| Status | Authoritative location |
|---|---|
| Open | [https://github.com/rse-aunz/organisation/blob/master/Elections/2021/nominations.md] |
Nominations are in the order received by the Returning Officer. Please see the bottom of this document for a template.
- Manodeep Sinha
- Rowland Mosbergen
- Janet Stacey
- Justin Baker
- Nooriyah Poonawala Lohani
- Rebecca Lange
- Paula Andrea Martinez
Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia msinha@swin.edu.au
Diversity is a natural outcome when the underlying culture and processes are equitable and inclusive. While research has shown that diverse teams lead to better outcomes, the fundamental justification for inclusive spaces stems from a fairness viewpoint -- forming, enabling and sustaining diverse teams is the right thing to do.
At the moment, there is an imbalance in representation in the workforce, particularly within the eresearch sector - where the people are pre-dominantly male. In the 2018 RSE survey in Australia, > 80% of Australian survey responders identified as male, and an even higher fraction identify as male in New Zealand. While gender is one such marginalised identity in this RSE space, there are many more such social identities that are routinely excluded. As a member of the RSE-AUNZ Steering Committee, I will continue to work towards equity in all spaces that I have access to.
In 100 words, describe your experience of working as a Research Software Engineer.
I have nearly 20 years of experience in research, including almost 30 publications, numerous talks, conference proceedings. In recent years, I have also lead and assisted with organising research training activities for Australian astronomers.
I am a typical example of a Research Software Engineer. I spend a significant chunk of time writing and debugging code for my research groups (ARC Centre of Excellence, ASTRO 3D). I create and maintaining high-quality open-source research software and teach other researchers and students how to write code. Despite all of this necessary work around research software, the primary metric to measure my productivity is still the number of publications. I am also participating in various working groups to increase the recognition of the critical role of software within research, and make concrete recommendations where possible that can improve the current state of research software practices.
What skills will you bring to the committee?
I am an academic involved in many aspects of research software -- designing and developing new software, maintaining old code-bases and training researchers in modern computing practices. I understand the challenges faced by both the vulnerable students and postdocs who lack the training to produce high quality research software. As a founding member of the current RSE chapter, I have the vision and leadership skills required to create and sustain a prosperous RSE community.
What would you like to change through your involvement on the committee?
The key priorities for the RSE community are awareness and recognition for the RSE role. I am on several national committees in astronomy -- e.g., EMCR representative at the National Committee for Astronomy (Australian Academy of Science) and the immediate past-Chair of the Early Career Researcher Chapter for The Astronomical Society of Australia. I will continue to raise awareness for the critical role of software in research and recognition for the contribution from RSEs. As a member of the committee, I would like to engage with national and international organisations to find concrete ways to improve diversity in the RSE community.
If you have already contributed to the RSE community, please list those contributions below.
In 2017, I took the initiative to contact with RSE UK to establish the current RSE Chapter in Australia and New Zealand. As a member of the Interim Steering Committee, I was involved with nearly all activities undertaken for the RSE community. These activities include the inaugural round table discussion at eResearch Australasia, in 2017, remote presentations for UKRSE Workshop (2017), various local and remote RSE meetups, C3DIS, the international RSE survey in 2018 etc. Since 2019, I have been a member of the RSE-AUNZ Steering Committee (SC). From early 2020, I took over as the Australian co-Chair of RSE-AUNZ. As a member of the RSE-AUNZ SC, I have lead/contributed/participated in all of the RSE-AUNZ events, including the upcoming RSE survey (2021).
If you would like to serve on a 1-year term (instead of the regular 2-year term), please note that here
I am happy to be considered for a 1-year term if that makes forming the RSE-AUNZ SC easier (including adding new members into the SC)
N/A, Melbourne, Australia rowland.h.mosbergen@gmail.com
My diversity statement is defined on my website Practical Diversity and Inclusion
8 years as a RSE in genomics with Stemformatics, helped form the original interim steering committee as chair.
Strategic planning, community building and stakeholder management.
I would like to build a stronger sense of community, if possible. It would be nice to expand the NZ RSE conference to be NZ/AU and possibly even to Asia.
I would like to see if we could raise awareness of RSEs in industry and in the senior management of universities.
Contributions were a while ago, but setup the first mini-conference in 2019.
Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), Auckland, New Zealand janet.stacey@esr.cri.nz
I am a woman trying to dip my toes in the waters of software engineering, a sector that still leaves an impression of a pimply white nerdy guy sitting in his mums basement hacking the world. I enjoy sharing my experiences and encouraging a range of gender, sexual and ethnically diverse people to change the way RSEs are viewed by our colleagues. The more diverse voices we can get in the room, the better the outcomes will be of our work. We can do more to mitigate the risk of bias and shape our communication style to promote understanding and acceptance across all cultures. I am looking for ways to actively engage with others to achieve better, safer workplaces and outcomes for all.
