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 370 publications and reports. Eric is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Institution of Engineers Australia (ret.), and l’Acade´mie Royale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer. He was awarded an Australian Centenary medal, a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the Catholic University of Louvain and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association. Eric is an editor-in-chief of Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Wetlands Ecology and Management, and the Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science.Eric is a member of the editorial board of Journal of Coastal Research, Journal of Marine Systems, Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology, and Continental Shelf Research. He is a member of the Scientific and Policy Committee of the Japan-based International Center for Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas, a Visiting Professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a member of the College of Experts of the Australian Research Council.