CERF 2025 Call for Late-Breaking Abstracts

Late-breaking abstracts are due 28 August 2025.

Submit an Abstract

The CERF 2025 Scientific Program Committee invites you to submit an abstract for an in-person poster presentation during our “late-breaking” poster submission period ending on 28 August 2025. The Federation is committed to bringing scientists and students from around the world to exchange information and ideas about the science and management of coastal ecosystems. Our conferences provide outstanding opportunities for professionals at all stages in their careers for continuing education and development.

Please consider submitting an abstract that examines new findings within CERF’s traditional scientific, education, and management disciplines and encourages interaction among coastal and estuarine scientists and environmental management professionals. Posters are an essential part of the scientific program. Our goal is to provide high-quality poster sessions that are equal to oral sessions in their ability to provide exposure, participation, and feedback.

Posters will be displayed in the exhibit hall, with poster sessions on Monday and Wednesday from 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM, to allow plenty of time for interaction. Poster presenters are expected to attend their assigned poster session (Monday or Wednesday) to meet with attendees and discuss their posters.

The theme for the CERF 2025 Conference is “Estuaries: Tradition and Transition” to encompass the history of estuarine research while understanding emerging challenges and future opportunities. Our planned program draws on the deep heritage of estuarine science in the Chesapeake Bay region, where we started and where CERF 2025 will be held, while also embracing how estuarine and coastal research, management, and education are world-wide and of more importance than ever.

Policies and Procedures for Submitting Abstracts

Abstract Submission opens on 8 August 2025. The abstract submission deadline is 28 August 2025, at 11:59 PM PDT.

The abstract submittal portal is accessed via this call when open. All abstracts must be received by the closing date noted above. Any abstracts received after the deadline may not be eligible for inclusion in the conference program.

Guidelines

Please review the following guidelines before submitting your abstract. If the guidelines are not followed, your abstract may not be accepted.  

  1. TITLE: There is a limit of 15 words for the title. The title should be entered in sentence case (i.e., only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized).

  2. SESSION: Choose the appropriate session for your poster presentation. If you cannot find a session that is suitable for your abstract submission, select “Other” as your first choice, and we will work to find or create a suitable session for you.

  3. KEYWORDS: Select up to five keywords for your submission from the drop-down menu.

  4. ABSTRACT: All abstracts must be in English, and metric units are preferred. There is a limit of 400 words for the text of your abstract.

  5. STUDENT PRESENTATION AWARDS: If you are a student, you can choose to have your poster presentation judged for the Student Presentation Awards. If so, please designate if you are a K-12, undergraduate, or graduate student. Recent graduates (i.e. within one year of graduation and without a permanent job) are eligible for awards.

  6. ABSTRACT FEE: Abstracts will not be accepted into the scientific program without payment. The CERF 2025 fee is $75 USD. Secure online payment is available at the end of the submission process. Please note that abstract fees are non-refundable. If the abstract fee presents a barrier that prevents you from submitting an abstract, please contact [email protected] to inquire about a waiver.

  7. AUTHOR INFORMATION: Enter authors in the order they should appear in the abstract. Provide institutional affiliations and contact information. There is a limit of 12 authors per abstract.

  8. RELEASE of ABSTRACT and ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF PRESENTATIONS: You must agree to upload a PDF of your poster and if desired record a short video explaining your poster by the conclusion of the conference These will not be shown during the conference but will be available via the conference archive for six months following the conference. Details on uploading presentations will be provided after abstracts are accepted. In addition, you must agree to the publication of your abstract in conference related materials and on the website where it will be publicly available.

Presentation Format

Poster Presentations
Posters will be displayed in the exhibit hall, with poster sessions on Monday and Wednesday from 4:30 PM to 7:00 PM to allow plenty of time for interaction. Poster presenters are expected to attend their assigned poster session to meet with attendees and discuss their posters. 

One Presentation Policy and Special Topic Sessions

To ensure that conference sessions contain contributions from as many people as possible, the Federation has a one presentation per person policy. This means that each participant is permitted to be the lead author or presenter on only one poster OR oral presentation. You may be a co-author on other presentations.

Presenter Confirmation/Cancellation Policy

The presenting author of accepted abstracts must confirm their participation and register for the conference by 5 September 2025. Each conference attendee can only be the presenter of one oral or poster communication, except if they have submitted a work for the Education Session. For details, please see the Conference Presenter Cancellation Policy. Thank you in advance for your submission.  

Questions/Support 

Technical questions or concerns about your submission should be directed to Tricia Fry at [email protected]. Questions or concerns related to the scientific program should be directed to the Scientific Program Committee chairs, Pedro Morais and Marcus Beck, at [email protected].