As the new Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Freshwater Ecology (JFE), I would like to take a moment to introduce myself to the JFE community and to share my goals for the journal in the coming decade. First, however, I must commend Dr. Joe Kawatski, the founding editor of JFE, for single-handedly managing this vital and important journal for 30 years. It was a herculean task that he accomplished through his passion for aquatic ecology and his dedication to disseminating high-quality scientific knowledge. This journal would not be here without his tireless efforts and for that we are truly grateful.
I am thrilled to have this opportunity to lead this scholarly publication into this second decade of the twenty-first century. I have been teaching and conducting research in higher education for over 15 years – mainly at small liberal arts colleges. Currently I am an Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Mount St. Mary's University in central Maryland, USA. I am committed to maintaining the quality of this journal into the future, ensuring fair and timely peer reviews, and making use of technology to improve the experience for authors, readers and reviewers. Now that JFE is housed in the Taylor & Francis Group, it will benefit from the expertise and technological resources they have on hand, such as online submission of manuscripts, manuscript tracking, and, of course, the journal will be published in both electronic and paper formats.
I see JFE as a collaborative venture that relies upon the efforts of three equally important groups: the readers, the authors and the reviewers. Indeed, a journal cannot exist if any one of those groups is missing. Likewise, in order to thrive, these three groups must be active and involved in this journal. Thus, my role as Editor, as I see it, is to coordinate and nurture these groups as we engage in a dialogue about exciting new advances and findings in freshwater ecology.
I invite each of you to become part of the JFE community by submitting manuscripts, reviewing manuscripts, obtaining a subscription and visiting our website on a regular basis. I’m always looking for reviewers, so if you are interested in reviewing manuscripts, please send me a quick email ([email protected]). Also, if any of you have comments/suggestions for improving the journal, I would be pleased to hear from you at the above-mentioned email address.
I hope you share my excitement about our new Journal of Freshwater Ecology!