Yonglong Lu named Editor-in-Chief of new joint journal of the Ecological Societies of America and China

Posted by llester on December 6, 2013

New open access journal will foreground applied ecology from under-represented research communities.

Lu Yonglong. Photo courtesy of the Ecological Society of China.

Yonglong Lu took the helm this fall of a new international journal, created as a mutual venture between the Ecological Society of America (ESA) and the Ecological Society of China (ESC), and aimed at raising the global profile of ecological research taking place in regions of rapid economic growth and industrialization.

Scheduled to launch in 2015, the soon-to-be-named journal will feature international collaborations, interdisciplinary research, and multi-scale projects. Lu and the two societies are refining the journal’s niche and scope to showcase applications of ecological science in support of sustainable development in an era of extensive and accelerating human and environmental change.

“I am honored to take on this new role joining the efforts of the two societies,” said Lu, adding that he wishes to work together with scientific colleagues to promote the journal’s international recognition. The new journal is designed to foster communication between ecologists in developed and developing countries, which is very much needed, he said.

The joint journal will be open access and digital only, on the model of ESA’s rapid-publication journal Ecosphere, which launched in 2010 and was recently indexed in Thomas Reuters’ Web of Science. TIt will publish in English. ESC will fund the new journal in the near term, with author processing charges expected to supplement expenses eventually.

Lu is in the process of recruiting editorial and advisory board members from under-served research communities in Asia (including India and Russia), Oceania, Latin America, and Africa, as well as China and the United States.

“There is great science coming from regions of rapid development, but much of it is published in local journals that are not widely read or accessible. With so many ecological issues emerging around the world, we need more opportunities for quality research to be widely distributed,” said Katherine McCarter, executive director and publisher of ESA.

Leaders of the two societies met at the 2007 Eco Summit in Beijing, and immediately shared enthusiasm for some type of collaboration. The Chinese group formally pitched a joint journal initiative to ESA in 2011.

A committee of ESA and ESC representatives selected Lu as editor-in-chief for his solid grounding in the ecological research communities of both societies’ home countries.

Lu is currently the president of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE), science adviser of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), a United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) International Resource Panel member, and vice president of ESC. He is also chair and research professor, Environmental Management and Policy Group at the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He sits on the editorial boards of several international and domestic peer-reviewed journals, and serves as associate editor of the SCOPE journal Environmental Development, published by Elsevier.

The ESC was established in 1980, and has approximately 8,000 members, consisting of scientists and people with an interest in ecology. ESC is currently in charge of 18 academic committees, 5 working committees, and has 30 branches around China. Its headquarters are located in Beijing. The current president of ESC is Dr. Shirong Liu and general secretary is Dr. Liding Chen. In addition to publishing three journals in Chinese, two journals in English, and a bulletin, the ESC provides consultation services to government agencies to assist decision-making on ecological restoration, environmental protection, and ecosystem management.

Dr. Lu is currently the
President of SCOPE (Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment), Science Advisor of IUCN,
UNEP International Resource Panel member, and Vice President of ESC. He is also Chair and Research
Professor, Ecological Risk Assessment and Environmental Management at the Research Center for Eco-
Environmental Sciences, for the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He sits on the editorial boards of several
international and domestic peer-reviewed journals, and serves as Associate Editor of the SCOPE journal
Environmental Development, published by Elsevier.

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