The Scheldt Estuary

Patrick Meire studied Biology at the University of Gent where he also obtained his PhD. Before being appointed as a senior researcher at the Institute of Nature Conservation, a scientific institute of the Flemish Government, he worked during 6 months at the University of Oxford and one year at the Dutch Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research in Yerseke. In 1999 he was appointed full professor at the Department of Biology and head of the Ecosystem Management Research group. He was awarded the Price Rudy Verheyen in 2010, the life time achievement award of the Belgian section of the International Water Association (2017) and a sluice was named after him ("The Meire Sluis?) in the "Polder of Kruibeke? (2017) to honor his groundbreaking work on restoration of the Scheldt estuary ecosystem. His research is focused on the ecology of aquatic systems and how to manage these. 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 published 396 publications and reports. Eric is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Institution of Engineers Australia (ret.), and l'Academie Royale des Sciences d'Outre-Mer. He was awarded an Australian Centenary medal, a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the Catholic University of Louvain, a second Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University Hull, and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association. Eric is a member of the Scientific and Policy Committee of the Japan-based International Center for Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas. Professor Michael Elliott is the Director of the Institute of Estuarine & Coastal Studies (IECS) and Professor of Estuarine and Coastal Sciences at the University of Hull, U.K. He is a marine biologist with wide experience in teaching, research, advisory and consultancy work in estuarine and marine aspects of ecological components and communities, and the impacts of human activities, as well as policy, governance, and management of estuaries and coasts. He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and of the Society of Biology. Mike has published widely, coauthoring/coediting 15 books and contributing to over 200 scientific publications. Mike has acted as an advisor on many marine and estuarine environmental matters for academia, industry, government, and statutory bodies in Europe and elsewhere. Mike is a past-president of the international Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association (ECSA) and is also one of the four editors-in-chief of the international journal Estuarine, Coastal & Shelf Science and is on the editorial board of Marine Pollution Bulletin. He is the Sir Walter Murdoch Distinguished Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University, Australia, and also has adjunct professor and research positions at Klaipeda University (Lithuania), the University of Palermo (Italy), and the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown. In 2014, he was appointed an independent non-executive member of the UK Marine Science Coordinating Committee and member of the Science Advisory Board of Marine Scotland. In 2014, Mike was awarded the Laureate of the Honorary Winberg Medal of the Russian Hydrobiological Academic Society.