SherAaron Hurt on The Carpentries

GenAI in Workshops: A Bonus Module to Instructor Training

Wed, 17 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries is excited to launch a new bonus module to Instructor Training, GenAI in Workshops, designed to empower Instructors to account for learners’ use of generative AI chatbot tools in their workshops.

Why now?

We developed the bonus module in response to the growing numbers of reports we have received from Instructors who have observed frequent chatbot use among their learners. (This is a trend across many educational settings, which is probably one reason why the new series of community sessions on GenAI and Teaching is proving so popular.)

Applications Now Open for Carpentries Instructor Trainer Training Starting July 2026

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Do you look back fondly on your Carpentries Instructor Training and think, “I would love to teach that!”?

Do you want to help people learn to be more effective teachers, while continuing to develop your own teaching skill through regular engagement with our Instructor Training curriculum?

Maybe you are looking for another way to get involved and give back to The Carpentries community.

If any of these describe you, consider joining our vibrant community of Instructor Trainers. We are pleased to announce that applications are now open for anyone wishing to become a Carpentries Instructor Trainer!

The Carpentries Receives a Catalytic Award for Training at Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Workshops and Instruction Team is thrilled to share that our project, Empowering Indigenous Research Through Open Science: Pedagogical Training at KBOCC, has received 15,000 USD in funding in the second round of the 2026 Open Scholarship Catalytic Awards Program.

This award supports a collaboration between The Carpentries and Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC) to strengthen open scholarship at a rural Tribal College and expand equitable access to research training within Indigenous communities.

Reflecting on Five Years: Publishing The Carpentries Strategic Plan Evaluation Report (2020-2025)

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

As The Carpentries community, we have spent the past five years working towards six ambitious goals to strengthen our global network of learners, Instructors, Maintainers, and Member Organisations. Our Strategic Plan Evaluation Report (2020–2025) is now published and archived on Zenodo, providing a comprehensive review of the progress we made together.

You can read and download the full report here: The Carpentries Strategic Plan for 2020-2025 Evaluation Report (Zenodo).

The report highlights achievements such as:

Upcoming Changes to Self-Organised Workshops: Ensuring Sustainability and Continued Community Impact

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

We are writing to inform the community about changes to Self-Organised workshops (SOWs). Due to rising costs, The Carpentries is introducing a fee for Amazon Web Services (AWS) instances used in Data Carpentry Genomics workshops. Furthermore, we have updated the definition and submission guidelines for SOWs. These workshops are vital in advancing The Carpentries’ mission and vision, significantly contributing to the organisation’s overall impact. We sincerely appreciate your efforts in organising and supporting them, as we recognise that they provide an accessible opportunity to teach Carpentries material.

Carpentries Core Team Promotions: Congratulations Angelique and Danielle!

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A Message From SherAaron Hurt

Cheerfully, I get to share some exciting news! Two of our outstanding and well-deserving Core Team members have advanced in their roles at The Carpentries, Inc.

Danielle Sieh, Workshops & Training Manager

Danielle Sieh, who joined The Carpentries in February 2021 as a Workshop Administrator, has been promoted to Senior Program Manager for the Workshops and Instruction Team. Over the past year as Junior Program Manager, Danielle has showcased exceptional leadership within the Instructor community, demonstrated outstanding organisational skills in shaping content for our new website and Handbooks, and successfully managed the Self-Organised Workshops project. In her new role, Danielle will take on additional leadership responsibilities, focusing on planning and process improvement within her areas of oversight.

A recap of the CZI sponsored Accelerate Precision Health (APH) Carpentries Workshops

Thu, 07 Nov 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In September 2022, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation (CZIF) announced a partnership with four Historically Black Medical Colleges (HBMCs) based in the United States, aimed to further support the cutting-edge scientific research they are leading to address significant gaps in genomics research, create new tools and methods to prevent and treat disease and accelerate precision health for everyone, particularly Black people and other people of color.

CZIF’s Accelerate Precision Health (APH) program will advance genomics research by investing in genomics programs at each of the HBMCs — Charles Drew University College of Medicine in Los Angeles, California; Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C.; Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee; and Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

Applications Now Open for Carpentries Instructor Trainer Training Starting August 2024

Wed, 29 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

This blogpost has been updated to extend the application deadline

Do you look back fondly on your Instructor Training and think, “I would love to teach that!”? Do you want to help people learn to be more effective teachers, while continuing to develop your own teaching skill through regular engagement with our Instructor Training curriculum? Maybe you are looking for another way to get involved and give back to The Carpentries community. If any of these describe you, consider joining our vibrant community of Instructor Trainers!

