You may have noticed a different name as the editor of the most recent issue of The Phycologist. This is because after several years of sterling service, Jan Krokowski was ready to hand off the editor baton. I’m confident I speak for all when I say that we are very grateful for his efforts and dedication to The Phycologist and hope he enjoys the new bit of time he has now to endeavour on other phycological pursuits; like some microscopy!
Which brings me to introducing myself as the new editor. My name is Amanda Burson and I am an avid phytoplankton ecologist. I have worked in New York, Ireland, Amsterdam and now here in the UK on several projects all with a focus on the diverse and intriguingly complicated world of algae. Whether it was growing my first culture from an individual isolate collected in Killary Harbor, Ireland or trying to get the best representation of the local Laminaria species’ for my phycology course in Montauk, NY I have spent many happy hours and days interacting with all things phycological. I hope to continue this by highlighting the field in this newsletter and I greatly appreciate everyone’s continued support with new articles and images! I hope to meet you all in future British Phycological Society events and please don’t hesitate to reach out in the meantime.
In this issue we highlight the 67th British Phycological Society Meeting which took place this January at the Scottish Association for Marine Sciences in Oban, Scotland. This includes the minutes of the annual general meeting as well as reports from bursary recipients and Manton prize winners. There’s also some interesting discoveries and taxonomic updates as well. I hope you enjoy!
Amanda Burson
