American Scientist

Now that I’ve updated my LinkedIn profile, had a taste of eastern North Carolina barbecue, and settled into my office at Sigma Xi headquarters, I’m pleased to introduce myself as the new editor-in-chief of American Scientist magazine. My path to Sigma Xi began on a cold day in January of this year, when I trekked southward from Washington, DC, to meet the creators of this exceptional publication. Only two months had passed since I attended the 114th Annual Sigma Xi Assembly of Delegates. Conversations from that meeting, which focused on communicating science in the 21st century, were fresh in my mind.

At the annual conference, I participated in two panel discussions with former American Scientist editors-in-chief Rosalind Reid and Corey Powell. Both drew heavily from their experience with the magazine. Ros emphasized the importance of good visualizations, a well-established strength for American Scientist. Corey deftly summarized the idiosyncratic trends in popular scientific articles. My talk covered research from the science of science communication. The overarching message was that the media landscape is rapidly changing.

That trend continues today. The economics of the industry are becoming so unpredictable that illustrious magazines are scrambling to redesign their business models. Furthermore, digital publishing is supplanting print, while traditional science journalists are being inundated by a cohort of informal science communicators who bring innovative tools and talents with them.

Underlying it all is the question of how American Scientist can continue to be a leader in science communication while adapting to these volatile conditions. My role is to ensure the magazine thrives in this rapidly changing environment. I have recently observed a growing public expectation for readily accessible information from the scientific enterprise. American Scientist will address that expectation more directly, highlighting science that is relevant to the issues of our time.

You can see our renewed focus on display in this issue. Andrew Gelman and Eric Loken discuss the risks associated with making claims of statistical significance, namely the “p-hacking” problem, in "The Statistical Crisis in Science"; Brian Hayes deconstructs computer simulations used by climate scientists to determine the causes of our warming planet in the Computing Science column "Clarifying Climate Models"; and in the Perspective column, "The Bright Side of the Black Death", Pat Shipman explains how segments of the human population have paradoxically become more resilient subsequent to the bubonic plague of medieval Europe—a topic of immediate relevance in the face of recent outbreaks ranging from enterovirus to Ebola.

As exemplified by these articles, the scientific community is frequently called on to illuminate problems and guide us toward solutions. We’re intently focused on making that information more readily available. You may already have noticed that American Scientist is expanding our social media presence and has rolled out additional content online. But this is just the beginning.

On that cold January day, I was drawn to American Scientist because of its reputation as a celebrated purveyor of meaningful science. My experience and passion for using technology will help further extend that reputation into the digital world of tomorrow. I look forward to hearing from you as we embark together on the adventures ahead.—Jamie L. Vernon (@JLVernonPhD)