Andrea M. Price,^1,*,** Melissa M. Baustian,^2,*** R. Eugene Turner,^3,**** Nancy N. Rabalais,^4,***** Gail L. Chmura<sup>1,******

1</sup>aDepartment of Geography, McGill University, 805 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, QC Canada;
²bThe Water Institute of the Gulf, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA;
³cDepartment of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
⁴dLouisiana Universities Marine Consortium, Chauvin, Louisiana, USA

^*CONTACT Andrea M. Price andrea.price@mail.mcgill.ca
^**Andrea M. Price is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. She received her BSc and MSc degrees from the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Andrea's research interests include eutrophication, palaeooceanography and Quaternary palaeoenvironments. Her current research focusses on using dinoflagellate cysts as indicators of water quality in North American coastal waters.
^***Melissa M. Baustian is a coastal ecologist at the Water Institute of the Gulf in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. She was awarded her bachelor's in biology at Iowa State University, and earned a masters and a PhD from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Melissa has over 10 years of experience in researching the ecological responses of aquatic systems to eutrophication, hypoxia and nutrient enrichment. Her research interests include examining the essential role of benthos in food webs and ecosystem processes, and how they influence benthic and pelagic habitats as well as benthic-pelagic coupling. In particular, Melissa is interested in how benthic organisms and habitats are responding to environmental drivers from climate change, coastal restoration and nutrient enrichment.
^****R. Eugene Turner is a faculty member at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. He received his PhD from the University of Georgia, and his research interests include coastal oceanography and wetland environments.
^*****Nancy N. Rabalais graduated from the University of Texas in 1983 with a PhD in zoology. She is now a Professor at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, and a Distinguished Research Professor with the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. Nancy's research interests include animal-sediment relationships, eutrophication, hypoxia, land/ocean interactions, ocean acidification and science policy, and she holds numerous fellowships.
^******Gail L. Chmura became a Professor in the Department of Geography at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada after receiving her PhD from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. Her research is focussed on estuarine waters and tidal marshes. Gail develops and applies palynological techniques to detect human impacts on these coastal systems.