Editor's Focus, May 2010

Environmental Communication

An interview with Steve Depoe, Editor

Environmental Communication: a Journal of Nature and Culture started life as The Environmental Communication yearbook. What was the reasoning behind converting the yearbook into a journal?

At the National Communication Association conference in Atlanta in 2000, I was part of a conversation among a group of scholars who believed that the field of environmental communication had progressed to the point where someone needed to start a peer-reviewed publication to lend credibility to the area and also to disseminate knowledge, research findings, etc. Susan Senecah, Gregg Walker, James Cantrill, along with a few others, developed a plan for an annual peer-reviewed yearbook and pitched it to a number of publishers. Erlbaum liked the idea, and The Environmental Communication Yearbook was born. Sue Senecah edited the first two volumes (2004, 2005) and I edited the third volume (2006). As we entered the third year of the project, we felt that both the number and quality of submissions, plus the growth in the field in North America and elsewhere, warranted a transition to a periodical publication. We also felt that the new journal should contain a strong pragmatic or practical aspect along with the traditional academic focus. A new team of scholars (myself, Phaedra Pezzullo, Steve Schwarze, Tarla Rai Peterson, Katherine McComas, Julian Agyeman) developed and circulated a proposal to start a journal. After several months of effort (and some exciting twists and turns with prospective publishers), we reached agreement with Taylor-Francis-Routledge to publish beginning in 2007.

What challenges have you had to face in firstly changing the yearbook format into a journal and from there in building up the journal from a new start to a successful title?

Challenges in converting from a yearbook to a journal format involved creating and sticking to shorter deadlines for reviewing and resubmitting manuscripts, and for taking accepted manuscripts to publication. Submitters and reviewers had to work on a tighter schedule. To build the journal from a new start to a successful enterprise, we have had to develop and articulate a clear purpose, aim, and scope for the new journal that is consistent with our goal to make the journal the flagship publication in the emerging field of environmental communication. In keeping with our vision to promote the journal as a "nexus" of communication and conversation, we have also tried to develop interest and visibility among environmental scholars from a variety of disciplines that have a theoretical and practical interest in communication.

How do you approach the role of Editor and what practical benefits do you think it has brought you?

I have tried to adopt a team-based approach to Editorial leadership. From the outset, I asked a number of individuals to work with me from proposal development to plans for marketing to Editorial Board member selection to identification of special issue topic areas. The leadership team has maintained regular communication through e-mails and conference calls, along with breakfast meetings at conferences. We have used a team of scholars (currently Steve Schwarze and Phaedra Pezzullo) to edit the Praxis section of the journal. Starting in 2010, we have put together a group of Associate Editors based on geography as well as scholarly interest. My team of Associate Editors now includes Anabela Carvalho (Portugal), Libby Lester (Australia), and Tarla Rai Peterson (United States).

What do you consider to have been the key contributing factors to the journal's success?

Three key steps we have taken to sustain and grow interest in the journal have been to publish a unique "Praxis" section in each issue devoted to field-based reports and critical reviews, to seek out a truly international and interdisciplinary Editorial Board, and to publish at least one special thematic issue per year. Topics for special issues have included the characterization of environmental communication as a "crisis" discipline, the intersection of nature and culture, critical dimensions of climate change communication, and (for 2010) the food-culture-environment connection.

What part have T&F Routledge played in the journal's conception and development over the past three years? What results have you seen from T&F's financial investment in the journal?

Routledge has been supportive in a number of ways. The journal's placement within the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences group has allowed for exposure across a variety of fields in the natural and social sciences. We have been able to expand publication from three to four issues a year starting in 2010, thanks to the encouragement of Managing Editor Vicki Gardner (and her predecessor Lizzy Seal). And, most recently, the journal has gained a listing in the ISI Journal Citation Reports, an achievement thanks in no small part to the visibility gained by our association with Routledge.

What are your plans for the journal over the next five years?

I am working with a number of folks from the United States and abroad to develop and form a new international professional association in environmental communication. I hope that the new association will incorporate and strengthen a number of exciting but uncoordinated scholarly activities, including the Conference on Communication and Environment (COCE) that has met on a biennial basis in North America since 1991 and the Environmental Communication Network (www.esf.edu/ecn) as well as our journal. I think that a new professional association is a vital next step would significantly enhance the growth and importance of environmental communication scholarship and practice in both academic and policy arenas around the world.

Closing remarks?

2010 promises to be a great year for the journal, with a number of strong issues including our special issue on the food, culture, and the environment. I am hoping that our new ISI designation will lead to a quantum leap in both submissions and subscriptions and downloads, as we continue to work toward the goal of making our journal the premiere publication in the field. I am looking forward to continuing the adventure!