Changes to support from the Core Team at The Carpentries

Thu, 01 Feb 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, we released a blog post re-introducing to the community the nine members of The Carpentries Core Team. This comes after we recently announced the departure of seven valued members of The Carpentries Core Team and celebrated the accomplishments, heart, and vision of our legacy team members. The financial necessity of these recent changes also requires us to look closely at our workload. We must determine which of the many activities supported by our Core Team lie at the heart of The Carpentries vision to be the leading inclusive community teaching data and coding skills.

Thank You to our Regional Coordinators

Wed, 04 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In 2021, we announced the development of the Carpentries Community Development Program, which merges the role of Regional Coordinators, Community Facilitators, and Champions into one role as Community Coordinators. The Community Development Team has worked effortlessly over the last 2 years to make this happen!

The Carpentries are extremely grateful for the work of our Regional Coordinators. These individuals were granted work hours or volunteered their personal time to help support the coordination of workshops in their region. This has been extremely helpful because Regional Coordinators are active in their local regions and understand the workshop needs of the Instructors, Hosts, and Learners.

Piloting Meal Reimbursement: A Way of Saying Thank You

Tue, 08 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In 2020 we launched the pilot of online workshops, and our Instructor community rallied around this new format. Much effort has gone into organising, coordinating, and teaching these workshops. We are beyond grateful for your continued commitment and support, and we would like to show our appreciation for all of your efforts. Over the next few months, we will pilot meal reimbursements for select online Centrally-Organised workshops as a way of saying thank you.

Join the Monthly Instructor Meetings

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000

As a Carpentries Instructor, how do you get updated information? Through email, slack channel or a blog post? These are all great ways to gather information, however, it is not as conducive if you have questions, concerns or feedback regarding the information shared.

The Carpentries Workshop Administration Team recognized we were missing an opportunity to connect with Instructors and hear from you to make your teaching experience better. To bridge the gap we now host monthly meetings for Instructors!

Developing Support for Instructors in 2023

Thu, 16 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

In this post, we outline some of the activities the Core Team has planned to make the lives of Instructors easier in 2023.

Developing Instructor onboarding materials

The Workshop Administration Team is working with the Instructor Training Team and the Community Development Team to develop a general Instructor Onboarding. These onboarding events are intended to help prepare Instructors to teach their first workshops. During Instructor Training there is a plethora of information being shared and after certification the Instructors may still have questions directly related to workshop logistics. Updates to the development and launch of the Instructor Onboarding will become available as progress is made.

Teaching Centrally-Organised Workshops

Tue, 03 May 2022 00:00:00 +0000

If you are a certified Instructor for The Carpentries, I am sure you have received an email/slack message or two announcing “Upcoming Teaching Opportunites” around the world. Specifically our Centrally-Organised workshops. These workshops are requested by organisations and come with the full support of The Carpentries Workshop Administration Team and Instructors.

Whether you are a newly certified Instructor or an experienced Instructor, this blog post will provide detailed information that will give more insight to Centrally-Organised workshops.

Introducing Sher!, Director of Workshops

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

A Message from Erin Becker

I am thrilled to announce that SherAaron Hurt is advancing to a Senior Team Lead role and will now be serving as The Carpentries first Director of Workshops. SherAaron joined the team in 2017 in a part-time administrative support capacity. Over the past four and a half years, SherAaron has epitomized The Carpentries value of “Always Learning”, growing her teaching skills, technical abilities, and leadership skills immensely throughout her tenure with The Carpentries. I know that SherAaron will continue to lead the Workshop Administration Team with heart and confidence, and am excited to follow her as she blazes a new path for The Carpentries workshop of the future.

The Instructor Development Committee is Moving and Needs YOUR Help

Mon, 10 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Since 2019, the Instructor Development Committee (IDC) has supported Instructors as they transitioned from Instructor training to becoming actively engaged in community activities such as teaching and curriculum development. They have supported community discussions and mentoring programs to offer opportunities for Instructors to learn from each other and have identified projects that will support Instructors in their work. Between 2018 and 2021, the committee was led by a number of our community members (2020-2021 cohort, 2019-2020 cohort) and supported by a liaison from The Carpentries’ Community Development Team.

