(Release contributed by CERF) Nearly 1,500 estuarine scientists, managers, students, and professionals from academia, government, nonprofit, and related organizations will gather on November 3-7 at the Mobile Convention Center in Mobile, Alabama for the 25th Biennial Conference of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF). The CERF 2019 theme of “Responsive | Relevant | Ready” provides an exciting opportunity to connect science and society in the collective goals of preserving coastal and estuarine habitats, resources, and heritage.
Dr. Jack Davis, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea, will open the conference with a keynote presentation on Sunday, November 3. Plenary sessions will cover environmental decision making and coastal science outreach. There will be more than 1,000 additional presentations encompassing a wide range of coastal and estuarine science topics, including science on the Gulf of Mexico dead zone, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, adaptation to sea-level rise, ocean acidification, hurricane impacts, connections between fishery health and ecosystem health, marine debris, and new methods and technologies for scientific discovery.
“CERF is returning to the central Gulf Coast for the first time in nearly 20 years,” said Leila Hamdan, conference co-chair, from the School of Ocean Science and Engineering at The University of Southern Mississippi. “During that time, the ecosystems and communities that benefit from and inform our work have experienced tremendous environmental challenges that require solution-driven scientific research. This conference will seek those solutions and bridge discoveries across natural and social science disciplines. Our goal is that every attendee leaves CERF 2019 with fresh perspectives on the challenges facing science and society everywhere and new approaches to solve them.”
David Yoskowitz, of the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, and a conference co-chair, shared that, “This biennial conference is one of the few opportunities that those working in coastal and marine management and science have to come together and learn from each other. It is also extremely welcoming to first-timers, graduate students, and interested members of our host communities. I attended my first CERF conference twelve years ago and I’m as big a fan today as I was then because of everything I get out of it.”
Anyone interested in registering to attend CERF 2019 or to learn more about the scientific program should visit www.cerf.science/CERF-2019. Members of the media interested in attending the event should contact Susan Park at spark@cerf.science or 804-381-6658.
About CERF
The Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation (CERF) is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to advancing the understanding and wise stewardship of estuarine and coastal ecosystems worldwide. Members of the Federation include students, researchers, resource managers, policymakers, and educators representing academic and research institutions, government, industry and consulting, and non-governmental organizations. The CERF Biennial Conference is recognized as the premier conference on the science and management of coastal and estuarine systems and resources. Learn more about CERF at www.cerf.science.