Involvement with Wilderness & Environmental Medicine in any capacity is a true honor. The previous editor-in-chief, Robert Norris, served in the position for a full 10 years, longer than any editor in the journal’s history. In 2010, when Dr Norris announced that he would step aside, Paul Auerbach, the journal’s first editor-in-chief, selected a new team. This team would include Scott McIntosh as editor-in-chief and Tracy Cushing and Linda Keyes as associate editors. Looking back as our team of 3, we are amazed that anyone could function in this role as a solitary editor. We have great respect for those who have accomplished this feat.
Past editors, in order, are Paul Auerbach (1990–1994), Oswald Oelz (1990–2000), William Robinson (1995–2000), and Robert Norris (2000–2010). When Dr Norris started his tenure as editor-in-chief, Wilderness & Environmental Medicine received 38 original manuscript submissions during his first year. The number of submissions has grown steadily since that time. In 2014, under the current administration, we received 228 submissions, reflecting impressive growth. We are proud to have the privilege to be more discriminating in our choices. With growth in submissions, the caliber of published manuscripts has also increased.
Wilderness & Environmental Medicine has undergone a number of changes over the past 5 years. We redesigned the cover for the first issue of 2011 to modernize its look and managed the well-received Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) Practice Guideline series that has provided practitioners with evidence-based direction for wilderness medicine topics. Jonna Barry, managing editor since 1999, has been the life and cornerstone of the journal. At the beginning of 2015, she finally took a well-deserved retirement and handed over the position to Alicia Byrne. Alicia comes to us with a background in medical publishing and a lifelong appreciation of the natural world. She tells us she is honored to have the opportunity to work on a journal that covers such an important and fascinating topic.
As part of the current evolution of the journal, the WMS brought on Neal Pollock as an additional associate editor in October 2014. He has served as a reviewer for 20 different journals and has been a member of the Wilderness & Environmental Medicine editorial board since 2005.
This year will mark another major transition for the journal. Scott McIntosh will step aside to pursue other leadership positions within the WMS and to further develop the Diploma in Mountain Medicine and other mountain medicine pursuits. Martin Hoffman will assume the role of editor-in-chief. He brings a solid track record of scientific publication with years of past experience on numerous editorial boards and has been a regular contributor to Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. But, he tells us, he recognizes that he has not seen it all just yet!
Tracy Cushing will also step aside to dedicate time to being associate editor of Auerbach’s Wilderness Medicine, Seventh Edition, and to focus on wilderness medicine fellowship education at the University of Colorado. The monumental task of editing the most respected text in wilderness medicine has been possible only because of the opportunities, experiences, and mentorship Tracy has had as associate editor of Wilderness & Environmental Medicine.
Linda Keyes will continue her role as associate editor, pursuing her ongoing goal to increase the quality of wilderness medicine research and publications and extending her more than 10 years of service on the Wilderness & Environmental Medicine editorial board.
We thank all of the previous Wilderness & Environmental Medicine editors for their vision and perseverance in this endeavor. We also thank the editorial board, the section editors, and the reviewers for all their support and dedication to the journal and its leadership team. And of course, the authors of every paper that has been submitted to Wilderness & Environmental Medicine are to be congratulated for their work and efforts. You are the core of this journal.
Wilderness medicine is truly an amazing field, and Wilderness & Environmental Medicine is the center of the specialty. We encourage all readers to continue to seek, strive, and be curious about the wilderness, the environment, and the world around them. The world will be better because of it.