scientific program committee members has compiled proposals for a broad range of session topics. The ERF 2003 program committee will use these topics and suggestions for innovative scientific activities to build a solid conference program for the Seattle conference. We hope this program will be the basis for the biggest and the best ERF conference ever. Thank you to everyone who submitted a proposal.

Ideas that have been proposed so far include:

· the work of physical oceanographic community in estuaries and coasts;
· comparative approaches to estuarine research topics at the North American and international scales;
· mixing estuarine science with the needs of natural resource managers;
· river/estuary/ocean interactions;
· evaluation of the success of habitat restoration;
· trophic dynamics in estuaries and coastal waters; and
· workshops on education

The hallmark of ERF conferences is its range of estuarine and coastal topics. The program for ERF 2003 will be no exception. Seagrasses, eutrophication, water quality and water quantity, remote sensing of estuaries and coasts, fisheries and habitat interactions, managing toxic substances in estuaries, and aquatic nuisance species are all topics we expect will be represented at the 2003 conference in Seattle. We also expect to have a limited number of sessions that are more specific to work in Pacific Rim estuaries - a special feature of this west coast meeting.

Over the summer the ERF 2003 Program Committee will evaluate the many excellent proposals for oral and interactive poster sessions and workshops. Watch the ERF 2003 website for updates (http://fish.washington.edu/news/erf/). Developments in the conference scientific program and articles highlighting west coast estuaries will be reported in the next ERF newsletter and on the ERF website (http://erf.org).

Budgeting for a West Coast Conference

The majority of ERF members live and work east of the Mississippi River, and may be more likely to attend a conference on the East or Gulf coasts than to travel to the Pacific Coast. A lot of this reluctance seems to stem from the idea that travel to the west coast is very long (it isn't really!) and very expensive.

Although we cannot foresee what airfares will cost in mid 2003, it has been possible over the past year to find fares between the east and west coasts in the range of $200-300, with $400 fares almost always available between large east-west hubs.

When considering travel for working scientists and students we all worry about the cost of staying at a conference. The ERF 2003 Committee is dedicated to keeping accommodation costs moderate. We will provide the majority of our hotel room rates at or below the U.S. government approved per diem rate for Seattle. We will further provide low-cost housing options for students and for participants from currency-limited countries.

More information about the specifics of travel to Seattle will be available on the ERF web site. We are working hard to make your trip to Seattle easy and rewarding. Please stay tuned.