Dan Baird is Senior Professor in the Department of Botany and Zoology at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Prior to this he was Chair of the Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University. He obtained his PhD from Stellenbosch in fisheries science, has published more than 100 papers, a number of book chapters, was co-editor and author of “Estuaries of South Africa (Cambridge University Press, 1999), as well as Volume Editor in the first edition of Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science. He is currently an Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier journal Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science. Professor Baird conducted research and published widely with international fellow academics and was the promotor of 40 PhD graduates. Professor Baird specializes in the fields of ecosystem theory, analysis and modelling, marine and coastal zone ecology & management, fisheries science & management, water quality of and nutrient dynamics in shallow water ecosystems. 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.

Dan Baird is Senior Professor in the Department of Botany and Zoology at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Prior to this he was Chair of the Department of Zoology, Nelson Mandela University. He obtained his PhD from Stellenbosch in fisheries science, has published more than 100 papers, a number of book chapters, was co-editor and author of “Estuaries of South Africa (Cambridge University Press, 1999), as well as Volume Editor in the first edition of Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science. He is currently an Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier journal Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science. Professor Baird conducted research and published widely with international fellow academics and was the promotor of 40 PhD graduates. Professor Baird specializes in the fields of ecosystem theory, analysis and modelling, marine and coastal zone ecology & management, fisheries science & management, water quality of and nutrient dynamics in shallow water ecosystems. 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.