Software Carpentry Foundation on The Carpentries

Community Service Awards - 2017 Edition

Mon, 18 Sep 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Is there a Software Carpentry community member you’ve noticed working extra hard to help our organization?

If so, consider nominating this person for a Community Service Award!

The Community Service Award was inaugurated last year to recognize the crucial role of volunteer contributions to the work of the Software Carpentry Foundation. This award acknowledges individuals whose work, in the Steering Committee’s opinion, significantly improves the Foundation’s fulfillment of its mission and benefits the broader community.

Steering Committee composition and operations

Sun, 25 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

You've hopefully seen [Belinda Weaver's post](https://software-carpentry.org/blog/2017/06/weaver_cdl.html) announcing her hire as Community Development Lead for Software and Data Carpentry, which also mentioned her stepping down from the Steering Committee. This means we (the Steering Committee) will continue our term of service with only six members. We are confident in our ability to continue our operations as normal despite this change. Thanks to Belinda for her service on the committee over the last year and a half, and we're looking forward to interacting with her in this new capacity.

New monthly updates from the secretary

Tue, 20 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

After 6 months, I feel that I’m settling into my role as Software Carpentry Steering Committee Secretary. In an effort to improve communication and transparency between the Steering Committee and everyone else, I am commiting to writing or co-writing a montly blog post to keep you abreast on news from each meetings.

Check out these new blog post summaries of the in-person Software Carpentry Steering Committee Meeting and of the in-person SWC/DC merger group meeting.

Summary of May Community Call: Restructuring the Carpentries

Fri, 19 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Thanks to those of you who attended the May Community Calls, the topic of which was restructuring of Software Carpentry (SWC) and Data Carpentry (DC) into a single unified (umbrella) organization, with SWC and DC continuing as lesson organizations within the umbrella.

As the Chair of the SWC Steering Committee, I am one of the representatives from each organization tasked with developing a plan of action for how the restructuring will proceed over the next ca. six months. I am gratified by how much our community cares about its future, and what we (as community) believe is important to target as we proceed in planning. The following items highlight major discussion points synthesized from both community calls, and a complete set of notes is available on the etherpad.

May Community Call: Restructuring the Carpentries

Sun, 14 May 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The Software Carpentry Steering Committee (SWC SC) announced back in February that we were initiating discussion with Data Carpentry about potentially merging into a single organization. Members from the SWC SC and the Data Carpentry Board have been meeting regularly since then, identifying the advantages and logistical challenges associated with a restructured organization. More recently, we passed a motion approving the following structure: “A Carpentry umbrella organization and a set of Lesson Carpentries. The umbrella organization is primarily responsible for finances, administration, and facilitating policy. Each Lesson Carpentry is primarily responsible for lesson development and maintenance.”

Announcing the 2017 Steering Committee

Mon, 30 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

I’m pleased to announce our new steering committee for 2017.

The new steering committee is comprised of

![]({{ site.url }}/files/people/hertweck_kate.jpg) Kate Hertweck
![]({{ site.url }}/files/people/harris_rayna.jpg) Rayna Harris
![]({{ site.url }}/files/people/koch_christina.jpg) Christina Koch
![]({{ site.url }}/files/people/kuzak_mateusz.jpg) Mateusz Kuzak
![]({{ site.url }}/files/people/lagesen_k.jpg) Karin Lagesen
![]({{ site.url }}/files/people/mcclatchy_sue.jpg) Sue McClatchy
![]({{ site.url }}/files/people/weaver_belinda.jpg) Belinda Weaver

Turnout and Voting Tallies

We had 31.6% turnout representing 176 of the 557 eligible voters casting a ballot in this election. Official election results are available from electionbuddy.

Software Carpentry Steering Committee Candidates 2017

Sun, 15 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

2017 Steering Committee elections and January Community Call

We are pleased the announce the 2017 Steering Committee elections, which will occur from January 23-27. All members will receive a ballot via email to cast their vote via electionbuddy. Be sure to look at the membership list and let us know if you feel you’ve been left off by mistake; membership details are here.

Community Call

As a preface to the election, we are using our January Community Call to allow the candidates time to introduce themselves. We have seven outstanding candidates to fill the seven Steering Committee seats. Our governance rules require us to hold the election, albeit uncontested, but we also feel this is a vital way for the community to exhibit commitment to the organizational leadership. Please sign up to attend one of two meetings on January 20 to hear about our candidates’ plans for 2017. What would you like to see the Steering Committee accomplish? What are you excited for Software Carpentry to tackle this year?

2017 Election: Belinda Weaver

Fri, 23 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Hello everyone. I am standing again as a candidate for the Steering Committee, having served on it this year for the first time.

