Prof. Martin and Prof. Pierre are taking over from Prof. David Janos and Prof. Jon Colbaert. Mycorrhiza continues to have two editors-in-chief, each covering a specific area of expertise: Prof. Pierre will oversee arbuscular mycorrhiza, while Prof. Martin will handle the non-arbuscular side going forward.

 

Tell us a bit about yourself and your early career path. Which university did you graduate from, and what are your research interests and your background? 

Martin: I studied biology with chemistry at the U. of Alaska in Fairbanks, and did a PhD and a postdoc on the many plants that cheat mycorrhizas at the U. of California at Berkeley.  Since then I have been working on mycorrhizal fungi, bryophytes, heathlands and forests at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Imperial College London.

Pierre: I studied biology and geology at University of Nancy (France), and did a PhD on saprotrophic capabilities of ectomycorrhizal fungi. Since then, I have been working on the functioning of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis, and on factors driving the structure and dynamics of mycorrhizal communities at Universities of Basel and Fribourg (Switzerland), and now at INRAE Dijon (France).

 

What will Mycorrhiza have to offer that will make it stand apart from other journals?  What is your vision for Mycorrhiza now and in the future?

Martin:  Mycorrhizas, and fungi in general, are finally becoming mainstream, so it is an exciting time to lead the only scientific journal with a focus on mycorrhizas, ensuring peer-reviewed publishing does not just keep up with our expanding field, but helps to shape it.

Pierre: Mycorrhiza highlights a crucial symbiosis for the functioning of natural and anthropic ecosystems. It is really stimulating to be able to help this journal, especially during this exciting period when the mycorrhizal symbiosis will play a key role in the agroecological transition.

 

Is there anything else about you or your editorial team that the research community should know?

Martin: We will do our best to maintain and develop the journal's network of reliably high-quality editors and reviewers, balancing author, reviewer and editor satisfaction for better mycorrhizal science.

Pierre: We want that Mycorrhiza connects and federate scientists from different backgrounds. We will build upon the work of our predecessors, a high-quality editorial team and close interaction with authors and reviewers to continue improving the visibility of Mycorrhiza.