From the Editor — September 2019

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Our readers, authors, and advertisers often are surprised to discover that the magazine you hold in your hands (advertisements aside) represents primarily the work of three people. The BPI editors are multitaskers and jacks-of-all-trades by necessity. Every month we all seek out authors and work with them to develop their manuscripts . . . copyedit their texts and typeset the results . . . research, interview, and write our own articles . . . adapt and develop graphics . . . create layouts and page designs of both editorial and advertorial materials. . . acquire, track, and work with photography . . . and proofread each other’s results all on constantly rotating and overlapping deadlines. Add the need for a working familiarity of our subject matter and a thorough understanding of the English language — and you can imagine the sort of person our work requires.

You also might be surprised to know how little turnover this editorial staff has experienced over the years. Editor in chief Anne Montgomery and I have been here since the beginning in 2003; managing editor Maribel Rios joined us in 2010; even our marketing and digital strategist Leah Rosin did her time as an editor from 2003 to 2008. In 17 years, we’ve lost only Christina Prier-Steffy (who left us in 2005), Lorna McLeod (2006–2010), and now our trusty freelance assistant Alison Center. For the past few years, she has provided us with valuable help as a writer, interviewer, collaborator, and proofreader — as well as in doing a lot of the behind-the-scenes “grunt work” of website maintenance and author wrangling.
But Alison’s background and passion lies in her work as a wildlife biologist. So when she got the chance to work for the US Forestry Service, we wouldn’t have dreamed of standing in the way. It all worked out in the end, too: Next thing we knew, we were finally hiring our fourth full-time editor! And this month I am delighted to introduce him to you.

Photo Credit: MJ’s Photography (Eugene, OR)

BPI associate editor Brian Gazaille has a similar background to Anne’s — both did graduate work at the University of Oregon. He holds a PhD in English language and literature (she a masters and ABD in comparative literature), with specialties in 19th-century American literature, literature and science, the history of science and technology, and medical humanities. After spending a decade in academia — as a teacher, manuscript reviewer, editor, webmaster, and peer-reviewed author — he was looking to new horizons and found us.

Like Alison did, Brian will be striding the line between print and Internet for us. We’re quite impressed with his attention to detail and thoughtful approach to BPI content. You’ll see his byline soon enough, but you’re already clicking on his work when you visit our website. He’s helping Leah with our Ask the Expert webinar series, among other things. And if you attended the BPI Conference and Exhibition in Boston this month, we hope that you got a chance to meet him there. Don’t miss his appearance in “BPI TV” interviews on the KNect365 Life Sciences YouTube channel this fall. And you may receive from him an invitation to write for us before long — I encourage you to take him up on that offer!