Dear CERF Members,

We are all watching with great sadness the events unfolding along the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Having experienced these disasters firsthand, and living on the fringe of this event as it continues to impact coastal Louisiana today, I share your concern for all of those impacted by this disaster. We want to find ways we can reach out and assist our friends and colleagues based at the many research and academic institutions in the region. The CERF Executive Committee is monitoring the situation. We share your heartbreak for the suffering experienced by those caught in this extensive flooding, and the fear for those still awaiting help. And we know that once the waters recede and we move from rescue to assessment and recovery, we will see the full extent of the damage to the communities and ecosystems hit by this storm. Our thoughts are with all the people affected by Hurricane Harvey. 

We have received many notes from CERF members expressing concern for our friends and colleagues on the Texas and Louisiana coasts. They want to know how CERF, and our members, can help. At this time, we are reaching out to all of our members in Texas and Louisiana to let them know that we support them, and we welcome their ideas on how we can help. We have created a CERF Member Discussion Forum on our website to share resources and so that you can participate in the discussion of how we can help our colleagues impacted by this storm. In addition, we have extended the late-breaking abstract deadline for those affected by Hurricane Harvey, and will include post-Harvey discussions at CERF 2017. These are small, initial steps toward our support for those affected by the storm.

We know the priority will be safety and damage assessment in the immediate aftermath of the storm, but we will continue to follow up over the long-term as our members recover and rebuild their personal and professional lives. One of CERF’s greatest strengths is the generosity and loyalty of our members, and I have no doubt that this community will come together to help members impacted by Harvey get back on their feet, restore their lives, and restart their research, management, and education activities. And particularly those very important research and outreach activities that capture lessons learned from this historic storm and its impacts on coastal ecosystems and communities. 

If you are interested in helping CERF with these efforts, please contact Executive Director, Susan Park ([email protected]). 

Sincerely,

Robert Twilley
President, CERF
Louisiana State University