I wish to send a quick note to the readership and authors of BECT. As you know, many journals provide periodic communications to their readership. Owing to this, I have decided to occasionally provide a note to complement the monthly issues of BECT. In addition, I have asked BECT’s Senior Editor’s, on occasion, to contribute an “Editor’s Note” when they feel that an important issue requires further insight or when a specific paper should be highlighted. Please see the “Editor’s Note” in this issue of BECT that highlights a paper about the detection of mercury in Notothenioid fish collected from the Antarctic.

New to BECT: We are starting a new type of submission: “Focused Reviews”. This type of submission will be like a “Mini Review” that will focus on current topics that we feel are timely and are important to the scientific community. I am pleased to announce that BECT’s first “Focused Review” was published in the October, 2015, issue of BECT. Please see the “Focused Review” entitled “Impacts of Contaminants on the Ecological Role of Lotic Biofilms”, Feckler et al. (95) 421–427. This review highlights the current knowledge on how autotrophic and heterotrophic biofilms can be modulated as a response to chemical stress. The Editors of BECT are currently working on additional invited submissions.

Finally, I am very excited to announce that 2016 is the 50th Anniversary of BECT. This is a highly important milestone for BECT, placing it as one of the early environmental journals of this particular genre. All in all, we should be very proud of this accomplishment, as this journal was established on the heels of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and prior to the development of many of the Acts and Agencies that currently regulate environmental issues and policies worldwide. Thus, it is very important that this anniversary is made relevant and celebrated by the scientific community. I, together with the Editors, would like to formally invite you to be part of this celebration by contributing to BECT in 2016. If you would like to submit an Editorial or a paper that highlights the history of BECT and its role in environmental research, please feel free to contact me.