A view from the South: Conclusions on the CERF Inaugural Conference of the Americas.

PAULINA MARTINETTO; OSCAR IRIBARNE

San Diego

Conferencia; CERF 2013: Toward Resilient Coasts & Estuaries, Science for Sustainable Solutions; 2013

Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation

Last November 2012 CERF celebrated its first conference outside the US in Mar del Plata, Argentina under the title ?The Changing Coastal and Estuarine Environment: A Comparative Approach.? The conference provided a unique formal opportunity for true interaction among scientists from the southern and northern hemispheres to synthesize understanding within this context. The conference was geographically broad including scientists from 16 countries. Among the attendants, 57% were from South America, 37% from North America, and 6% from other continents (Europe, Asia, Australia). The participation of students was high reaching a total of 44% among the attendants. Fifty percent of the presentations from North America were within the ?Land-sea coupling in rapidly changing environment? session while those from South America were more numerous in the ?Fishery Exploitation? session and as posters in the ?Biological interactions? session. We will discuss potential causes (e.g. differential importance of sea level rise, UV effects, anthropogenic nutrient input) of the difference in the themes being addressed from scientist working in the south with those from the north. As post-conference results we highlight: 1) a special issue in Estuaries and Coasts including reviews and articles by authors from North and South America, 2) a session in the San Diego conference dedicated to South and Central American estuaries and coasts, and 3) the formation of a social media group to promote connections among students from the Americas that is currently in use and very helpful to promote CERF?s news. These results highlight the importance of developing international meetings to fortalice links among scientists. Both keynote speakers in the Mar del Plata conference highlighted the importance to work interdisciplinary and within a global change context, for this reason we celebrate CERF initiative and we encourage CERF to keep doing this kind of international conference in the future.