About me

I have been involved with Software Carpentry for about three years. I organised the first workshop in Brisbane in 2014. I certified as an instructor myself in 2015 and taught at two workshops that year. In 2016, I taught at eight workshops, all of which I either organised or helped to organise. During 2016, I and other Queensland instructors have taken Software Carpentry to five cities in Queensland - Brisbane, Townsville, Toowoomba, Gold Coast and Rockhampton - a huge improvement on the number of workshops run in 2015 (three).

2017 Election: Karin Lagesen

Fri, 23 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

2017 Election: Karin Lagesen

I have been a member of the Software Carpentry Steering Committee for two years, first as secretary and then as vice chair. My involvement with the SCF started in 2012, when I attended a workshop in Oslo, Norway. I signed on as an instructor in 2013 and became an instructor trainer this year. I have around 10 workshops, including instructor training, under my belt. As a member of the SC, I have mainly focused on Software Carpentry operations and on the development of instructor training and instructor trainers. In addition to serving on the Steering Committee, I am also a member of the mentoring committee. Although I have not been able to be as active in the mentoring committee this year, I have previously worked on developing programs focusing on integrating new instructors and on helping new instructors teach their first workshop.

2017 Election: Mateusz Kuzak

Fri, 23 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Hi, I’m standing up for election to the Software Carpentry Steering Committee 2017.

Me & Carpentries

My background is life science. I currently work at the Netherlands eScience Center in Amsterdam. Apart from being a developer on various research software projects, I’m involved in Center’s training activities and software development best practices.

I got sucked into in Software Carpentry world through Elixir Data Carpentry Pilot organised by Aleksandra Pawlik. During hackathon in Helsinki, together with Francois Michonneau and few other people we kickstarted ggplot2 part in R-ecology-lesson. From day one I learned a lot about the mechanics of SC, lesson development and logistics of the workshops.

2017 Election: Christina Koch

Thu, 22 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

To begin, I present:

Notable events in Christina’s Software Carpentry career:

2013-April: Graduate from grad school (Masters degree in mathematics).

2013-May: Attend Software Carpentry workshop (and see git and Python for the first time).

2014-January: Teach first Software Carpentry workshop.

2014-March: First time travelling abroad for Software Carpentry.

2014-May: Hear about a job through the Software Carpentry blog.

2014-October: Get the job (which is still my job).

2014-November: Become a lesson maintainer.

2015-December: First time leading an instructor training.

2016-January: Switch roles, from lesson maintainer to mentoring committee chair.

2016-June: Teach first Data Carpentry workshop.

To this list, I would like to add:

2017 Election: Kate Hertweck

Mon, 19 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

I am excited to stand for election for the 2017 Software Carpentry Steering Committee (SWC SC). I hope you’ll consider supporting me in this year’s election so I may continue to serve our community.

Previous experience with Software Carpentry:

Some folks might consider it insanity for a tenure-track assistant professor to volunteer so much energy to the Carpentries, but in reality, the time I’ve spent on the SWC SC has been essential to my development of an effective model of leadership. The following points highlight my contributions to our community:

2017 Election: Rayna Harris

Mon, 19 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

I am really excited to stand in election for the 2017 Software Carpentry (SWC) Steering Committee so that I can continue to serve this amazing community.

##Software Carpentry Involvement I was first exposed to Software Carpentry by April Wright, who suggested that I attend the Instructor Training Workshop at UC Davis in January 2015. In 2015 I co-taught workshops at UT Arlington and New Mexico State University, I co-organized the Austin-based Instructor/Helper Retreat, served on the Mentoring and Assessment Subcommittee.

Rayna Harris's Year in Summary 2016

Mon, 19 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

A year in review

I want to thank you for giving me the prilege to serve on the Software Carpentry Steering Committee. Here is a very brief recap of the year. Click this link to read my 2017 election post.

A year ago, I said I would focus my efforts on:

integrating data from the mentoring and debriefing sessions with the assessment surveys to understand the degree of workshop effectiveness

2017 Election: Sue McClatchy

Mon, 05 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Hi,

I’m a bioinformatician at a research lab in rural Maine, U.S.A. My path here has been winding, varied, and fraught with good luck. I had the good fortune to find Software Carpentry some years ago, and in my travels have never found anything quite like it. I’m honored to be part of this community and now want to give back by contributing my experience and expertise.

Community Service Awards

Sat, 10 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The Software Carpentry Foundation relies on volunteer efforts to achieve many of its goals. It is now inaugurating a Community Service Award as a way for its Steering Committee to recognize work which, in its opinion, significantly improves the Foundation’s fulfillment of its mission and benefits the broader community. Details are available on this page; nominations are welcome at any time, and we will make the first awards before the end of this year.

Code of Conduct and Call for Volunteers for Policy Subcommittee

Mon, 08 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The Carpentries are proud to share a common Code of Conduct (CoC), which outlines acceptable standards of behavior for our community members and those interacting with the Carpentries at in-person events and online spaces. Historically, however, we have not had an official process for reporting potential Code of Conduct violations or for adjudication and resolution of reported incidents. Thanks to input from our community, we recognize that defining these procedures is an important step in ensuring that any such issues are dealt with transparently in order to keep our community welcoming and safe for all.

