The Bering Ecosystem Study (BEST) Research and Funding Plans Town Hall Meeting was hosted at the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico on 7 February, 2007. This town hall provided the community with information on a new National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored program, the Bering Ecosystem Study (BEST). Five proposals were funded in response to a September 2005 NSF Program Solicitation, and a second solicitation had been published with a closing date of March 15, 2007. The town hall provided those interested in the program with a chance to learn about what had been funded and additional funding opportunities through the second solicitation. The town hall began with brief introductory presentations on recent changes in the Bering Sea and on the scope of the funded proposals, and was then followed by an open question and answer session. A representative of the Arctic Section of the NSF Office of Polar Programs was invited to attend and provide background on their expectations for responses to the BEST solicitation.