The Future of Online Workshops

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 00:00:00 +0000

It has been 20 months since The Carpentries convened a Task Force to address the urgent demand for remote Carpentries workshops. To date we have run over 700 online workshops. With the feedback and recommendations we have received from Instructors and Host we have been able to provide updates to the Official Guidelines for teaching Carpentries Workshops Online.

We know that the transition to online workshops presents its own set of pros/cons and it may not have been easy but our community rose to the occasion. The demand for our workshops did not suffer, in fact, we saw an increase with requests for Centrally-Organised workshops.

Recruiting Instructors for Self-Organised Workshops

Wed, 23 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

The original blog post was posted on 2020-08-05, what follows is an update to the original post

While Self-Organised workshops are not managed by The Carpentries Workshop Administration Team, we want to be able to provide you with resources to make the load lighter. When hosting a Carpentries workshop there are many steps in the coordination process. One of the most important components is ensuring you have Instructors to teach your workshop. This can be even more difficult when you have to recruit the instructors for a Self-Organised workshop.

Welcome Rabea Müller, Regional Coordinator for the DACH Region

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Regional Coordinators are essential to the daily operations of Carpentries workshops. With workshops being offered globally it is important for us to have Regional Coordinators locally placed to help organise workshops. The Carpentries is excited to announce Rabea Müller has joined our team of Regional Coordinators. Rabea is located in Cologne, Germany and will be managing workshops in the DACH region, which consists of Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

In addition to being a Regional Coordinator, Rabea is responsible for the development of a Data Science and Data Librarianship at our institution ZB MED. She is a Carpentries Instructor and Lesson Maintainer and has taught five workshops and counting.

How to Recruit Instructors for Self-Organised Workshops

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 00:00:00 +0000

It has been nearly four months since The Carpentries started offering online workshops. With the release of version two of the online workshop recommendations, we have been able to offer resources for all instructors to effectively organise a workshop.

The Carpentries Workshop Administration Team has seen an increase in workshop activity, particularly for Self-Organised workshops. Being able to offer Carpentries workshops online allows organisations to reach a wider audience and we are extremely excited.

Organising Online Carpentries Workshops

Tue, 28 Apr 2020 00:00:00 +0000

As The Carpentries Core Team continues to transition to offering online workshops, the Workshop Administration Team would like to share additional information pertaining to Instructors to help you prepare for your workshops. Information shared in this blog post is a supplement to the Recommendations for Teaching Carpentries Workshops Online. Most importantly, we want to update Instructors on a few logistical workflows we have changed to support online workshops.

Registering your Self-Organised online workshop

Please be sure to register your Self-Organised workshop, as you begin planning your Carpentries online event. It is important that you use a unique workshop ID so that we can add your workshop to our database and provide the proper communications to you.

Piloting Automated Emails for Carpentries Workshops

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Organising a Carpentries Workshop requires many steps - not only for the workshop organiser and instructor, but also for the Regional Coordinators.

So far this year, The Carpentries has scheduled 59 workshops. On average, Regional Coordinators must complete 17 steps when organising a Self-Organised workshop and 31 steps for Centrally-Organised workshops. The [Workshop Administration Team (WAT)]({{ site.url }}{{ site.baseurl }}/core-team-projects/#workshop-administration-team) recognises this can be overwhelming and have been working to make the workflow more efficient.

We Appreciate the Regional Coordinators!

Fri, 20 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

How did The Carpentries oversee 543 workshops globally this year?! Two words…. Regional Coordinators! Around the world, Carpentries workshops are organised by a team of eight Regional Coordinators.

Regional Coordinators are the front face of The Carpentries, promoting our work and our culture in their geographical area. They manage workshop logistics, communicate with hosts and Instructors, and respond to general inquiries. The Regional Coordinators work together to support each other and ensure communities can thrive locally while maintaining quality and consistency globally.

We Appreciate Instructors and Helpers!

Wed, 18 Dec 2019 00:00:00 +0000

We would like to express our deepest appreciation to instructors and helpers in The Carpentries community. Instructors and helpers all over the world include researchers, librarians, scientists, students, and many others from a wide range of backgrounds, disciplines, career stages and counties. Instructors and helpers not only teach workshops but also inspire others to share their knowledge, skills, and even to become a part of The Carpentries community or to become an instructor or helper themselves.

