(A) A SOCIETY MEMBER SHALL IN THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC:

1. Only express opinions on wetland matters for which he or she is knowledgeable or familiar with the facts.
2. Facilitate the communication of facts and issues concerning wetlands with the press and other media, except as restricted by contractual obligations.
3. Accurately and adequately represent the facts and results of investigations and research and not base decisions on theological or religious beliefs, political pressure or client or supervisor pressure.
4. Accurately represent the capability of the science to resolve environmental problems and the capacity of wetlands to contribute to the welfare of Society.
5. Reveal any conflicts of interest to their clients or the public that may interfere with full representation of the scientific facts as they can be reasonably interpreted.
6. Accurately convey that accreditation does not by itself imply qualification to conduct specific activities such as wetland delineations or wetland functional assessment, or to conduct all scientific research.
7. Provide professional services only in areas of his or her competence or expertise.
8. Not knowingly present themselves as having credentials that have not been earned nor maintained. Maintenance is defined as accreditation renewal and payment of annual maintenance fees.
9. Refrain from advertising in a self-laudatory manner, beyond statements informing potential clients/employers of qualifications, or in a manner detrimental to fellow Society Members.

(B) A SOCIETY MEMBERS SHALL PROMOTE THE WELL-BEING OF THE SOCIETY:

1. Serve as spokesperson for Society only as directed by the Board.
2. Use the Society logo, if desired, on business cards and promotional materials, but not on letterheads or in any way that could be interpreted as acting as a representative of Society. Use of the certification stamp with certified person’s name and certification number is encouraged for use on documents prepared by the certified person.
3. Promote the profession in a positive but realistic manner so as to encourage involvement by young professionals and contribute to their advancement in the profession.
4. Practice professional behavior that is free from sexual harassment or discrimination with respect to religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, national origin, age, or physical restrictions.
5. Use laboratory animals and work in habitats of organisms in complete conformance with requirements for the protection of organisms and in line with currently accepted practices for individual species.
6. Maintain the confidentiality of information produced for a client, as required by appropriate laws.
7. Aid in exclusion from accreditation those who have not followed this code or do not have the required education and experience.
8. Help to maintain the high standard of Society by providing a signed complaint to Society for known, verifiable, and egregious unethical conduct (breach of code) by another certified person.
9. Refrain from attempting to injure the reputation of another scientist through the use of false, biased, or otherwise undocumented claims.

(C) A SOCIETY MEMBER SHALL PROMOTE THE ADVANCEMENT  OF WETLAND SCIENCE AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE:

1. Claim authorship or credit only for those papers, ideas, or practice to which one has made substantial and significant contributions through writing, study concepts and design, data collection, or data analysis.
2. Not submit manuscripts for publication of material that has already been published or is under review for a different journal or book, without notifying the publisher.
3. Not use the unpublished data of others for publication without the consent and attribution of the principal investigator responsible for collecting and/or maintaining the data.
4. Maintain confidentiality of the contents of manuscripts when providing peer review of a manuscript.
5. Promptly review any scientific materials provided to one for peer review so as to expedite the review and publication process of other researchers.
6. Report promptly to the editor any errors discovered after a manuscript is published or is submitted for publication.
7. Maintain original data and records of all work conducted for a client, and all research, methods, results, and analyses for a minimum of three years beyond the termination of the project.
8. Strive to increase knowledge and skills to advance the practice of wetland science and professional practice, and keep informed of advances in the field of expertise of the member, including the literature, methods of measurement and analysis, and skills for the interpretation of data.