So having missed the ESA annual meeting this year, as a British Expat I’m very much looking forward to coming home to the UK to attend INTECOL which is being held in the greatest city in the world, London. Warm beer, steak and kidney pie, fish n’ chips, rain, yes, I’m looking forward to INTECOL in the UK for many reasons, but especially to help celebrate the Centenary of the British Ecological Society, including the Centenary Party at Old Billingsgate on Thursday.

The meeting itself promises a lot. All four Journal of Ecology Editors will be around so keep your eye out for Amy Austin, Richard Bardgett, Mark Rees and me skulking around the ExCel Centre. Managing Editor Andrea Baier (freshly back from ESA) and Assistant Editor Lauren Sandhu will also be around so take the chance to meet them if you haven’t before. There will be plenty of opportunities for Journal readers and authors to track us down – please do. We will also be taking part in a “Meet the Editors” session on the Wiley-Blackwell stand on Tuesday lunchtime.

As befits a large conference there is a lot to choose from. Whatever plans I have now will probably be thrown out the window after the first couple of days, but some sessions and talks that I really to want to attend include “The Tree of Life in Ecosystems: Evolution of Plant Effects on Carbon and Nutrient Cycling” symposium on Monday that is being organized by Journal AEs Hans Cornelissen and Will Cornwell. A number of the papers from this symposium will be published as a Special Feature in the Journal. I also expect to dip into the symposium on “Biological Invasions: How to Reconcile Science, Management and Policy” on Thursday. Earlier in the week on Tuesday, I absolutely have to listen to Ilkka Hanski’s plenary on “Spatial Structure of Populations and Biodiversity”.  And, then there are the oral sessions and posters. I’m not even going to attempt to plan those out at this point! But, yes, I’ll try to attend your talk, really.

Oh, did I just miss it? Sorry! I was out getting a cuppa tea…

David Gibson

Executive Editor, Journal of Ecology