In 100 words, describe your experience of working as a Research Software Engineer. I have worked in research for my entire career (20 years) from a science perspective. I began in medical research before spending 14 years as a technician in the forensic DNA laboratory. Technology in genomics was moving quickly so I retrained as a Bioinformatician and now work as a Digital Science Engineer (2 years). This has involved automating analysis and reporting pipelines, dashboard creation, statistical analysis, and ML pipeline development. I am also an advocate for upskilling others in good data science principles by supervising accelerator and Master degree projects, informal mentorship, data carpentry workshops (I am a badged instructor) and involvement in data science direction and data sovereignty policy development in NZs Crown Research Institutes. My role at ESR leverages experience in service delivery of a product that must be maintained at a high quality due to its real-world consequences and being at the cutting edge of data science policy development.
What skills will you bring to the committee? I am enthusiastic and energised with all the ideals of someone fresh out of university but tempered by the experience of working in science in New Zealand.
What would you like to change through your involvement on the committee?
I am enthusiastic to get recognition of the RSE role in science. I want us to be recognised by our industries as key people and have our acheivements noticed and understood as being different from your average scientist. I want to improve communication among organisations to avoid reinventing the wheel and support projects to create long-lasting, well-thought outcomes.
If you have already contributed to the RSE community, please list those contributions below.
I have acted as a member of the organising committee for the NZ-RSE conference held in September 2021.
If you would like to serve on a 1-year term (instead of the regular 2-year term), please note that here
I am happy to be considered for any term
CSIRO, Melbourne. justin.baker@csiro.au
I am a strong advocate of the finding that diverse teams are better performing teams. This flows into my on going recruitment tasks, where I have assembled high-performing teams comprised of people from a range of backgrounds, ethnicities and a balance of genders. My current team at CSIRO is a perfect example!
In 100 words, describe your experience of working as a Research Software Engineer.
I have a BSc in Computer Science, Master of Information Technology and Grad Dip in Biotechnology & Business.
I have worked as a software developer at Monash University and the Bureau of Meteorology. I am currently leading the Data Analytics and Visualisation Team of eight RSEs in CSIRO’s Scientific Computing Group.
What skills will you bring to the committee?
During my career, I have occupied many IT based roles in the research support area. These include Senior IT Officer, Divisional IT Manager, Executive Officer, and RSE Team Lead. This experience – including software design and implementation, IT infrastructure support, team management and project management – provides me with a great perspective on the issues affecting individuals across the “RSE spectrum”.
What would you like to change through your involvement on the committee?
I’m really keen to see the RSE movement achieve recognition and acceptance in Australia, and for us to contribute to the movement internationally.
If you have already contributed to the RSE community, please list those contributions below.
I have been an active member of the RSE-AUNZ steering committee since 2019 and would like to continue in the role.
I have successfully presented abstracts and BoFs at eResearch Australasia, eResearch NZ and C3DIS on various topics including Metrics for the RSE Community, Creating an RSE Community in a complex ecosystem, Scientific Visualisation and the delivery of eResearch services.
If you would like to serve on a 1-year term (instead of the regular 2-year term), please note that here.
New Zealand eScience Infrastructure, New Zealand nooriyah.lohani@nesi.org.nz
As an immigrant Indian woman working to carve out a career in the New Zealand research system especially in computational science, I am sensitive to the challenges faced by underrepresented groups. At the same time, I have benefitted from the opportunities presented to me by supportive communities and unbiased mentors. I have always worked towards creating the type of supportive communities that have helped me, to help others. Building an equitable, inclusive and diverse community together means that we can ensure it is a space where everyone can be heard and thrive – it’s a win-win!
In 100 words, describe your experience of working as a Research Software Engineer.
I have completed a Bachelor of Science majoring in Computer science and Genomics, Postgraduate Diploma in bioinformatics and a MSc in Bioinformatics. I am also currently pursuing a PhD, where I am looking at using machine learning models to predict influenza like illness case counts in New Zealand.
After my Masters I spent 5 years working in the Bioinformatics research as an RSE, initially at a cancer diagnostics company and later at a University.
I currently work at NeSI as a research communities advisor, where my role is focussed on supporting research communities in New Zealand. A large majority of our user base are RSE’s, hence supporting the work they do is an organisational priority.
My work as an RSE was exciting as it gave me the opportunity to apply new and interesting software to complex scientific problems in genomics. It was during my work as an RSE that I realised the research system did not have a formal place or opportunity for growth for me as an RSE.
What skills will you bring to the committee?
Along with my technical skills, I will bring my enthusiasm, empathy and understanding gained through my experience working as an RSE in various organisations.
What would you like to change through your involvement on the committee?
I would like to see RSE’s being recognised for their contributions in research across Australia and New Zealand. I would like to create stronger relationships with RSE communities in other countries to learn from and contribute to the local and global community.
If you have already contributed to the RSE community, please list those contributions below.
