Mark Bertness is Robert Brown Professor of Biology at Brown University, USA. His research focuses on the structure, dynamics and conservation of shoreline communities - particularly salt marsh plant communities - and the sessile invertebrate and seaweed communities of rocky shores. John Bruno is a marine ecologist and Professor at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. His research is focused on marine biodiversity, coral reef ecology and conservation, and the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems. He is co-developer of the oceans website SeaMonster (www.theseamonster.net). Brian Silliman is the Rachel Carson Associate Professor of Marine Conservation Biology in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, USA. Dr. Silliman was named a David H. Smith Conservation Fellow with The Nature Conservancy in 2004 and a Visiting Professor with the Royal Netherlands Society of Arts and Sciences in 2011. He has also received several awards, including the Young Investigator Award from the American Society of Naturalists (2006), a Young Investigator Grant Award from the Andrew Mellon Foundation (2007), and a NSF Career Grant Award (2011). Jay Stachowicz is Professor of Ecology and Evolution at The University of California Davis, USA. Dr. Stachowicz co-edited the book Species Invasions: Insights into Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeography, published by Sinauer Associates in 2005. He was awarded the George Mercer Prize from the Ecological Society of America in 2004 and the UC Davis Academic Senate Teaching Award in 2012. He is also an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow.