EMSL Researcher Honored with Outstanding Service Award from mSystems Journal

Christopher Anderton, a chemist with the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, was recently honored with an Outstanding Service Award for his contributions as an editor for the journal mSystems.

The journal publishes research about insights into the metabolic and regulatory systems at single-cell and microbial community scales. The senior editor team at mSystems recognized Anderton for his “exceptional quality of service and dedication” as an editor.

“Our team at mSystems and the American Society for Microbiology are grateful for the diligence and expertise that you bring to your role within the peer-review process,” said Jack Gilbert, editor-in-chief of mSystems in a message to Anderton. “We truly appreciate your ongoing commitment to advancing science and to mSystems.”

Anderton has served as an editor for the publication since 2021, where he reviews submissions for the “New Methods and Technologies” area. Anderton said he looks for clarity of story, strong validation of methods utilized, and accurate interpretations when reviewing submissions for the journal.

“Is the impact of the new approaches and technologies clear?” he said. “Also, as a trained bioanalytical chemist, does the data make sense, is it validated, and is the methodology robust and reproducible?”

Anderton said the award from mSystems came as a surprise. He said as an editor, it can be hard to determine whether he is being too harsh or too lenient on submissions.

“I really focus on making sure that impactful papers get published in mSystems, as the impactor factor helps my career, as well,” he said. “I love publishing in mSystems, myself.”

Anderton’s research at EMSL and PNNL focuses on elucidating chemical interactions occurring across all kingdoms of life, ranging from those in soils and the rhizosphere, to those that affect human health. He has led efforts to expand mass spectrometry imaging at EMSL and PNNL, using the tools to study bacterial communities, rhizosphere-related systems, and human health-related processes.

He said applying his expertise, as well as the foundational contributions from EMSL and PNNL, to his role as an editor has been rewarding.

“Metabolomics and mass spectrometry imaging are emerging methods and techniques in microbial biology,” he said. “A benefit of being at PNNL and in EMSL is that we have been at the leading edge of these approaches for microbial biology since I started here over a decade ago. Several of the papers I have reviewed are derivatives of things we developed and created here at PNNL. So it is exciting to see the influence we have had in the field.”