As part of the interim RSE steering committee, I have worked with other committee members to contribute to RSE community events (i.e. RSE Workshop at eResearch Australasia 2018, RSE Bof at eResearch NZ, etc.). I participate in interim steering committee meetings to plan RSE community activities. I have worked with Australian and UK representatives to coordinate the NZ chapter of the International RSE Survey and present the findings to various audiences to create awareness of the community. I have co-chaired the RSE AUNZ steering committee since the RSEAUNZ steering committee was first formed in 2019. I have also led the organisation of the first RSE conference in Australasia (NZRSE conference).
If you would like to serve on a 1-year term (instead of the regular 2-year term), please note that here.
I am happy to serve on a regular 2-year term
Curtin University, Perth, Australia rebecca.lnage@curtin.edu.au
Diversity to me means more than having a gender balance and a representation of minorities in the workplace. It also means having different skills and (cultural) backgrounds represented. In terms of the RSE community I believe it is important to promote our diversity of geographical locations and work environments as well as the RSE role itself (which can be reflected in the different types of contracts we have). RSEs are important across all fields of research and are varied in their backgrounds coming from, e.g., research as well as software development and hence the RSE community also needs a diverse team of representatives.
In 100 words, describe your experience of working as a Research Software Engineer.
I work as a senior data scientist for the Curtin Institute for Computation (CIC), an RSE role supporting researchers with data and computational projects. I also support our training efforts, teaching basic computational skills to researchers. I find the work rewarding as I get to help many researchers on various projects automate and improve their analysis. In addition, I have now taught several hundred researchers how to use Python and R, as well as the importance of version control. However, while our team is growing it has also become obvious that the poorly defined career path of an RSE makes academia a less attractive long term option and I would like to continue advocating for RSE in the AU-NZ region.
What skills will you bring to the committee?
Working with researchers, as well as industry partners, across various fields I have an understanding of their different needs and how this translates into an RSE role within academia.
What would you like to change through your involvement on the committee?
I would like to help promote the RSE community across the board, helping stakeholders understand the growing importance of computational/research software focused roles within the university workforce and work towards increasing career opportunities for RSE within academia. Furthermore, I would like to work on providing more professional development opportunities to RSE, be that technical or soft skills, as I find that much of the universities’ offerings are around traditional pure research or professional staff roles.
If you have already contributed to the RSE community, please list those contributions below.
I am a member of the current RSE steering committee and have been involved with the community before my appointment, supporting various RSE events at the eResearch conferences. As part of my current role I have organised, taught, and supported several workshops teaching computational and software development skills to the community, promoting the importance of research software and roles dedicated to creating software.
If you would like to serve on a 1-year term (instead of the regular 2-year term), please note that here.
I am happy to serve a 1-year term.
Australian Research Data Commons, Brisbane, Australia paula.martinez [at] ardc.edu.au
I define diversity as the enriching lived experiences that one can bring to the table, which might be different from the majority. My experiences have made me an adaptable individual. For example, I had the privilege to live in seven countries, and I survived.
With the many diversity initiatives now arising, I can empathize with those around me, and I bring support to those who seek for it or I can speak up for those who do not want to raise their voices.
I have completed a Bachelor of Computer Sciences majoring in Software development. It started the workforce as junior developer in a bank, database consultant for a magazine, intranet and web developer at an NGO and then I decided to persue science. I completed a MSc in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology. Enjoyed learning more biology but reinforced my drive to work as a researcher who code. Then I joined a compute intensive group to complete my PhD and developed methods for genomic analysis. Since then, I have put all of my efforts to support research infrastructure to improve scientific software and the recognition of its authors.
What skills will you bring to the committee?
I have started, led and champion many communities, in person and online. I consider myself an advocate and I would love to bring those experiences to the RSE AUNZ community.
What would you like to change through your involvement on the committee?
I have been a member since 2019, and I see that this year this community is starting to gain more visibility.
I want it to respond to the needs of their membership by working on strategies that would enable members to answer these two questions:
- What does the community stand for?
- What experiences will we have that allow us to achieve our goals?
In my ARDC role to support this community, it is important to bring the implementation of the National Software Agenda closer to the target audience, namely the RSE AUNZ community is one of our stakeholders. Also, amplify the efforts of other international organisations or individual change makers, e.i. the international RSE capability, Research Software for career advancement, Research Software as a first class output of research.
If you have already contributed to the RSE community, please list those contributions below. I have been a participant, engaged in the mailing list, and attended events relevant to this community.
I am happy to serve a 1-year term, considering my commitment to this community is linked to my current fixed-term contract with ARDC as the Software Project Coordinator.
Institution, City, Country your.email@address.com
In 100 words, describe your experience of working as a Research Software Engineer.
What skills will you bring to the committee?
What would you like to change through your involvement on the committee?
If you have already contributed to the RSE community, please list those contributions below.
If you would like to serve on a 1-year term (instead of the regular 2-year term), please note that here.