Chelonian Conservation and Biology, Volume 21, Issue 1: Covid, Chelonians, and a New “Normal”

It would be impossible for me to introduce the current issue of CCB without mentioning the coronavirus and its impact on our lives, our research, and our society. Many of us have lost loved ones from this pandemic, we have all lost turtle heroes, and we've all have had our lives and/or livelihoods changed in profound ways. Our science and conservation have also taken a huge hit; long-term time series interrupted, visits with colleagues and communities postponed, and field gear and installations latent for far too long. In many cases our projects are still not back to full throttle, and it is hard to say if and when we'll get there. Nevertheless, until recently I was optimistic that life was settling into a new “normal”. Personally, after nearly 2 years working from home, I've finally been able to go back to the lab and rekindle languishing fieldwork. Yet here we are in June 2022 and Covid numbers are rising again. Of course, this next ‘wave’ will be handled differently in different places, but I suspect we’re all wondering what’s next, and whether we’ll ever get out of this Covid loop. My hope is that, regardless of this virus, we all can find adaptive and innovative ways to keep our loved ones close and our work going strong.

Change has certainly become a constant since the March 2020 shut-down, and CCB has been no exception. Our editorial board has had two major changes since this time, and great loss. As we all know, Peter Pritchard passed in 2020 after a long illness. Although we lost Peter just before the pandemic hit full tilt, my grief from losing him is very much tied to the earliest days of Covid. Peter was one of CCB's initial and longest-tenured editors, and his CCB shoes will never be filled (please visit CCB's Peter C.H. Pritchard Memorial Issue for more about Peter: https://meridian.allenpress.com/ccb/article/19/1/1/439934/Honoring-the-Legacy-of-Peter-C-H-Pritchard). Since then, we also had another big change to our editorial team, with the departure of Dr. Joshua Ennen. Josh, I deeply appreciate all you've done for CCB over the years. You made huge contributions and were always thinking of how to improve CCB. I wish you the very best and hope our paths cross sometime soon! As for the rest of our team, we've got lots of work to do!

The most important ingredients of CCB's success during its 3 decades in print is the fantastic editorial team behind the scenes as well as all the referees that help improve the papers that hit our pages. Our current editorial team includes Founding Editor and my CCB Mentor, Anders Rhodin (Chelonian Research Foundation), and Editors Jeffrey Lovich (U.S. Geological Survey), Peter Lindeman (Edinboro University of Pennsylvania), Luca Luiselli (Centre of Environmental Studies Demetra), Cristina Jones (US Fish and Wildlife Service), Sandra Hochscheid (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn), Vivian Páez (Universidad de Antioquia), and Peter Paul van Dijk (Re:wild, Turtle Conservancy). To everyone: thank you for all you do, your leadership, patience, and willingness to invest your precious time in pushing CCB forward. I'd also 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, you've been instrumental in maintaining a bright future for CCB. Now on to the newest issue of Chelonian Conservation and Biology!

You have in your hands, or on your screen, CCB's Volume 21, Issue 1. Here you will find 15 articles with conservation and research efforts reported from seven countries (Australia, Brazil, Cuba, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Philippines, United States, and Venezuela) and data presented for 15 species: Caretta caretta (loggerhead), Chelonia mydas (green turtle), Chelydra serpentina (snapping turtle), Deirochelys reticularia (chicken turtle), Dermatemys mawaii (Central American river turtle), Emydoidea blandingii (Blanding's turtle), Eretmochelys imbricata (hawksbill), Gopherus polyphemus (gopher tortoise), Lepidochelys kempii (Kemp's ridley), Lepidochelys olivacea (olive ridley), Macrochelys suwanniensis (Suwannee alligator snapping turtle), Macrochelys temminckii (alligator snapping turtle), Malayemys khoratensis (Khorat snail-eating turtle), Myuchelys bellii (Bell's turtle), and Siebenrockiella leytensis (Palawan forest turtle).

In addition to this diversity of turtle and tortoise species, the research and conservation topics covered in this issue are wide ranging, and include anatomy and physiology, comparative life history analysis, demography and distribution, sea turtle stranding and bycatch research, genetic research, diet analysis, predation abatement strategies, veterinary science, and elaboration of local ecological knowledge. I hope you enjoy these great contributions! And please like us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/CCBJournal/), Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/ccb_journal/), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/CCB_Journal).