Looking ahead to 2023, we are excited to announce that Nate Sanders is stepping into the role of Executive Editor.

Professor & Director of the E.S. George Reserve at University of Michigan, Nate has been a Senior Editor with the journal since September 2015 and has led on a number of exciting initiatives in that time; most recently an upcoming Special Feature, ‘Leveraging natural history collections to understand the impacts of global change’. His research interests include macroecology, global change ecology and community ecology. He tends to work on ants but dabbles with other taxa when necessary.

Get to know Nate in our ‘meet the editor’ Q&A below.

Nate takes on the Executive Editor role from Jean-Michel Gaillard (Directeur de Recherche, Research Unit ‘Biométrie et Biologie Evolutive’, CNRS, University of Lyon). Jean-Michel has shown fantastic commitment to the journal and has steered us through the globally unprecedented times of recent years. His understanding, not only of the field but of the journal’s scope and reach, have been of tremendous value. We thank Jean-Michel for his time as Executive Editor and are pleased to confirm that he will be staying on as a Senior Editor into next year.

Meet the Editor: Nate Sanders

What do you remember of the first paper you published?
Three key memories stick out: (1) the first time I plotted the results of the experiment and saw that, sure enough, neighbouring ant colonies affect resource use and behaviour, (2) getting the acceptance letter in the mail, and (3) getting a box of reprints that I quickly mailed out to colleagues around the world. Strange that that was only 22 years ago!

When was the last time you had a paper rejected?
Ha! Good question. I have a colleague who claims to have never had a paper rejected. I have had many rejections, including several this fall.

If you could wake up tomorrow with a new skill, what would it be?
I’d love to be a skilled banjo player. My older son is, and I’m jealous.

Are you a good cook? What’s your signature dish?
I think I am a good cook (but a not-so-good baker)! My mother-in-law gave me a Jamie Oliver cookbook many years ago, and that started me on my path.  I don’t think I have a signature dish, but one of the only things everyone in my family eats is fresh pesto from our garden.

Which small thing irritates you the most at work?
Hearing how busy, busy, busy everyone is.

How do you deal with stress?
Walks with my wife and our yellow lab Rosalind (named after Rosalind Franklin, FYI), getting beat at FIFA 22 by my younger son, piddling around in our yard.

Who inspired you most as a student?
It’s too hard to name one person, so I’ll name several: Dave Dussourd, Deane Bowers, Deborah Gordon, and Dan Simberloff. Many people still inspire me.

If you could recommend one place for people to travel on holiday, where would it be and why?
Northern Michigan is pretty spectacular. The forests, lakes, and small towns offer up something for nearly everyone. But please, don’t everyone go visit all at once.

You can meet more of our Editorial board here on the journal website. And, if you’re attending British Ecological Society’s 2022 Annual Meeting in Edinburgh, Nate will be there, so do say hi.