We are pleased to welcome two new Senior Editors to the Proceedings B editorial board. Professor James Bull from the School of Biosciences, University of Swansea and Professor Devi Stuart-Fox from the School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne both start their terms in January 2025. Both have previously served as Associate Editors for the journal for a number of years. We recently asked them a few questions about their background, experience and their thoughts on how to get your work published.
James Bull 
Tell us more about your background and field of research
I tell people I’m a spatial and population ecologist, but I’m generally more comfortable saying I’m an ecologist with a love of numbers. I’ve always asked questions about the processes that affect persistence and coexistence of species, beginning with baculovirus population genetics and host-parasitoid metapopulation dynamics at Imperial College London. More recently, I’ve found myself asking similar research questions of insects as both pests and pollinators, of marine mammals, and of seagrass, amongst others. This has taken me from the Zoological Society of London to the University of Warwick, and now Swansea University. The focus on ecological concepts opens amazing opportunities to engage with other researchers working across many different species and ecosystems.
What prompted you to work in this field?
I have always loved finding meaning in patterns of numbers. Combining that with getting excited about nature, it’s perhaps not surprising that my research and teaching interests are in quantitative ecology. I am mostly desk-based but I am also a great believer in getting first-hand experience of how data are collected. This has given me wonderful experiences such as attaching bio-loggers to seals, diving on seagrass meadows, and flying drones to measure spatial patterns in vegetation. I’m a strong advocate of the value of model species, but I have actively tried to identify model species that can be observed in the field. Seagrass, typically a monoculture in temperate regions, is one such example of a study system where the signals of ecological processes can be teased out from long-term monitoring. Don’t get me started about the underappreciated value of long-term monitoring!
Why did you join the Proceedings B Editorial Board?
A colleague who was coming to the end of their term on the Board suggested that I might enjoy and benefit from the experience. They weren’t wrong. Any opportunity to read and discuss amazing science is always a highlight and I’m lucky to be in a career where I enjoy a lot of what I do. After three terms as an Associate Editor, I am delighted to be taking the next step and lifting the curtain to see what happens beyond that role. Being on the Editorial Board of Proceedings B is genuine opportunity to help steer the course of peer reviewed publication, for example through our recent move to double blind review. As an ecologist with a love of numbers, I am particularly excited to help develop processes around data curation, transparency, and reproducibility, so look forward to working with our data editors.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to submit to Proceedings B?
Have a go! In any form of communication, the starting point is to know your audience. We aim to reach a broad biological readership so if you think that your findings would excite our readers, then Proceedings B is a good choice. When you prepare your manuscript, you don’t have to oversell your research as advancing all of biology, but you do have to convey to that less specialized readership how your research is a substantial advance in your area of biology.
Devi Stuart-Fox 
Tell us more about your background and field of research
My research focuses on animal coloration – how it is produced and perceived, its function and evolution, and large-scale patterns of diversity. I spent the first half of my career working on lizards, including a transformative postdoctoral period in South Africa working on colour change in chameleons. But I have since diversified, working on a wide range of animal groups, including birds, spiders, butterflies, and beetles.
I love travel and fieldwork, and believe that many of the most interesting questions in biology arise from careful natural history observations.
Increasingly, I have become interested in biomimetics and bioinspiration – how biological structures or processes can inform new sustainable designs and technologies. This work is interdisciplinary – I collaborate with physicists, chemists and materials scientists. Working with researchers from other disciplines enables insights into the biological system that we could not obtain otherwise and simultaneously enables us to acquire the biological knowledge needed for specific applications.
What prompted you to work in this field?
I am driven by basic curiosity, and nature is full of the most amazing – and colourful – adaptations. I never cease to be amazed by the wonderous diversity of forms, behaviours, and adaptations in the natural world. It is a privilege to be able to ask the simple questions of how and why. The questions are simple, but the answers rarely are, so one question keeps leading to another.
Why did you join the Proceedings B Editorial Board?
I can honestly say that Proceedings B is my favourite journal. It is one of few journals that span all of the disciplines that intersect with my own research interests, and it has published many of the most important papers in my field of research.
So I naturally jumped at the chance to join the Proceedings B Editorial Board in 2017. I feel incredibly privileged to be able to contribute to maintaining the quality of the journal. Proceedings B is also leading the way in publishing initiatives to improve replicability and transparency, equity, diversity and inclusion. These initiatives align strongly with my own values.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to submit to Proceedings B?
I think the most important thing to consider is the journal’s scope and audience. Is the question of broad interest and are there implications that have wider significance beyond the specific discipline? Often, the reason a manuscript is rejected is not because of the quality of the science, but because the manuscript is not of sufficient importance or interest to the broad readership of the journal. It can be helpful to get another perspective on this; for example, get feedback from a colleague on whether they think the knowledge gap and wider significance are communicated in a clear and compelling way.
Proceedings B is looking to publish more high-quality research articles and reviews in ecology and evolution. If you have an idea for a review, we strongly encourage you to submit a proposal by completing our proposal template and sending it to the journal. More information about the journal and the submission process can be found on our website.
Image credits: Jim Bull – Emma Kenyon; Devi Stuart-Fox – University of Melbourne