2015 Annual Report

Wed, 23 Mar 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

We’re pleased to announce the publication of the first SCF annual report summarizing what we have done this year to to further our goals of promoting reproducibility and reliability in all branches of science, and helping researchers be more productive.

You can download the annual report here.

2016 Election: Anelda van der Walt

Fri, 15 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

## Who am I?

I have always been involved with, and am passionate about, multidisciplinary, multi-institutional projects. Over the last six years most of my work has focused on collaboratively providing support and training to researchers at various institutions across South Africa. Initially the support focussed specifically in areas of Next Generation Sequencing as I was employed by two national *omics platforms, but more recently I’ve participated in local eResearch initiatives. Through eResearch I’ve been fortunate to collaborate with researchers from a broad array of disciplines including life scientists, medical doctors, engineers, linguists, historians, and more. While I may not be the most computationally advanced person in this community, I have a knack for creating connections between those who need help and those who can help. I specifically love to work with people who are blissfully unaware of the power of technology, and upon exposure, blossoms into the greatest advocates and users with huge impact.

2016 Election: Giacomo Peru

Fri, 15 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

2016 Election: Giacomo Peru

Ciao a tutti. Many thanks for taking a minute or two to read this post about my candidature for our Software Carpentry Steering Committee. As you’ll see, it was a long way from programming that I was reared, yet this opportunity for closer involvement with our work and its future brings together so much of what I have been doing all these years. Here’s why…

2016 Election: Jonathan Guyer

Fri, 15 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

##Background

My training is in Materials Science and Engineering and I have done both computational and experimental research in fields like semiconductor crystal growth, electrochemical interfaces, and additive manufacturing. I co-authored the FiPy partial differential equation Python framework to support my simulations and to enable others to use these methods. I have spent my professional career at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology and been leader of the Mechanical Performance Group for the past two years.

2016 Election: Bill Mills

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Meet Bill

I’m Bill Mills, a scientific software developer based in Vancouver, Canada, currently spearheading web development for the GRIFFIN collaboration at TRIUMF.

In two years with SWC, I’ve taught seven workshops in addition to five live Instructor Trainings, across five countries. Over the past year I have sat on SWC’s Mentorship Committee; my most visible work there was as co-organizer of our first Instructor and Helper Retreat.

2016 Election: Jason Williams

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

#2016 Election: Jason Williams

With benthic sensuous pleasure I offer up myself as candidate for the 2016 Steering Committee.

There are those (mom, the U.S. Department of Justice) who have labeled my apoplectic fits a sign of ‘weakness’, but I have found them to be a source of extraordinary strength. With this strength I pledge to bring Software Carpentry to places no one imagined it could (or should) go. As other candidates hail HYDRA, I’m proud to be the first and only candidate to come out in favor of all the things you believe in, and strongly (though perhaps not uncategorically) opposed to the things that displease you.

2016 Election: Karin Lagesen

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

For the past year, I have served as the Software Carpentry Steering Committee’s secretary. My involvement with the SCF started in 2012, when I attended a workshop in Oslo, Norway. I signed on as an instructor in 2013, and have taught 9 workshops since then. In addition to serving on the Steering Committee, I am also a member of the mentoring committee, where I have focused on ways of giving our instructors hands-on experience with the teaching material, with the goal of making it easier for new instructors to get started. I am also currently training to become an instructor trainer.

I have a PhD in bioinformatics from the University of Oslo, and am currently employed at the Norwegian Veterinary Institute and the University of Oslo. My background is in both computer science and molecular biology. Since I have formal training in both fields, I am frequently the one to translate the biological problem into a computational one. I have often been called upon to teach people with little to no training in computer science how to do their bioinformatics analyses. This means introducing them to Unix, to command-line work and to basic programming. Working in such multi-disciplinary situations has made me very aware of how hard it can be to move into a field far removed from your core area of expertise. This makes the values and skills that Software Carpentry teaches particularly important to me.

2016 Election: Lauren Michael

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

## About Me

B.Sc. Biology, Chemistry - Truman State University
M.Sc. Biophysics - University of Wisconsin-Madison
3 years instructing with SWC; certified Fall 2014
9 SWC workshops organized/helped; 8 as an instructor
1 DC workshop organized/helped

Relevant Volunteer Work

Social Media Manager for Midwest Ultimate, 2013-2014
Science Editor and Writer for the Daily Cardinal, 2011-2012

Currently

Research Computing Facilitator at UW-Madison’s large-scale computing center, the Center for High Throughput Computing, where I lead user interaction efforts and spend much of my time working directly with researchers to:

2016 Election: Raniere Silva

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

My name is Raniere Gaia Costa da Silva and I'm standing for re-election to Software Carpentry Steering Committee because working on the Steering Committee in 2016 was fun and a great way to meet some of the amazing members of Software Carpentry community.

