Dear Great Lakes colleague, The 2011 State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference was a great success! Feedback received, including the conference evaluation submissions, speaks to a very interesting and thought-provoking event that provided a comprehensive assessment of conditions in the Great Lakes basin ecosystem. The new presentation style and renewed indicator suite were very well-received. Over fifty (50) draft indicator reports were prepared and electronically available to over 230 attendees at SOLEC 2011 in Erie, Pennsylvania. These indicator reports were used to develop the main plenary presentations at SOLEC which will be available online in the near future.  We invite SOLEC participants, indicator authors and other interested parties to read, review and provide substantive comments on any or all of the indicator reports until January 31, 2012. The draft indicator reports can be found at http://www.solecregistration.ca/en/indicator_reports.asp. The SOLEC Steering Committee also recognized 8 success story projects that exemplified strong commitment to improving the environment within the Great Lakes basin at the conference. The project summaries are available at: http://www.solecregistration.ca/en/solec_success_stories.asp. Congratulations to these recipients and all nominated projects. Thank you, Nancy Stadler-Salt Canadian SOLEC Co-Chair Paul Horvatin U.S. SOLEC Co-Chair   Check out the latest AFS books at www.afsbooks.org Join AFS or renew for 2012 at www.fisheries.org/afs/membership.html