By the power of young researchers

Anchored in this changing time, science and technologies matter; yet young researchers matter more. It is not simply that in time they will grow to be the next generation of experienced scientists, but that, at this point in their career, their fearlessness and ambitions make them driving forces of evolutional changes, adventurers pushing intellectual boundaries, and navigators in the big waves. That is exactly why we called out the inaugural Early-Career Editorial Board (ECEB) of Environmental Science and Ecotechnology.

There is no doubt that environment-ecology-related issues have been pushed to the forefront of our time by hot topics such as carbon neutrality [1,2], biosecurity [3,4], environmental health [5,6], and sustainability [7,8]. It is increasingly clear that the double-E field will continue to be evergreen in the future, evolving in scale and scope. As a young journal, Environmental Science and Ecotechnology is committed to playing an impactful and leading role in the double-E field [9], and our goal is rooted in the trust and efforts of those young visionaries [10].

Back in May 2021, during the recruitment of the inaugural ECEB, we received a total of 336 applications from more than 200 universities, research institutions, and technology companies of 29 countries. The recruitment was highlighted by the applicants' broad international backgrounds and abundant career paths (Fig. 1). In the end, more than sixty applicants stood out to serve on our inaugural ECEB (Table 1). They who have generously confirmed to dedicate time and effort with ESE will broaden the diversity of ESE's community, as well as help ESE stay fresh and maintain the direction of sustainable growth.

Fig. 1.

A Summary of the application for ESE's inaugural ECEB. a. The distribution of applicants outside China. b. The distribution of applicants' titles or roles in their institutions. c. The distribution of the applicants' Ph.D. years.

Table 1.

List of ESE's inaugural early-career editorial board members.

Name	Institution	Country
Sameh S. ALI	Tanta University	Egypt
Peyman BABAKHANI	University of Leeds	UK
CHEN Chaoji	Wuhan University	China
CHEN Wenqian	National University of Singapore	Singapore
CHEN Xi	Stanford University	USA
CHENG Junye	Hong Kong Polytechnic University	China
CHEW Kit Wayne	Xiamen University Malaysia	Malaysia
DING Jing	Harbin Institute of Technology	China
DONG Ruijiao	Shanghai Jiao Tong University	China
DONG Yingchao	Dalian University of Technology	China
Salama EI-SAYED	Lanzhou University	China
Mustafa Evren ERSAHIN	Istanbul Technical University	Turkey
FENG Cuijie	Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI)	Italy
GAO Shuhong	Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)	China
Seyed Mohammaddara GHASIMI	University of Kurdistan Hewler	Iraq
Nishad JAYASUNDARA	Duke University	USA
JI Haodong	Peking University	China
JIN Chao	Sun Yat-Sen University	China
JU Feng	Westlake University	China
Musharib KHAN	National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST)	Pakistan
George Z. KYZAS	International Hellenic University	Greece
LAI Bin	Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research	Germany
LI Sheng	Desalination Technologies Research Institute, Saline Water Conversion Corporation	Saudi Arabia
LI Tao	Southeast University	China
LI Nan	Tianjin University	China
LIN Hongjun	Zhejiang Normal University	China
LIU Shude	National Institute for Materials Science	Japan
LIU Jiumeng	Harbin Institute of Technology	China
LIU Zishu	Zhejiang University	China
LU Lu	Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)	China
MAO Shun	Tongji University	China
MOJIRI Amin	Hiroshima University	Japan
Ram PRASAD	Mahatma Gandhi Central University	India
QIAO Min	Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences	China
QIU Guanglei	South China University of Technology	China
QIU Wenhui	Southern University of Science and Technology	China
SHEN Huizhong	Southern University of Science and Technology	China
SHEN Guofeng	Peking University	China
Vinay Kumar TYAGI	Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee	India
WANG Xiaonan	Tsinghua University	China
WANG Hou	Hunan University	China
WANG Yuxian	China University of Petroleum	China
WANG Xiaofei	Center for Microbial Ecology and Technology	Belgium
WANG Xiaoyong	Kangwon National University	Korea
WANG Xu	Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen)	China
WEI Zongsu	Aarhus University	Denmark
WU Di	Ghent University	Belgium
WU Zhen	Xi'an Jiaotong University	China
YANG Hong	University of Reading	UK
YANG Zhugen	Cranfield University	UK
YANG Shanshan	Harbin Institute of Technology	China
YI Shouliang	U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory	USA
YIN Ran	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	China
YONG Yangchun	Jiangsu University	China
Habibollah YOUNESI	Tarbiat Modares University	Iran
ZHANG Yifeng	Technical University of Denmark	Denmark
ZHANG Xiaodong	Shandong University	China
ZHANG Liwu	Fudan University	China
ZHANG Jing	Chongqing University	China
ZHAO Renzun	North Carolina A&T State University	USA
ZHENG Bo	Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School	China
ZHENG Yixuan	Chinese Academy of Environmental Planning	China
ZHOU Zhongbo	Southwest University	China
ZHU Xiuping	Louisiana State University	USA

Those newly nominated ECEB members are considered, in our eyes, rising stars in the perspective of academic impact, international resource in academia, as well as (potential) contribution to the journal. Benefiting from their expertise, experience, and insight, ESE will be capable of publishing more comprehensive topics of articles and better positioned to fulfil its duty. I believe, riding on the wave of the ECEB members, together with our existing Editorial Board members, the still-young Environmental Science and Ecotechnology will lead forward to new, unexpected ways.