Background

I have a B.Sc. in Apply Mathematics from the University of Campinas, Brazil, and in the last year I worked as a freelancer software developer using most of the time Python and Javascript. This year I will move to the UK for work on the University of Manchester and collaborate with The Software Sustainability Institute.

2016 Election: Rayna Harris

Thu, 14 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

##Background

I am pursuing a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology at The University of Texas in Austin. My thesis research in Hans Hofmann’s lab focuses on understanding transcriptional responses to spatial learning with single neuron resolution.

Since 2012, I’ve been deeply involved with enhancing graduate student education through 1) the Neural Systems and Behavior (NS&B) course at the Marine Biological Laboratories and 2) the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CCBB) at UT Austin. At NS&B, I teach molecular approaches to neuroscience and supervise student research projects. With the CCBB, I organize workshops and symposia to promote sharing of ideas and expertise across departmental boundaries. It’s been awesome to see theses, manuscripts, tweets, and blogs acknowledge these programs for advancing student’s professional development.

2016 Election: Kate Hertweck

Wed, 13 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Hello fellow educators and coding enthusiasts! I’m terribly excited to offer myself as a candidate for the Software Carpentry Steering Committee. See below for answers to a few questions you might have about whether I’d be a good fit.

Who are you?

I’m an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Tyler in small but diverse Biology Department. My position is officially described as bioinformaticist, but I specialize in comparative genomics and collaborate on many different types of biological data analysis. I teach graduate and undergraduate classes in bioinformatics, genomics, and plant taxonomy.

2016 Election: Leanne Wake

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

## Academic background

You can find me in the Department of Geography in the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, UK. In 2010 I obtained my PhD in Geophysics from Durham University, UK. I would describe myself, broadly, as an Earth system modeller. I try to understand the workings of a complex world through the 0s and 1s of code but I have been known get my hands dirty with fieldwork!

A Strategic Plan for the Software Carpentry Foundation

Tue, 12 Jan 2016 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The Software Carpentry Foundation Steering Committee held a strategic planning meeting in August. In that two-day, intensive meeting, we focused on developing a long term strategic plan for the Software Carpentry Foundation. The process emphasized identification of our stakeholders and mission. It also used the results of our community survey to identify our strengths and weaknesses as well as the opportunities and threats that face the organization. The resulting Strategic Plan was developed over the course of the in-person meeting and summarized into a document. With vital feedback from the Advisory Council, whose role is to offer advice and guidance to SCF on strategic matters, we arrived at the document that now resides here.

2016 Election: Belinda Weaver

Tue, 15 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

I co-organise, run and teach at Software Carpentry workshops in Queensland, Australia, and frequently tweet about them and other Software Carpentry activities as @cloudaus

I first heard of Software Carpentry on Twitter in 2013 and thought it was a great initiative. Through the A/NZ mailing list, I made contact with Australian Software Carpentry trainers, and was able to organise the inaugural Brisbane bootcamp in July 2014, flying in instructors from Melbourne and Auckland.

Help Software Carpentry's Strategic Planning

Sat, 18 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The SCF Steering Committee is undertaking a strategic planning process that will help us to identify the SCF's working priorities for short- and long-term success, based on input from you.

Your input is crucial—we are beginning the process by asking that you identify key Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) facing SCF over the next five years via this anonymous survey. We will review the survey results, summarize key issues, and develop a summary and plan that addresses the issues raised.

To help, please fill in the SWOT Survey. Note that the survey asks for 3 answers for each strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats but you may fill out more or less as you see fit. Please fill out the survey only once and by August 5, 2015.

Hiring a New Executive Director for Software Carpentry

Mon, 06 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The Software Carpentry Foundation seeks to hire a new Executive Director to build relations with partners, oversee the development of our curriculum, be Software Carpentry's spokesperson, and work with the Steering Committee to set our future direction. The successful candidate will initially be co-Executive Director, and will job-share with the current Executive Director during a brief transition period, after which they will become the new ED.

To apply, please send email to {{site.contact}} by July 31, 2015 with "Co-Executive Director" in the subject line, and include:

A brief resume or CV (approximately two pages).
A brief statement (approximately two pages) of what you would hope to accomplish in your first year as Executive Director. Please also include a paragraph about any work you may have done with Software Carpentry in the past and another about your experience working with other volunteer organizations.

We will begin interviews immediately after July 31, and hope to have someone in place no later than the end of August.

Our Next Big Step

Mon, 06 Jul 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

With Software Carpentry's rapid growth over the past couple of years, the combined responsibilities of being the Executive Directory and running the instructor training program have become more than a single person can manage. And after five years of working to grow Software Carpentry into the world-wide community it has become, I'd like to spend more time with my family.

