Plant Physiology welcomes 15 new assistant features editors

Plant Physiology has named 15 Assistant Features Editors (AFEs) to the journal's editorial board, effective January 1, 2024. Now six years old, the AFE program at Plant Physiology was started to "help disseminate discoveries published in the journal and to train the next generation of editors and reviewers," according to the editorial by Plant Physiology Editor-in-Chief Yunde Zhao and colleagues.

AFEs are early-career scientsts who contribute to the journal via the "News and Views" articles and other content and special projects. They also have important voices on the Plant Physiology editorial board and are invited to attend editorial board meetings. AFEs work closely with editors and journal staff to elevate their own skill sets, with the ultimate goal being to appoint AFEs to other editorial board positions when appropriate.

"Many of our previous AFEs have moved onto independent academic positions after completing their terms at Plant Physiology," wrote Zhao and colleagues in their editorial. "We hope to call the AFEs to serve as regular members of the editorial board when 20 they have become more established in their careers."

This year's cohort is slightly larger than in previous years to align with the range of topics now found in the journal. "With these new members, we are pleased to note that the expanded group reflects the broad distribution of research topics published in Plant Physiology," Zhao wrote.

Welcome the 2024 Assistant Features Editors

• Burcu Alptekin (University of Wisconsin, USA)
• Kumari Billakurthi (University of Cambridge, UK)
• Pablo I. Calzadilla (National Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina (CONICET)
• Erin Cullen (Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne, Germany)
• Prateek Jain (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA)
• Alicja Kunkowska (Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy)
• Maneesh Lingwan (Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, USA)
• Anna Moseler (University of Bonn, Germany)
• Sara Selma Garcia (Center for Plant Systems Biology of VIB Ghent, Belgium)
• Ritu Singh (University of California, Davis, USA)
• Chong Teng (Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, USA)
• Héctor H. Torres-Martínez (Stanford University, USA)
• Thu Tran (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA)
• Nicola Trozzi (John Innes Centre, UK)
• Munkhtsetseg Tsednee (Agricultural Biotechnology Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taiwan)

AFEs are appointed for a two-year term. The above will join the cohort appointed in 2023 (listed below) and whose term runs through 2024, as well. These AFEs will help with the transition, write journal content, and mentor new AFEs.

• Dechang Cao (Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China)
• Jiawen Chen (KU Leuven, Belgium)
• Joke De Jaeger-Braet (University of Hamburg, Germany)
• Manuel Gonzalez-Fuente (Ruhr-University of Bochum, Germany)
• Henning Kirst (University of Cantabria, Spain)
• Yee-Shan Ku (Chinese University of Hong Kong, China)
• Aida Maric (University of Freiburg, Germany)
• Hannah McMillan (Duke University, USA)
• Sebastian Moreno (Sainsbury Lab Cambridge University, UK)
• Dyoni Oliveira (Center for Plant Systems Biology of VIB Ghent, Belgium)
• Lara Pereira (University of Sheffield, UK)
• Moona Rahikainen (University of Helsinki, Finland)
• Janlo Robil (Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines)
• Alaeddine Safi (Center for Plant Systems Biology of VIB Ghent, Belgium)
• Maria-Angelica Sanclemente (University of Florida, USA)
• Henryk Straube (University of Copenhagen, Denmark)
• Jiaqi Sun (Shandong University, China)
• Kyle Swentowsky (Cold Spring Harbor Lab, USA)
• Ryo Yokoyama (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany)

  

---

---