Information on the proposal to add the word "Coastal" to the Federation's name, to become the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation

Background

In 2003, the Governing Board added regular strategic planning work to its meeting agendas. From these sessions our understanding of the Federation's place in the constellation of scientific societies grew. Based on analysis of data collected and analyzed in 2004, the Board voted to change the name of our journal from Estuaries to Estuaries and Coasts and to recommend that the society's name be extended to the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation. These decisions reflected Board members' belief that a new name and new journal title would more accurately describe our mission, our membership, and the contents of our programs.

The journal's name may be changed by vote of the Governing Board. The journal's new name, Estuaries and Coasts, became effective in 2006 and has received a very positive response.

Since the society's name is in the Constitution, a vote of the members is required to enable a change. We had other constitutional issues that needed updating, so we waited to bring all these related decisions to the members when those changes were ready. Please see the other side of this page for more discussion of the constitutional issues.

Why include "Coasts" in the journal's and the Federation's names?

Coasts and estuaries of the world are the Federation's focus. The main reason to change the name is so it will be more inclusive and more representative of who we are and what we do.

Increasing the awareness of our mission and the recognition of our members' work in all types of coastal systems are the major goals. Our members' work, our conferences and our journal all include coastal as well as estuarine research science and management. The Board members believe that adding the word "coastal" to the society's name will identify the true scope of our interests to ALL people who may be interested in participating in the Federation's activities.

Impetus for the Federation's proposed name

Our publications and biennial conference topics cover wide geographic and disciplinary boundaries. Yet, many scientists, educators, and coastal decision-makers remain unaware of the full scope of coastal science that the Federation offers.

In 2003, the membership voted to add a position to the Governing Board for a non-US member-at-large. This new member clarified how non-members and international colleagues see the Federation and the journal. The Board came to understand that outside the United States the word "estuaries" is widely understood as referring to a rather limited subset of coastal ecosystems.

The Federation will become stronger by reaching out to colleagues around the globe whose interests align with ours. Federation members have much to gain from interactions with international scientists. We hope that a society name change will attract more international researchers, educators and coastal decision-makers to our conferences, publications, and membership.

We understand that some resistance to change is normal and that many members have great affection for "ERF" as we presently know it. That is why we have kept the name change small. We propose a refinement and clarification that will make clear that all types of estuarine and coastal science and scientists are welcome.

The name Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation has been unanimously endorsed by the current and former Governing Board and by all of the Federation's past presidents. It has been presented to members at a town hall meeting in Norfolk and at Affiliate Society meetings.

We trust and hope that members will support the leadership's goal of having our name clearly reflect the full scope of our mission to all who encounter it. We are excited about the opportunity to improve the way our society identifies itself to the world. We believe that the time is right to upgrade the Federation’s good name to more accurately reflect its important mission.