The Software Carpentry Foundation is therefore hiring a new Executive Director. I will transition to running instructor training so that the new ED can devote themselves to building relations with partners, overseeing the development of our curriculum, being Software Carpentry's spokesperson, and working with the Steering Committee to set our future direction. Our new hire will initially be co-Executive Director, and will job-share with me during a brief transition period, after which they will become the new ED.

This is the next logical step in Software Carpentry's evolution, and one that we have been working toward for more than a year. As with the election of the Steering Committee in January, it's a sign that Software Carpentry is here to stay, and nothing could make me prouder.

Program Coordinator Position Available

Mon, 22 Jun 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Software Carpentry has grown and grown again since our re-launch in 2010. We are now helping thousands of scientists every year, and while many of our partners and instructors are now organizing workshops on their own, a lot of details still need to be sorted out to keep the whole show on the road.

We therefore wish to hire a Program Coordinator to manage our day-to-day operations. This paid position will initially be part-time, but we expect that it will convert to full-time after a probationary period if funding allows. The successful candidate does not need to be either a programmer or a scientist, but must be well-organized, and can be located anywhere with reliable Internet access. The full description is included below; to apply, please email {{site.contact}} with "Program Coordinator position" in the subject line and a resume (either attached as PDF, or a link to something online). And please help us spread the word: we're a fun bunch to work with, and this would be a chance for someone to help a lot of scientists get more done in less time, and with less pain.

Finally, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Arliss Collins for all her hard work over the past year and a half. She is moving on to other duties now that our relationship with the Mozilla Science Lab has ended, but we couldn't have gotten through the past eighteen months without her. I'd also like to thank Amy Brown, who has come back to keep things going while we search for someone permanent, and welcome Kasia Zaczek, who is about to start handling workshops for us in Europe on behalf of Cyfronet in the same way that Giacomo Peru and Aleksandra Pawlik have been handling them in the UK on behalf of the SSI. Here's hoping that one day, somewhere, we can all get together for a group photo...

The Steering Committee has Landed!

Sun, 12 Apr 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The Steering Committe has now had its first few meeetings. Minutes from them are up, please go have a look if you are wondering what we are up to!

Shape The Future of Software Carpentry in an SCF Standing Subcommittee

Thu, 05 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The Software Carpentry Foundation Steering Committee was elected to pursue ambitious goals driven by the voices and expertise in our community. We are therefore thrilled to announce a set of community-driven subcommittees aimed at initiatives essential to the Software Carpentry Foundation.

Today, we are asking for representatives from the community to support this effort and shape the future of Software Carpentry. Please step forward to volunteer for the standing committee most important to you. Committee members will be asked to dedicate a few hours per month. To join us, please email the SCF Steering Committee with your name and a few sentences about your interest.

Announcing 2015 Steering Committee

Sat, 31 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The election for the Software Carpentry Foundation's Steering Committee is now complete. 122 ballots were exercised out of 179 mailed out, and our new committee is:

Cast Your Vote

Mon, 26 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Voting is now open for Software Carpentry's new Steering Committee. If you are a member, you should have received a ballot by email from elections@electionbuddy.com. If you did not, please check your spam folder; if it is not there, please get in touch and we will sort it out as quickly as we can.

2015 Election: Adina Howe

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Hi! My name is Adina Howe, and I thank you for considering my qualifications to serve on the Steering Committee of the Software Carpentry Foundation.

Software Carpentry has played a major role in my professional development, and I would argue played an integral role in my ability to fulfill my dreams as becoming a tenure-track professor. In 2008, I participated in a Software Carpentry workshop at Michigan State University as a postdoc. At the time, my research required some computational prowess that I did not possess. SWC provided me a foundation, resources, and mentors to help me improve my skills and discuss my frustration and eventually success! This impact (and great instruction and mentorship) insprired me to join as one of the first round of instructors (2011-ish). For more details, please feel free to peruse my complete vitae.

2015 Election: Ivan Gonzalez

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

I've been an instructor since September 2013 and have taught 10 workshops so far. I'm finishing a master's in Science Communication and work at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging. I would propose three things to the new Committee: improve our outreach and communication strategies, expand Software Carpentry to other regions and languages, and strengthen the mentoring program for new instructors.

2015 Election: Jonah Duckles

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Hi, I'm Jonah Duckles, I have been active in teaching Software Carpentry workshops (seven so far) and have found a joy in teaching and learning this curriculum that has made me passionate about the mission of the organization. In my job, I work to spread knowledge, skills and competency in wide ranging areas of scholarly computing. Serving on the Software Carpentry Steering Committee would be a natural extension of my current job, dovetailing well into my current responsibilities and I'm excited to be considered.

2015 Election: Tim Cerino

Fri, 16 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

On the first day of my first programming job, my boss handed me 700 lines of spaghetti code written in PL/1 and asked me to "fix it." On paper, I was a Research Assistant at an Economic Policy think-tank. I had taken a few Computer Science classes and had coded for fun as a kid and in college. But at that moment I felt that I had entered the world of "real" coding. (Ultimately the "fix" was to completely discard the code and redo everything using proper testable modular code, but I digress...)

