From the Editor

For the past eight years I have served as Editor-in-Chief of the Native Plants Journal. Although these have been professionally rewarding years, it has been a time filled with much personal struggle. In 2016, I suffered a massive heart attack while on a native plant collection foray in the Frank Church Wilderness in central Idaho. This was a life-changing event. Survival was far from guaranteed. Recovery was slow and agonizing. For six years, I lived with a battery-powered artificial heart system. Then, last year, I was given the gift of a heart transplant. I am still in the early stages of recovery from that traumatic surgery.

During this time of trial, I needed focus that could give me a reason to keep moving forward through life. My family gave me much purpose to fight for survival and recovery. My personal research and teaching tasks at the University of Idaho also kept me engaged. The Native Plants Journal played a key role in my recovery process. It demanded its own time and commitment and forced me to look beyond my own personal challenges. I could easily have resigned from my duties, but individual allegiance to the goals and mission of the journal gave me the desire to remain involved. In a very real sense, the journal helped me overcome my medical deficiencies.

In June of this year, I plan to retire from the faculty of the University of Idaho. In conjunction with this event, I will resign my position as NPJ Editor-in-Chief. Although necessary to allow me to meet future life goals, separation from the journal editorial board will be a cheerless occasion. NPJ is a unique and wonderful publication, with a mission to serve conservation practitioners in a way no other journal can. I have immensely benefited from my association with the journal and its publication staff in more ways than I can count. I love this journal and the people who make it possible.