This post is from Journal of Applied Ecology’s newest Senior Editor Martin Nuñez.

The BES’s recent response to the UK referendum reminding us that ecology is a global concern has offered me the ideal opportunity to introduce myself. I am Martin Nuñez, the newest Senior Editor of Journal of Applied Ecology. I am a researcher at CONICET, and Professor at Universidad Nacional del Comahue, in Argentina. I study biological invasions, conservation, mycorrhizal ecology and forestry focused mostly on non-native species, their interactions with the local flora and fauna, and the problems they generate.

As I have learned with time, and as the BES also know, many ecological problems are of international concern and impact, so collaboration between different regions and countries is fundamental to address these global challenges. This is clear in pine invasions, one my favourite research topics. Pine invasions were first reported in New Zealand almost 100 years ago but are a relatively new problem in South America. Pine invasions have been extremely well studied in South Africa and in New Zealand, where the problems started decades before here, given their early introduction of large scale plantings for forestry use.  So we are learning a lot from their mistakes and we are making significant progress trying to avoid these problems in this part of the globe.  Collaboration with amazing international researchers has been fundamental for this.

Martin studying Douglas fir invasion in Patagonia, Argentina.

My appointment as a Senior Editor of Journal of Applied Ecology is clear evidence of the BES’s work as a truly international organization (despite its name :)). I really hope to help the BES in this challenge, making many aspects of this publication more diverse, including the region of origin of the articles published, the reviewers involved in the publication process, and the editorial board (we recently put out a call for new Associate Editors, with a focus on regions not already represented. We will be welcoming the new Associate Editors in the coming months). Isolation is not ideal for the progress of science. And this is especially important for our discipline where society is demanding urgent solutions, that we, from our understanding of ecological sciences can provide.