The Estuarine Research Federation is a private, nonprofit non partisan organization. The Federation was created in 1971, when the members of two older, regionally-based estuarine research societies (AERS and NEERS) decided that a national organization was needed to address estuarine and coastal issues more broadly. The regionally based Affiliate Societies now number seven and encompass all of the coastal regions that border the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Its mission is to: Promote research in estuarine and coastal ecosystems 、Support education of scientists, decision-makers and the public 、Facilitate communication among these groups.