You now have in front of you the first issue of Volume 18 of Chelonian Conservation and Biology. As with all past issues, Volume 18, Issue 1 contains articles about freshwater turtles, tortoises, and marine turtles and covers an array of topics (including ecology, behavior, demography, population status, conservation, reproduction, rescue and rehabilitation, orientation, morphology, and climate change). Turtle research and conservation continues to find new horizons and tackle evolving challenges, and CCB 18(1) does a great job of both underscoring the multidisciplinary nature of these endeavors, and highlighting the fact that turtle research and conservation is a global entity. Of the 16 articles in this issue, we have contributions that focus on turtles and tortoises in 14 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chad, China, Japan, Kuwait, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, South Sudan, United States) spanning 5 continents. Among these, perhaps the most inspiring is an article by Gift Simon Demaya and colleagues on the rediscovery of the critically endangered Nubian Flatshell Turtle (Cyclanorbis elegans) in South Sudan. This research significantly expands the range of this critically endangered species northward into several countries in Africa that had not had sightings for decades. Indeed, it gives a glimmer of hope that we might find additional individuals and expanded ranges of other critically endangered softshell turtles around the world! Conveniently, CCB 18(1) also includes an article entitled “Conservation Status of the Asian Giant Softshell Turtle (Pelochelys cantorii) in China” by Hong Xiaoyou and colleagues. The timing could not be better.
This issue also marks another installment of our Featured Article series. In this case, we highlight an article by Charles Innis and colleagues entitled “A Summary of Sea Turtles Released from Rescue and Rehabilitation Programs in the United States, with Observations on Re-Encounters”. The article does a great job at showing just how incredible the sea turtle stranding and rehabilitation network is in the United States. It also shows the exorbitant numbers of turtles that have been rescued, rehabilitated, and released. It is amazing to consider that across 34 sea turtle rehabilitation facilities in the United States, nearly 11,500 sea turtles were rehabbed and released through 2016!
As Executive Editor, I am constantly trying to come up with new ways to promote CCB by increasing readership and upping the quantity and quality of articles that appear in each issue. For most people, an obvious step for this would be to have CCB engage with social media. After all, isn't that how everyone younger than 40 years old communicates and gets their news these years? I suppose here is where I should admit (sheepishly) that I've never been on Facebook!! However, even the media unsavvy can change, and thanks to gentle pushing from our CCB Editorial Team (thank you, Josh Ennen!) and incredible help from Dominique Scanlan at Allen Press, I am delighted to announce that CCB now has a social media presence! We've jumped in shell-first and are now on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CCBJournal/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ccb_journal/), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/CCB_Journal). I encourage you to become friends with us on these platforms and like us when we post the latest news about all things turtle!!
In closing, I would like to acknowledge our fantastic editorial team, which includes Founding Editor and my CCB Mentor, Anders Rhodin (Chelonian Research Foundation), Editors Jeffrey Lovich (U.S. Geological Survey) and Peter Lindeman (Edinboro University of Pennsylvania), and Associate Editors Luca Luiselli (Centre of Environmental Studies Demetra), Joshua Ennen (Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute), Cristina A. Jones (Arizona Game & Fish Department), Sandra Hochscheid (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn), Vivian Páez (Universidad de Antioquia), and Peter Paul van Dijk (Turtle Conservancy and Global Wildlife Conservation). I also greatly appreciate the involvement of Consulting Editors Eric Goode, Peter Pritchard, and Russ Mittermeier. Perhaps most importantly, what makes CCB go are the many reviewers who consistently invest substantial time in conducting thorough and thoughtful reviews that help make the articles that appear in CCB the best they can be. These reviewers include Mickey Agha, Godfrey C. Akani, Christina Aiello, Mark Auliya, Roy Averill-Murray, Arnaud Badiane, Jean Marie Ballouard, Eyup Bas kale, Elizabeth Bevan, J. Roger Brothers, Grover Brown, Kurt Buhlmann, Russell L. Burke, Nathan Byer, Onur Candan, Carina Carneiro, Ryan Chabot, Mark Chatting, I-Juinn Cheng, Katherin Comer, Justin Congdon, Bruce C. Chessman, Fredrik Christiansen, Paul Crow, Indraneil Das, Brett DeGregorio, Judith Denkinger, Mark Ditmer, Greer Dolby, Wei-Guo Du, Stephen Dunbar, Marc Dupuis-Desormeaux, Shirley Famelli Da Cosat, Bruno Ferronato, Joe Flannagan, Allen Foley, Brian Folt, Alexander Gaos, Shi Hai-Tao, Kristen Hart, Lisa Hazard, Emmanuel M. Hema, Brian Henen, Rick Herren, Shaya Honarvar, Julia Horrocks, Charles Innis, John Iverson, Elliott Jacobson, Victoria F. Jeffers, Robert Jones, Matt Keevil, Shalela Kelez, Lisa Komoroske, Gerald Kuchling, Max Lambert, Michael Liles, Jackie Litzgus, Melania Lopez Castro, Rodrigo Macip-Ríos, Agnese Mancini, Charles Manire, Chantel Markle, Vanessa Labrada Martagon, Jeffrey Miller, Mario Mota, Roy Nagle, Ken Nussear, Chen Pelf Nyok, Junichi Okuyama, Aliki Panagapoulou, Fabio Petrozzi, Shannon Pittman, Steve Platt, Sofia Ponce de Leao, Thiago Portelinha, Maira C Proietti, Nathan F. Putman, Matthew Ramirez, Shannon Rankin, ALan Rees, Jeanine Refsnider, Anders Rhodin, Fabricio Rodrigues, Tomomi Saito, Michael Salmon, Fran Sandmeier, Pilar Santidrian-Tomillo, Xavier Santos, Robson Guimarães dos Santos, Gail Schofield, Gabriel Hoinsoudé Segniagbeto, George Shillinger, Itzel Sifuentes, Lora Smith, Scott Smith, Robert Steidl, Paul Stone, Yik Hei Sung, Sasha Tetzlaff, Scott Thomson, Carrie Upite, Melita Vamberger, Peter Paul van Dijk, Thong Pham Van, Richard Vogt, Daniel Warren, Jessica Williams, Larry Wood, Lina M. Zapata, and Patricia Zarate. My sincerest thanks to everyone on this list for playing such a vital role with CCB.
In closing, I would like to thank our publishing partner, Turtle Conservancy, and especially Eric Goode and his team, for their enthusiasm and support. Together with Chelonian Research Foundation, we look forward to a bright future for CCB. Please enjoy this issue and do not forget to like us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!