2015 Election: John Blischak

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

I feel I would be a good addition to the Steering Committee of the Software Carpentry Foundation because 1) I am a scientist that had to learn programming on the job, just like our target audience, 2) my experience performing many roles within SWC, most importantly as the maintainer of the R lesson materials, and 3) my goal to increase the collaborative aspect of our lesson development process.

2015 Election: Jason Williams

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

"You can trust in Jason, he's your friend!" — Decent People

I can't recall ever running in an election - rule by fiat is what "just feels right" to me. I have on occasion thought about running for office but I usually lack ambition (although I'm attracted to power). The fantasy of being the candidate people vote for even though he is clearly against their interest just makes my pedipalps tingle. So, when I learned about the Software Carpentry Foundation election, I thought, "let's try that!"

2015 Election: Jeramia Ory

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

At SciPy 2013, I had the good fortune to attend a tutorial lead by Matt Davis and Katy Huff. As an undergraduate educator in the sciences, I was immediately impressed with the people and excited to try their approach with my students. Matt encouraged me to complete instructor training, which I did in April of 2014.

2015 Election: Karin Lagesen

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

I have been involved with Software Carpentry since I attended a workshop in Oslo, Norway, in 2012. I started out as a student, then went through the second round of instructor training, before being an instructor at my first workshop in 2013. Since then, I have organized one workshop and been an instructor at five others. I have also been involved with revamping the pre-assessment forms. This work has been very fulfilling and challenging on very many levels, and I now want to expand on my efforts by volunteering for the steering committee.

2015 Election: Sheldon McKay

Wed, 14 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

I started my career as a molecular biologist working in the data-intensive field of functional genomics, enventually becoming a full-time bioinformatician. With the perspective of a person who transitioned from the wet lab to informatics, I have often served as a liaison between researchers and software developers and truly enjoy empowering scientists by teaching them computing skills to accelerate their research. Over the past decade, I have contributed to a variety of outreach and training efforts in scientific computing. When I learned about Software Carpentry, its mission resonated with me and I wanted to get involved. I completed instructor training in May 2014 and have been an instructor at six workshops since then and continue to do about one workshop every six weeks. I also serve as a volunteer topic maintainer for SQL. I am very proud to be associated with the Software Carpentry Foundation and have a lot of experience to offer. I would like to contribute more to our ongoing success by becoming a member of the steering committee.

2015 Election: Aleksandra Pawlik

Tue, 13 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

My first degree was in Computer Science. When I started the university I had very little idea about programming. I struggled a lot. I graduated very discouraged and convinced that I just couldn't do it. But then eight years later Greg asked me if I'd like to be a Software Carpentry instructor. I finished the instructor training and I realized that had I been taught differently, maybe now I'd have a great career as a software developer. But then, I wouldn't be writing this blog post.

2015 Election: Raniere Silva

Mon, 12 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

A year and a half ago I read the announcement of the Mozilla Science Lab by Mark Surman and that way I discovered Software Carpentry. Months later, I was participating in the 6th round of Instructor Training, and since then I have:

taught at all 6 workshops held in Brazil,
improved the lessons and helped new instructors do so too,
suggested changes to the new layout of our lessons and helped in the transition, and
publicized Software Carpentry.

Volunteering with Software Carpentry is one of the things that I'm really proud of doing and I'd be honored be a member of the SCF Steering Committee.

2015 Election: Katy Huff

Fri, 09 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Software Carpentry has been part of my life for over six years, I began as an instructor, organizer, and curriculum developer and have been honored to grow as a researcher alongside Software Carpentry as it evolved over that time. In these years, I have organized and taught over a dozen workshops and have, for the last four months, served as an interim Steering Committee member. I have also made an effort to expand the reach of Software Carpentry as a co-author of both the Best Practices paper and a new O'Reilly book, "Effective Computation in Physics: Field Guide to Research in Python." Of course, none of this pays the bills. For that, I am a nuclear engineer...

2015 Election: Matt Davis

Fri, 09 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

In January 2012 I had the good luck to be in one of Greg Wilson's first workshops after he rebooted Software Carpentry in the current two-day format. I ended up as a helper in that workshop, and a month later I was in Toronto teaching Python as Software Carpentry's first volunteer instructor. Over the past three years I have:

taught at more workshops than I can remember
helped transition our materials from SVN to GitHub
written lessons and ipythonblocks
recruited and mentored new instructors
publicized Software Carpentry at conferences

Volunteering with Software Carpentry has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done and I'd be honored to continue helping as a member of the SCF Steering Committee.

