Coastal Wetlands: An Integrated Ecosystem Approach

Professor Gerardo M. E. Perillo is a Senior Superior Researcher from CONICET working at the Instituto Argentino de Oceanografía (IADO) (where he was Vicedirector for 11 years). He is also Professor in the departments of Geología, and Geografía and Turismo, both from the Universidad Nacional del Sur, all in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Although his main research interest is the dynamic of sediment transport in both marine and continental environments, he works in a wide range of fields including: process-related geomorphologic evolution and physical-biological interactions in estuaries, coastal wetlands, beaches, lakes and rivers. In the last 10 years he also works in participatory activities related to stakeholder engagement. He has published or edited 15 books and special issues of journals plus over 300 publications and reports. He was awarded several prizes including the Konex Award to the trajectory. He has been Chief Editor of Latin American Journal of Sedimentology and Basin Analysis (LAJSBA), and member of the editorial board of Marine Geology, Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Sciences, Wetland Ecology and Management, and LAJSBA. He also serves in various committees regarding to the National Program for Oceanography under the Ministry of Science and Technology of Argentina

Professor Eric Wolanski is an estuarine oceanographer at James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. His research interests range from the oceanography of coral reefs, mangroves, and muddy estuaries, to the interaction between physical and biological processes determining ecosystem health in tropical waters. He has 370 publications and reports. Eric is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Institution of Engineers Australia (ret.), and l’Acade´mie Royale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer. He was awarded an Australian Centenary medal, a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the Catholic University of Louvain and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association. Eric is an editor-in-chief of Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Wetlands Ecology and Management, and the Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science.

Eric is a member of the editorial board of Journal of Coastal Research, Journal of Marine Systems, Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology, and Continental Shelf Research. He is a member of the Scientific and Policy Committee of the Japan-based International Center for Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas, a Visiting Professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a member of the College of Experts of the Australian Research Council.

Donald R. Cahoon, PhD, is a senior research ecologist with the U. S. Geological Survey at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Maryland and an internationally recognized expert in tidal wetland elevation dynamics and wetland vulnerability to climate change effects (e.g., sea-level rise and storms). He is a Fellow and Past President of the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS). Trained as a botanist and plant ecologist, he has spent the past 30 years working as a physical geographer. In 1992 he developed a field method for measuring tidal wetland accretion and elevation dynamics (the surface elevation table – marker horizon (SET-MH) method) that is used by scientists in coastal wetlands throughout the United States and in 35 countries for evaluating the critical driving forces and subsurface processes controlling elevation, and the impact of current management and restoration practices on elevation dynamics and wetland stability. His research focuses on the processes and external drivers that control wetland elevation dynamics and wetland sustainability across the broad spectrum of coastal environmental settings. He received the SWS Merit Award in 2011for his contributions to the field. He recently served on a USA National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee reviewing proposed research on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. He is an Associate Editor for the journals Wetland Ecology and Management, and Estuarine Coastal Shelf Science.

Professor Charles Hopkinson is a coastal ecosystem biogeochemist at the University of Georgia, Athens, USA. His research interests focus on carbon and nitrogen cycling of coastal systems and how the metabolism of these ecosystems at the land-sea interface are affected by climate variability, climate change and human activities in watersheds. Recently he has been examining the importance of blue carbon, organic carbon that is buried in coastal wetlands, on the global CO2 budget. While small in areal extent coastal ecosystems have the capacity to sequester almost a tenth of annual CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Yet these ecosystems are threatened by increases in sea-level rise, declining sediment inputs from watersheds of the world, and direct human activities that convert them to other land uses. Charles was the founding lead investigator of the Plum Island Ecosystems Land-Margin Ecosystem Research program and the Long-term Ecological Research programs. He was the Director of the Georgia Sea Grant College program for 7 years. While Director he established a new resilient coastal communities research and outreach initiative that garnered two prestigious awards - the National Sea Grant Superior Outreach Programming Award, from the National Sea Grant Extension network, and the University Economic Development Association Award of Excellence, from the University of Georgia. He currently serves on a USA National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee examining carbon dioxide removal and sequestration technologies. He is also on the Science and Engineering Advisory Committee for the Water Institute of the Gulf, an organization that works closely with the Louisiana Coastal Protection and Advisory Council. He has been a co-editor-in-chief of the journal, Wetlands Ecology and Management, for over a decade.