Airlock Alpha recently announced some staff changes taking place effective Jan. 1 in its writing department, welcoming a new member to the team, and creating a new position for a long-time staff writer.

Robin Brownfield joins Airlock Alpha as a staff writer. She currently is an adjunct sociology professer at Rutgers University and various other colleges in New Jersey, and also moonlights as a playwright, artist and mother of five children. She is a lifelong science-fiction fan, being one of the original fans of "Star Trek," watching it since it premiered in 1966.

"I was very excited when Robin answered one of our recent calls for writers, and I can't wait to see her get started here on the site," said Airlock Alpha site coordinator Michael Hinman. "Robin has been a great presence on our message boards, and now she will be a great presence in our news pages as well."

Robin can be found on the Airlock Alpha message boards, known as the SyBoards, as Nebula1400, where she always shares her insights and once in a while, how Mr. Spock's diet in the original "Star Trek" had made her a proud vegetarian since 1968.

She might spend her time at colleges, but Robin is no stranger to writing. She worked as a labor journalist in New York City working for the newspaper of the Social Service Employees' Union in the late 1980s. She also worked with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers' Union in the 1970s (where she met a very young Edward James Olmos). She even once persuaded George Takei, Star Trek's Mr. Sulu, to talk about the UFW's boycotts of grapes, lettuce and Gallow wines at Star Trek conventions in the mid-1970s.

In recent years, she also dabbled in writing for musical theatre, with her most recent work, "Delilah," being performed on the main state at the Midtown International Theatre Festival in New York City in 2004.

One of Airlock Alpha's long-time staff writers now has a new position with the site. Carma Spence-Pothitt is now taking on the position of Special Assignments Reporter with Airlock Alpha. While this will remove her from the day-to-day news writing that she has longed enjoyed, this will give her an opportunity to help bring more original reporting to Airlock Alpha in the form of interviews and the like.

Expect to see some of Carma's new work early on in 2007 as we unveil some of the big names in our genre that she will talk to.

Airlock Alpha, which is operated by the SyUniverse Group, was first founded as SyFy World in 1998, before merging with Star Trek Portal in late 2000 to become Airlock Alpha. It is owned by Michael Hinman with Bryant Griffin as the site's lead designer and Nicholas Chase as lead programmer. Wayne Hall is Airlock Alpha's news editor.