2015 Election Nominations

Mon, 05 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

As we announced last year, an election will be held on January 26-30 for the seven positions on the Steering Committee of the Software Carpentry Foundation. If you are a qualified instructor who has taught at least twice in the past two years, or have done a significant chunk of non-teaching work for Software Carpentry, you can both stand for election and vote. We strongly urge you to consider standing: if you're willing and able to commit to giving the Foundation 3 hours a week, you'll help thousands of scientists. It'll be fun, too: few things in life are more satisfying than working with a dedicated bunch of people to make something useful happen.

In order to stand for election, you must write a blog post to introduce yourself to the community by Friday, January 16. This post must be around 500 words long, can be written in any format (e.g. question and answer, paragraph text), and must be titled, "2015 Election: Your Name". It should explain:

what your background is,
what your previous involvement with Software Carpentry has been, and most importantly
what you will do as a member of the Steering Committee to contribute to the growth and success of Software Carpentry.

2015 Election: Damien Irving

Mon, 05 Jan 2015 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

Damien Irving has withdrawn from the election in order to focus on completing his thesis. We're grateful for his work on the interim Steering Committee, and wish him the best of luck with his PhD.

Standing for Election

Thu, 18 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

From 26-30 January, an election will be held for the seven vacant positions on the inaugural Steering Committee of the Software Carpentry Foundation. This will be one of the biggest steps in the project's journey from two guys staying up until 3:00 am fourteen years ago to write lessons on Perl for scientists at Los Alamos to a mature open project run by the volunteers it belongs to.

If you are a qualified instructor who has taught at least twice in the past two years, or have done a significant chunk of non-teaching work for Software Carpentry, you can both stand for election and vote. We strongly urge you to consider standing: if you're willing and able to commit to giving the Foundation 3 hours a week, you'll help thousands of scientists get more done in less time and with less pain. It'll be fun, too: few things in life are as rewarding as building something, and our members are building something extraordinary.

In order to stand for election, you must write a blog post to introduce yourself to the community by Friday, January 16 (i.e., a full week before the start of the election). This post:

must be around 500 words long,
can be written in any format (e.g. question and answer, paragraph text), and
must be titled, "2015 Election: Your Name"

You can submit your post as a pull request to this website's repository or by email. It should explain:

what your background is,
what your previous involvement with Software Carpentry has been, and most importantly
what you will do as a member of the Steering Committee to contribute to the growth and success of Software Carpentry.

The last point is the most important. If you have experience managing money, we need a Treasurer; if your passion is helping new instructors or figuring out how well we're doing, we need people to lead mentorship and assessment, while if you come from a part of the world that hasn't seen much Software Carpentry activity yet, you might want to take the lead in getting us going there.

(Actually, the point that's really most important is that everyone will still be very welcome to volunteer in other ways, and that doing so will be as valuable as ever. We will still need topic maintainers, help with the website, and many other things, and I hope that having more people coordinating things will actually make it easier for you all to lend a hand.)

If seven or fewer nominations are received, those people who nominated will be automatically appointed to the Steering Committee and no formal election will be held. Vacancies on the Steering Committee can be filled at any time at the Committee's discretion. The regular positions on the Steering Committee (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and then any others the Committee feels it needs) will be decided by a vote at the Committee's first meeting.

Our First Election

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

The Software Carpentry Foundation's bylaws state that the Steering Committee must be elected annually. With a new year upon us, the interim committee has decided that the first such election will take place in the week of Jan 26-30, 2015. Here are a few key points:

Every qualified instructor who has taught at least twice in the past two calendar years is automatically a member of the SCF, as is anyone who has done 30 days or more work for the SCF in the past calendar year, and anyone who has, in the opinion of the Steering Committee, made a significant contribution in the past year.
All SCF members may both stand for election and vote in it. We'll explain how to do both after the next interim committee meeting on December 16.
As discussed in an earlier post, members of the Steering Committee are expected to volunteer at least 2-3 hours a week to help mentor our instructors, conduct assessment, oversee major changes to the curriculum, manage our finances, and so on.

Software Carpentry Foundation: Governance

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

I am pleased to announce that our interim Steering Committee has adopted bylaws for the Software Carpentry Foundation, which is the final step in us becoming an independent organization. The authoritative version is stored in this public GitHub repository, along with other key documents that will be outlined in the next couple of blog posts. In brief, the SCF has four parts:

the Membership, which includes active instructors and others contributing directly to the project;
the Steering Committee, which is elected by and from the membership and is the SCF's primary decision-making body;
the Advisory Council, which includes representatives from our major partners, and
the Executive Director, who is an employee of the SCF responsible for overseeing its daily operations. The Executive Director answers to the Steering Committee, but is not a member of it.

I have accepted the position of interim Executive Director, and the first elections for the Steering Committee will be held early in 2015. These bylaws, and the agreement with NumFOCUS that enables us to operate as a 501(c)3 non-profit, are the structure we need to run a successful independent foundation.

The next priority is fundraising: I've been without a salary since my contract with Mozilla ended in October, which clearly isn't sustainable. The next post in this series describes the different ways in which organizations can support us; we're close to signing deals with several groups, so I'm confident we'll start the new year with our finances in order.

