Patterns emerging at the intersection of scholarly, science, technology, and medicine and trade publishing always offer ample invitation to contemplation. Many of my authors feel an increasingly urgent drive to communicate the links between their research, which may look esoteric at first glance, and the concrete problems that could be alleviated through the application of their findings. Even the most informed and well-intentioned readers seem dazed by the relentless, staccato parade of shallow insights gleaned through the dubious lens of social media. Everyone appears to be struggling to find sources of hope in the face of intense societal challenges laid bare for us every day.

The collision of these factors seems to be generating a hunger for books that explain the origins of an array of tough issues for humanity and offer pathways for solutions. Books illuminating connections between astrophysics and war, evolutionary biology and climate change, molecular biophysics and disease—these are becoming massive bestsellers. Humans are contemplating our future as a species in a way we have not seen since the height of the Cold War, and the next few years are looking like a culmination of this existential anxiety. Ironically, this fraught cultural landscape may be a doorway for scientific researchers to reach a public that of late seems to have been spurning their insights in a paroxysm of populism.

What book/genre/topic would you like to see cross your transom?

I don’t think I ever realized a “transom” existed until I began working alongside humanities editors at JHUP. Opportunistic acquisitions are few and far between for most scientific publishers, but if we imagine a dream world in which unsolicited proposals magically appeared on my desk, I’d want to see manuscripts from Jennifer Doudna and Michelle Nijhuis and Adriana Ocampo and Catriona Sandilands and Melody Starya Mobley and Kay Behrensmeyer and Shirley Ann Jackson…apparently my enchanted slush pile would be more of a mountain.

What topic don’t you ever want to see again?

While our growing entomology list is fascinating and research in the area is of great import, a couple organisms are…tougher for me to love than others. Apparently my predecessor signed THE book on cockroaches. While I am given to understand that the volume contains the finest scientific content available on the family Ectobiidae, I cannot personally attest to the veracity of that statement, as I had the copies removed from my office before my tenure with JHUP began.

What do you want to change about publishing?

Two major issues in need of action come to mind. The first is that we need to get serious about insisting on diversity in our industry. That means not only fostering inclusivity in our organizations (though that is pivotal), but also purposefully amplifying the voices of marginalized groups when we seek and sign authors. The second is that we need to be mindful of where we are putting our resources—how are we investing our money, our time, our energy? It’s easy to get lulled into the microcosm of mundane job requirements. Spreadsheets are a tool, not a goal. We should be better about remembering our core purposes as book publishers—opening eyes, freeing minds, connecting people.

What’s unique about your corner of the publishing industry?

I am in an interesting position as a university press editor after spending the first 20 years of my career acquiring books for huge global science and technology houses that ultimately existed to satisfy shareholders. Perhaps the most spectacular privilege of this transition into the UP world is that I am suddenly allowed to be an openly mission-driven publisher. At JHUP, my remit is simply to publish the most impactful and rigorous scientific work possible. To champion the writing of scientists truly engaged with the natural world, and striving to solve humanity’s grand challenges, is inherently a mission-driven endeavor, and I am no longer obligated to obfuscate that purpose.

Anything else you’d like to add?

I would like to encourage everyone to take time to write, to teach others the value of books, to support women in science, and to #readUP!

Tiffany Gasbarrini is senior science acquisitions editor at Johns Hopkins University Press. Her list currently highlights mammalogy, evolutionary biology, paleontology, wildlife science, and systems ecology as well as ornithology, ichthyology, herpetology, and entomology. Tiffany has spent two decades building celebrated portfolios of books and journals for renowned international publishing houses in a diverse array of STEM disciplines. Her books have won international acclaim from governing bodies and NGOs, including the United Nations and the World Resources Institute. Before joining JHUP in 2016, Tiffany was senior acquisitions editor at Elsevier, where she founded the Global S&T Books Renewable Energy publishing program, and senior editor, energy and sustainability, at Springer Nature Group, where she was founding publisher of the Women in Engineering Series. She has a degree in literature from Mount Holyoke College, with course work in publishing at Emerson College and the Publishing Training Centre in Oxford, England. In her spare time, she enjoys botany, fantasy/sci-fi, scuba diving, and big dogs.