Editors
Our in-house editors are PhD-level scientists with research experience. All in-house editors work full-time for the journal to oversee the review process, handle manuscripts as primary editors, liaise with our Editorial Board Members and enforce journal policy. Editors also engage in other activities on behalf of the journal, such as attending and organizing conferences and meeting with scientists at their institutions.
In-house editors work closely with our Editorial Board Members to ensure that all manuscripts are subject to the same editorial standards and journal policies.
Chief Editor: Heike Langenberg, PhD, Springer Nature, UK
Heike launched Communications Earth & Environment in February 2020, as the Chief Editor. She holds a degree in mathematics and a PhD in Oceanography, and then moved into climate change research for her postdoctoral work. In 1999, she joined Nature as an Associate Editor with responsibility for the broad area of climate research and related fields. She went on to become the launch Chief Editor of Nature Geoscience and set up and led the journal from 2007 onwards. Heike is based in the London office.
Deputy Editor: Joe Aslin, PhD, Springer Nature, UK
Joe joined Communications Earth & Environment in January 2020 and has a background in tectonics and structural geology. His doctoral research at the University of Liverpool focused on the physical and chemical processes which influence deformation in mid-crustal fault and shear zones using a combination of field and laboratory techniques. Prior to that, Joe used U-Pb geochronology to investigate the uplift and tectonic history of the central Andes during his MSci research at the University of Bristol. Joe is based in the London office.
Senior Editor: Clare Davis, PhD, Springer Nature, UK
Clare started her editorial career in 2019, working at Scientific Reports and Nature Geoscience before joining Communications Earth & Environment in January 2021. She received her MSc in marine sciences from the University of Plymouth, and then completed her doctoral research on the marine phosphorus cycle at the University of Liverpool. Her postdoctoral research at the University of Liverpool and the University of Hawai’i focused on the biogeochemistry of the subtropical North Atlantic, with particular emphasis on nutrient limitation of ocean productivity. Clare is based in the London office.
Associate Editor: Martina Grecequet, PhD, Springer Nature, US
Martina started her editorial career in mid-2022 at Nature Climate Change before joining Communications Earth & Environment in June 2023. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Wageningen University, The Netherlands, and completed postdoctoral work at the Earth Institute of Columbia University in New York and the Institute on the Environment of the University of Minnesota. She also served as a research fellow at the Project Drawdown. She worked on diverse interdisciplinary projects, including integrated assessment models, climate change adaptation, social equity, and human migration.
Associate Editor: Aliénor Lavergne, PhD, Springer Nature, UK
Aliénor worked for ten years in academic research before joining Communications Earth & Environment in July 2022. She obtained her MSc degree in climate and environmental sciences and completed her PhD in dendroclimatology focusing on southern South America at University of Paris-Saclay (LSCE, France) and IANIGLA (Argentina) in January 2016. Having worked as lecturer in geosciences in two French universities, she joined Imperial College London (UK) as a research associate to develop her research in the field of climate change and terrestrial biosphere modelling. Before joining Springer Nature, she worked for a few months at the University of Reading (UK). Aliénor is based in the London office.
alienor.lavergne@springernature.com
Associate Editor: Carolina Ortiz Guerrero, PhD, Springer Nature, US
Carolina joined Communications Earth & Environment in October 2023. She holds a Bachelor's in geosciences from the Universidad de los Andes and a Ph.D. in Geosciences from the University of Florida. Carolina has an academic background in geochronology, tectonics, field geology, and science communication. She is the co-founder of a social media-based science communication project in Earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences. Carolina is based in the New York City office.
carolina.ortizguerrero@us.nature.com
Associate Editor: Alireza Bahadori, PhD, Springer Nature, US
Alireza started his editorial career in October 2023 at Nature Geoscience before joining Communications Earth & Environment in March 2024. He holds a Ph.D. in Geoscience from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and completed his postdoctoral research at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University and Stony Brook University in New York, focused on the coupling effects of lithosphere dynamics, surface processes, and climate. Alireza is based in the New York City office.
alireza.bahadori@us.nature.com
Associate Editor: Alice Drinkwater, PhD, Springer Nature, UK
Alice joined Communications Earth & Environment in April 2024. She holds an Integrated Master’s in Geophysical Sciences from the University of Leeds, and a PhD in Atmospheric Science from the University of Edinburgh. Her doctoral research concerned modelling and metrology of stable isotopes of atmospheric methane. She has also worked as a Project Manager for an academic network studying air quality in low carbon housing and has worked on multiple science outreach projects. Alice is based in the London office.
alice.drinkwater@springernature.com
Consulting Editor: Jialiang Cai, PhD, Springer Nature, China
Jialiang received a B.Sc. in Ecology from East China Normal University (China) and a M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences from Peking University (China). He earned his Ph.D. in Hydrogeology from Freie Universität Berlin (Germany). Jialiang continued to work at Aalto University (Finland). His research focused on understanding the exposure and resilience of society to nature resources risk as well as the synergies and tradeoffs between economic competitiveness, social welfare, and environmental sustainability. Jialiang served as a Senior Editorial Development Specialist at Frontiers, and moved to the npj series in 2023. In addition, he is now working on Communications Earth & Environment as a consulting editor, starting from February 2024. Jialiang is based in the Shanghai office.
