[Coral-List] ISRS membership expertise

[Nicholas Polunin]

Dear ISRS renewing members and those joining the ISRS

This year's Society renewal form from Allen Press will come with
questions about your area, level and type of work on reefs. The reason
for this is simple. As the primary world scientific body for reef
science, the ISRS is best placed to provide objective advice on
difficult, often contentious, issues concerning the understanding and
management of reefs. Impacts of bleaching, origins of coral diseases,
and future trajectories of reef degradation are but a few of these. The
feeling of the ISRS Council is that we should have an overview of
members' expertise so that when as is hoped problems are referred to us
for advice we can seek the guidance from the most appropriate people. No
one will be committed to any such task without their consent, but we are
hoping that through this ground work, we will in due course be in a
position as a Society to respond to requests for assistance when they
arise. I hope that you will help with this; I believe it is in the
interests of the Society, and the science and ultimately management of
reefs.

Nick Polunin, ISRS President 2003-06
Marine Science & Technology, Newcastle University, NE1 7RU, England
The Society www.uncwil.edu/isrs
Next ICRS www.plando.co.jp/icrs2004
The Journal http://link.springer-ny.com/link/service/journals/00338/
The Newsletter www.uncwil.edu/isrs/reef_encounter.html