Ecology and Conservation of the Threatened Blackside Dace, Chrosomus cumberlandensis General Acknowledgments Many people deserve recognition for helping launch this special issue focused on Blackside Dace ecology and conservation. I apologize in advance to anyone that I might neglect to mention. First, I thank the authors for their contributions to the special issue. We certainly would not have an entire issue devoted to Blackside Dace research if not for their efforts. I also must credit Keith Goldfarb for suggesting the idea of the special issue. I had originally envisioned a monograph of Blackside Dace studies just from Tennessee Technological University (TTU), but Keith encouraged me to consider a wider collection of articles. Jeorg-Henner Lotze also embraced the idea and provided early guidance. The whole editorial team at Southeastern Naturalist was supportive, patient, and organized. Keith Goldfarb, Jill Weber, Glen Mittelhauser, Anne Favolise, and Jason Wimbiscus deserve special recognition for their work on the issue. I also thank the guest editors who handled individual manuscripts and the small army of anonymous peer reviewers who generously gave their time and technical expertise to improving the articles. I especially thank Wayne Starnes for accepting my invitation to write the Foreword and for providing, along with Lynn Starnes, the strong scientific foundation upon which our recent studies are based. We are indebted to Wayne, Lynn, and the other pioneering biologists who paved the way for future Blackside Dace research. I gratefully acknowledge the Non-Instructional Faculty Assignment Committee at Tennessee Tech for awarding the assignment which released me from teaching duties during January–May 2012. The assignment allowed me to assume the role of volume editor and complete much of the associated work in a timely fashion. Department of Biology chairpersons Daniel Combs and Bradford Cook endorsed the project, and several people wrote compelling letters to support my application. Publication costs were defrayed by TTU’s College of Arts and Sciences; the Center for the Management, Utilization and Protection of Water Resources at TTU; the Tennessee Chapter of The Nature Conservancy via a Habitat Conservation Planning Assistance grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) awarded to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency; the US Geological Survey; Kentucky Aquatic Resources Fund; Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at University of Georgia; Georgia College & State University; Morehead State University; and the Department of Biology at TTU. Additional print copies were sponsored by the Kentucky Aquatic Resources Fund, a partnership between the USFWS and the Kentucky Waterways Alliance. Lee Andrews, Michael Floyd, and Judy Petersen coordinated the funding for the supplemental printing. Finally, I thank my family for their patience and support during this editorial assignment. Hayden T. Mattingly Volume Editor