Welcome to the annual CSE Awards Ceremony. Those of you who keep track of CSE leadership will know that Ana Marusic, chair of the CSE Awards Committee, should be standing here, ready to announce the award recipients. Unfortunately, Ana cannot be here for this meeting. After attending the recent meeting of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, in New Zealand, she became one of the many thousands of people whose travel was substantially delayed because of the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland. The unexpected time away from her office and toll on her travel budget prohibited her from coming to Atlanta, so she asked me to announce the recipients of the CSE awards.
I am proud and honored to announce that the CSE Award for Meritorious Achievement is given to Barbara Gastel, MD, MPH, for her years of outstanding service to CSE—in particular for her 12 years as editor of CSE’s journal, Science Editor—and to the profession of scientific publishing. Barbara became editor of Science Editor back in 1998, when it was still called CBE Views. She has developed the publication into a journal that reflects initiatives and research in scientific publishing, details about best practices in the field, and news about CSE members. In recognition of the name change from Council of Biology Editors to Council of Science Editors, she worked to include information and articles that address the needs of editors in fields of science other than biology and medicine.
Barbara’s official job as professor in the Veterinary Integrative Biosciences Department at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences provided her with additional insights and ideas for the journal. Over the years, she nurtured and inspired numerous student interns, who helped her with her work on Science Editor and learned about scientific publishing at the same time.
During the same period, Barbara has published two books—Health Writer’s Handbook and, with Robert A Day, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper—and served as the US coordinator for the China Medical Board Program in Biomedical Writing and Editing.
It is my privilege to present Barbara Gastel.
Diane Lang
CSE Immediate Past President