Message from the President: Seas and Greetings

In a puzzling conundrum, we as aquatic scientists and our society are simultaneously experiencing high highs and low lows. You are all too familiar with the low lows that I have covered in previous messages from the president and do not wish to recount here in detail. We all live these daily. Let me just say that I remain committed to doing whatever I can and continue to speak out and provide support whenever possible. Our collaboration with other scientific societies continues and has strengthened ASLO. What we have learned through this adversity is that we are a resilient, engaged, and brilliant community that is dedicated to providing the science our society needs and preparing the future for the next generation. As aquatic scientists, we are stewards of water, in all its beautiful forms (Fig. 1). I see it constantly in my interactions, especially with early career scientists that may have lost their funding, jobs, or other opportunities who are yet dedicated to their science. We need to support and rebuild and I am very proud that ASLO is taking a leadership role in that effort. Within ASLO, I am amazed of all we have accomplished and continue to achieve. Despite challenges, we continue our tradition of excellent meetings. The two upcoming conferences, Ocean Sciences Meeting in February 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland and the ASLO-SIL Joint Meeting in May 2026 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada are both attracting tremendous responses from our international community. I look forward to seeing you at the meetings and please come say hello. Beyond the wonderful opportunity to interact across scientific societies, there will be lots of ASLO specific content. You have the chance to engage with members of the board, editors, and ASLO support staff. They want to meet you and hear from you, as much as I do! Thank you for all your engagement with Awards and the Fellows/Sustaining Fellows nominations. The class of 2025 ASLO Fellows and Sustaining Fellows was approved by the board and I had the pleasure to congratulate each one this past week. The ASLO Fellows Program was initiated in 2015 (Elser 2015) to recognize individuals who have given tirelessly of their time and talents to support ASLO's mission to advance the sciences of limnology and oceanography. Needless to say, ASLO could not function without the many dedicated volunteers that fulfill essential functions for our society and ensure a thriving organization on behalf of our current members and future aquatic scientists. As president of ASLO, I am truly inspired by the devotion of members. Personally congratulating the 2025 ASLO Fellows and Sustaining Fellows was a particular pleasure and highlight. We will recognize our 2025 ASLO Fellows and Sustaining Fellows at our joint meeting with SIL in Montreal, in May 2026. Please thank them for their dedication, when you see them. Speaking of ASLO Fellows, our new early career program ASLO Emerging Fellows is taking off under the leadership of Dr. Jeanette Davis, and we have identified the inaugural class of ASLO Emerging Fellows. They will be introduced individually in another part of this journal. The ASLO Emerging Fellows science and career training effort leverages ASLO members' expertise, decades of experience, and our society's many opportunities to prepare students for the varied career paths available in aquatic sciences. The name of the program reflects our goal that ASLO Emerging Fellows are beginning their journey as scientists in the mold of our most distinguished members, recognized as ASLO Fellows and Sustaining Fellows. At our first meeting, ASLO Emerging Fellows were welcomed to the society. Both president-elect Paul del Giorgio and I emphasized how thrilled we are to welcome the group to ASLO and how much ASLO needs engaged members. Our international research exchange, LOREX, under the leadership of Dr. Adina Paytan has also been expanded to now include undergraduate researchers for a near-peer mentoring and research experience, in collaboration with the graduate students in LOREX. Both LOREX and Emerging Fellows participants will be present at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Glasgow and showcase their research and career goals in regular and dedicated sessions. Please come meet the students and learn about their goals and ambitions. Before I close, let me renew my request to focus your reviewing efforts on society journals, particularly your ASLO journals, Limnology and Oceanography, Limnology and Oceanography Letters, and Limnology and Oceanography Methods. Did you know that as a society we—you—own the journals? The scientific publication business is rapidly changing. That is a deliberate understatement, as I do not want to dedicate the lengthy pages required to adequately elaborate on the transformations we are seeing. However, what I know to be true is that our journals are leading because of the quality reviews we provide, our excellent partnership with our publisher Wiley, and the extraordinary leadership and vision of our editors in chief along with their teams of deputy and associate editors. You may not know just how much effort ASLO puts into working with Wiley to maintain high standards in scientific publishing and make the process as positive and fluid for authors and reviewers. Upholding scientific excellence is a shared motivation for ASLO and Wiley and the standing of our journals reflects that. I also know that the financial benefits of our journals return directly to our society and the many programs we provide for members. Together this should be ample motivation to support your journals with your reviews. Certainly, there are issues to improve. However, there is now a widespread recognition that the fast turnaround times of some journals come at the cost of quality. Again, not universally true, but there are solid contrasts. Maintaining strong society journals is foundational to upholding the quality of science and the reviews are one of the pillars. Please, do what you can to support the strength we have built over decades in our journals through focusing your reviewing efforts with ASLO journals. Let me close by thanking the many of you who are volunteering for committees and contributing to ASLO in so many ways, including your service on committees and support of our journals. I know that we all have too many demands on our time (Pace 2020), so you taking on volunteer efforts with ASLO is especially noteworthy. I hope to see you at the business meeting in May 2026 in Montreal, where we will provide a detailed update on our society, major efforts, our society's finances and continued commitment to excellence in aquatic science, including our exemplary publications and inspiring conferences. In the meantime, don't hesitate to reach out. I love to hear from you. Sincerely, Susanne Menden-Deuer