The world's major coral reef science meeting, the International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS), is held every 4 years. The sanctioning organization is the International Society of Reef Studies. The ICRS is devoted to the best reef science available, with the purpose of sharing scientific findings with government agencies, resource management, and non-government organizations throughout the world. Previous ICRS have been held in Okinawa (2004), Bali (2000), Panama (1996), Guam (1992), Australia (1988), Tahiti (1985), the Philippines (1980), Miami (1977), Australia (1974), and the 1st ICRS in India (1969).

In researching for a story on the fate of coral reefs, Dan Rather and his staff learned of the coral reef research being done by scientists of the NSU National Coral Reef Institute (NCRI) and of the 11th International Coral Reef Symposium (held in Fort Lauderdale in 2008) that NCRI helped organize. Rather extensively interviewed OC Dean Richard Dodge, Ph.D.

Visit the International Coral Reef Symposium's website.