Eric Harris is Canadian Geographic’s new editor-in-chief. Harris began working at the 79-year-old magazine as an assistant editor in 1984 and was most recently executive editor under Rick Boychuk, who left CG at the end of January after nearly 14 years in the top post.

“My goal is to build on Rick’s legacy,” Harris stated in a release. “By channelling the voices of a generation of writers, photographers, editors, artists, scientists and everyday people with extraordinary stories to tell, he made an enormous contribution to the national dialogue. I hope to help stimulate that lively conversation.”

The Montreal native is a graduate of Ottawa’s Carleton University, where he studied sociology and anthropology, and began his journalism career in 1974 as a reporter and reviewer at the now-defunct Montreal Star.