Our Conference Theme

CERF at 50: Celebrating Our Past, Charting Our Future

The theme of the 26th Biennial CERF Conference is "CERF at 50: Celebrating Our Past, Charting Our Future." The 2021 conference will be a momentous occasion in CERF’s history, as it will be our 50th anniversary meeting. 

As CERF turns golden, we have a unique opportunity to reflect on our rich history as a society, the past 50 years of estuarine and coastal research, and successes in translating that science into effective management, education, and outreach. More importantly, 2021 offers us the opportunity to pivot from that history by looking ahead to the next 50 years of coastal science and management, identifying the grand challenges we face in the coming decades, and looking for solutions to address them.

Burton Shore Painting by Alice McEnerney-Cook used for CERF 2021 theme

Burton Shore
Oil on Linen, (12in x 20in)
2012

Meet the Artist: Alice McEnerney-Cook, MED, MFA

The first conference of the Estuarine Research Federation was held in 1971 on Long Island, New York. Although this year's conference will be held virtually, we still consider Richmond, VA to be to be the host city for CERF 2021. This year’s conference art by Alice McEnerney Cook depicts a salt marsh in the coastal bays of the Virginia Eastern Shore, a scene common to the Mid-Atlantic coast. Richmond itself is located on the fall line where the James River flows from piedmont to coastal plain, becoming tidal and joining the Chesapeake Bay. Richmond’s location in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the rich history of the region, the pressing local challenges imposed by a changing climate, and its location not far down the coast from the original ERF meeting, make it an ideal location for celebrating our golden anniversary and looking ahead to the future.