Software Carpentry Foundation: Organizational Membership

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

As we said in the previous post in this series, our interim Steering Committee has adopted bylaws for the Software Carpentry Foundation. They have also agreed on four tiers of membership so that universities, companies, government labs, and other entities can help support and guide our work. The authoritative version is stored in this public GitHub repository, but in brief, the tiers are:

Partners, who make a significant long-term contribution to organizing and delivering workshops;
Affiliates, who are organizing workshops and helping with admin, but not at the same level;
Sponsors, who underwrite the cost of particular workshops that would otherwise not have backers; and
Donors, who simply wish to make cash or in-kind contributions to help with general operations.

Each membership tier is described below. The Steering Committee and Advisory Council will revisit them in a year's time to ensure they're meeting everyone's needs, and we will always be willing to discuss other arrangements. Please mail {{site.board_inquiries}} if you would like more information, or would like to start a discussion about how you could help. And of course, individual donations to the cause will always be welcome.

Software Carpentry Foundation: Workshops

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

As we said in the previous posts in this series, our interim Steering Committee has adopted bylaws for the Software Carpentry Foundation and a plan for organizational membership. Those memberships won't cover all of our central costs (such as instructor training), so we are going to start charging a fee for each workshop we help organize rather than just asking people to make a donation. In exchange, we will match hosts with instructors, handle registration, manage assessment, follow up to make sure people's travel expenses have been paid, and all the other running around that needs to happen behind the scenes.

One thing that won't change is that anyone who wants to organize and run a workshop on their own will always be free to do so without charge provided they satisfy a few simple conditions. In fact, we strongly encourage groups to get to the point where they can do this regularly, and to share their experiences with the community so that we can all help teach good lab practices for scientific computing.

Summarizing the News

Wed, 03 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

We made several big announcements this morning, so here's a short summary to guide you through them all:

The bylaws for the Software Carpentry Foundation.
Our organizational membership scheme.
New rules for organizing and running workshops (including fees).
Plans for instructor training (which also explains why we're delaying the start of the next online course by a month).
Why we need more admin support and the tool we have started building to support that.
Plans for mentorship and assessment, which are two of the things that elected members of our Steering Committee will be asked to take on...
An update on our new lesson format (and links to some examples).
The date of our first election.

We'll talk about all of this at the Dec 4 lab meeting (which takes place at 10:00 and again at 19:00, both times Eastern — see this Etherpad for connection details). Hope to see you there...

Why Institutional Partnerships Make So Much Sense

Thu, 06 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

When I first got involved in Software Carpentry, I liked nothing more than to lament the fact that universities don't teach their undergraduates (or early post-graduates) fundamental programming skills. It was one of the main reasons I felt so compelled to help out. By running our two-day workshops, I felt that we were basically picking up the slack until such time that universities woke up to themselves and started teaching this stuff. At this point, I felt that (like many non-profit organisations striving to make the world a better place) Software Carpentry would have achieved its mission by essentially making itself redundant.

Fast forward a couple of years and I'm now part of a new University of Melbourne department tasked with the job of teaching programming fundamentals to post-graduates. To my surprise, I've found that in this progressive new world we actually need Software Carpentry more than ever. The interim board of the Software Carpentry Foundation is seeking to form partnerships with organisations like my own, so I thought this was an opportune time to share our experiences.

Software Carpentry Foundation: FAQ

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

As we announced two weeks ago, we are setting up an independent foundation to manage Software Carpentry's continued growth. This week, we passed an important milestone when we signed a fiscal sponsorship agreement with NumFOCUS. There are still lots of details to sort out, but here are brief answers to some of the questions we've received so far:

Announcing the Creation of the Software Carpentry Foundation

Wed, 08 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

This post originally appeared on the Software Carpentry website.

In order to foster Software Carpentry's continued growth, we are pleased to announce that we are creating an independent Software Carpentry Foundation (SCF). Like other non-profit open source foundations, it will decide Software Carpentry's overall scope and direction, manage its finances, and hold its intellectual property.

In order to work through the details have assembled an interim board drawn from a wide cross-section of our community:

Jenny Bryan (University of British Columbia)
Neil Chue Hong (University of Edinburgh / Software Sustainability Institute)
Carole Goble (University of Manchester / ELIXIR UK)
Josh Greenberg (Sloan Foundation (non-voting))
Katy Huff (University of California Berkeley)
Damien Irving (University of Melbourne / Research Platforms)
Adam Stone (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Tracy Teal (Michigan State University / Data Carpentry)
Kaitlin Thaney (Mozilla Science Lab)
Greg Wilson (Software Carpentry)

This group's mandate is to draft the SCF's initial bylaws and get the foundation legal standing, then arrange the transition to the first permanent board some time early in 2015. Until then, we will continue to do what we have always done: teach scientists and engineers how to use computers to do more research in less time and with less pain.