PNNL

Tim Johnson, a computational scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), was recently named associate editor of the leading international journal Groundwater.

In this role he will be responsible for assisting the five primary editors in reviewing and approving submitted manuscripts—a key step in preserving the integrity of Groundwater’s peer-review process. Associate editors act as proverbial gatekeepers who perform tasks, such as inviting reviewers to join a project, monitoring the work of selected reviewers, announcing the final decision made for papers, and more. They are foundationally important in maintaining the journal’s reputation.

Johnson’s invitation was based in part on his expertise in subsurface geophysical imaging, in particular understanding how it can be used to solve complex environmental and energy challenges.

“This appointment is a great opportunity to network within the scientific community and showcase some of the impactful science that PNNL is spearheading,” Johnson stated. “I’m excited to see how the peer-review process works behind the scenes and meet other editors along the way.”

At PNNL, Johnson’s research is helping to shed light on what is happening underground in real time. Having a more complete picture of the mysterious subsurface world can help inform decisions in environmental management and stewardship, expedite the remediation of subsurface contaminants, address how legacy waste is stored and disposed of, and improve how energy sources are accessed and extracted.

“Ultimately, if you can accurately predict what’s going to happen next in the subsurface, you have a higher likelihood of being able to control and manage it,” Johnson explained.

The Groundwater journal is a bimonthly publication that focuses on practical applications in groundwater hydrology. Since its inception in 1963, it has published on a myriad of topics, including groundwater flow and well hydraulics, hydrogeochemistry and contaminant hydrogeology, geophysics applications, groundwater management and policy, and more.