We are pleased to announce that Dr. Cate Macinnis-Ng has been appointed Editor-in-Chief of Forests (IF: 3.282, ISSN: 1999-4907).

Name: Dr. Cate Macinnis-Ng
Email: [email protected]
Affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1142, New Zealand
Homepage: https://www.tepunahamatatini.ac.nz/cate-macinnis-ng/
Research keywords: plant ecophysiology; carbon and water cycles; forest function; global change

Dr. Cate Macinnis-Ng works at the University of Auckland in the School of Biological Sciences as an Associate Professor of ecology. She is a plant ecophysiologist specializing in plant–climate interactions. Her recent work has focused on drought impacts on New Zealand's iconic kauri trees. She also has broader interests in climate change impacts on biodiversity and working with Indigenous researchers and communities to achieve restoration and conservation outcomes.

The following is a short Q&A with Dr. Cate Macinnis-Ng, who shared her vision for the journal with us, as well as her views of the research area and open access publishing:

1. What appealed to you about the journal that made you want to take the role as the Editor-in-Chief?

I am delighted to join long-standing Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Tim Martin as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of Forests. Many international journals remain somewhat region-specific with most papers coming from a particular part of the world. As a researcher in the southern hemisphere, I am conscious of the fact that we see research efforts focused on European and North American species and ecosystems and this is problematic when we are trying to understand global patterns. It also highlights the inequities in distributions of funding and resources. Forest research is a truly global discipline and the research published in Forests comes from many different parts of the world. Since the journal is open access, the research is available to all. There is more we can do to increase global representation and Forests provides a solid platform for this.

2. What does the future of this field of research look like?

Forests are an essential part of sustainable solutions to climate change. Developing research in this space covering ecology, physiology, production forests, urban forests and all aspects of tree biology will contribute to our understanding of how best to use forests to address climate change. This includes understanding the limitations of forest solutions, especially under future climates.

3. What is your vision for the journal? Do you have any suggestions for the future development of Forests?

I think the awards for emerging researchers are great and the electronic conferences are an excellent initiative because they are a carbon-friendly and free method for researchers to disseminate their work and network. I look forward to working with the Forests team to further increase the global reach of the journal.

4. What do you think of the development of open access in the publishing field?

Open access publishing is important for making results available to everyone rather than locking papers behind a paywall. I am not sure if we have found the perfect model yet, but I am pleased to be part of a journal that has all papers fully available to anyone who wants to read them. 

We warmly welcome Dr. Cate Macinnis-Ng in her new role as Editor-in-Chief, and we look forward to her leading Forests to many more milestones.