The Carpentries Canadian Community Discussion

Wed, 02 Oct 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries Canadian Regional Coordinators will be hosting a Community Discussion on Monday, October 7th at 18:00 UTC as a follow-up to our last call about constructing The Carpentries in Canada.

During this call we will cover several topics including:

Establishing instructor communities in any city that has potentially interested coordinators,
Recruiting community members to assist coordinating activities from a national perspective,
Expanding Canada’s administrative team,
Exploring the development of Carpentries related programming for the National Science & Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRAs), and
General discussion of any topics that participants would like to raise.

Anyone interested in the future of The Carpentries community in Canada is invited to attend and contribute. Please sign up on the Etherpad. We hope to see you there.

Introducing Updated Workshop Request Forms and More

Tue, 17 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

I am sooooooooooooooooo excited! I get to be the first one to tell you that the update to the Workshop Request Forms and the Workshops page of the Carpentries website is COMPLETE! Wooohoooo!!!!!

Updated Workshop Request Forms

With the new changes, workshop organisers no longer have to complete long forms with fields that are not applicable to them. We have made it so that you provide us with only the information needed to process your workshop. We have separated the Workshop Request Forms based on the various kinds of workshops that you organise:

Upcoming Updated Forms for Workshops & Workshop Section of The Carpentries Website

Tue, 20 Aug 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Have you had a desire to request a Carpentries workshop but weren’t sure where to go? Wanted to notify us of a Self-Organised workshop without having to complete an extensive form? Taught a Self-Organised workshop that was shorter or longer than the standard, or mixed and matched curriculum? Have you had questions regarding the logistics of a workshop and weren’t sure where to go?

If you said YES to any of these questions, then continue reading! In the upcoming weeks we will be updating several processes as it relates to The Carpentries workshops. We want to be sure you are aware of the changes before they happen :)

Growing The Carpentries Community in Africa: Hiring a Regional Coordinator

Tue, 05 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

The Carpentries activities in Africa have been growing through exemplary volunteer work of the community and outstanding workshop coordination and community leadership from Anelda van der Walt. We are now looking to hire a Regional Coordinator to continue this work and support the community and workshops as activity in Africa grows. This position will join our team of Regional Coordinators - read more about that group and the work they do to support their regional communities.

Introducing The Carpentries' Regional Coordinators

Tue, 05 Mar 2019 00:00:00 +0000

There are many roles in The Carpentries community. You may be familiar with some of them: Instructors, Maintainers, Trainers, and Mentors, just to name a few. What about Workshop Administrators?

The role of Workshop Administrator may seem obvious: they organise The Carpentries workshops. While that is true, they do far more than that. They are the face of The Carpentries in their region - building local communities and promoting the work of The Carpentries.

To communicate better about the work they do and how integral they are to community building in their respective regions, we are announcing the title change of our Workshop Administrators to Carpentries Regional Coordinators, and sharing a new way for you to connect with them.

Sher! Transitions into new role: Workshop & Logistics Manager

Mon, 11 Feb 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Five hundred twenty-nine is a very exciting number… Can you guess what it is?!

That’s right, 529 is the number of days I have worked for The Carpentries to date. It has been an amazing experience. On August 31, 2017 I began working part-time as the Workshop Administrator. From my very first virtual meeting, I soon discovered that I belong in The Carpentries.

I never dreamed of having a desire to learn to code and even use the shell as part of my daily routine. After my first Software Carpentry Workshop I was so eager to learn more. I always thought the black screen with all the code was terrifying. Now, even though I am still a novice, I find myself trying to impress my family and friends with my skills. I will have the shell open and type ls, ../, cd, whoami, or pwd several times, just to fill up my screen and to look cool. :)

Volunteering for CarpentryCon 2018

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Data Carpentry website

The first inaugural CarpentryCon is less than 50 days away! The taskforce is diligently working to make sure all t’s are crossed and I’s are dotted to ensure that the Community enjoys a wonderful un-conference. While doing so, we have realized that we need one more thing…YOU!!!

Have you had a desire to get involved with the planning of CarpentryCon and did not have the time? Or maybe, you felt as though you did not know where you could be most valued? Or maybe, you thought the taskforce had everything under control and did not need your help?