Celebrating a 27-year tenure with African Journal of Marine Science

After 43 years with the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) and 27 years being involved in the African Journal of Marine Science, Hanlie Spamer has retired. 27 years ago, the journal was produced entirely in-house, other than printing, which was outsourced and all correspondence with authors was conducted via snail mail and was Hanlie’s responsibility.

The journal, which at the time only saw one issue per year being published, has grown and now publishes four issues per year. Hanlie taught herself how to do page layout and as time passed and email finally arrived, the journal was handed to NISC to publish. The journal moved online and is now accessed by readers across the globe. 

The introduction of ScholarOne was a further development for managing the journal’s workflow and Hanlie has overseen this system for the last 13 years. Hanlie's position has been handed to Rabelani Nesamvuni who is based at the DFFE. 

“Hanlie has been an outstanding Editorial Assistant, and her work ethic and dedication have ensured that the editorial office has run efficiently and professionally. In many ways she is the face of the journal in that she is the person that authors and reviewers interact with first. When we all worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hanlie made sure that the journal did not miss a beat,” said Editor-in-Chief, Sheldon Dudley. 

NISC wishes Hanlie a happy and fulfilled retirement and welcomes Rabelani Nesamvuni into the position of Editorial Assistant for the journal.