The Fifth Carnegie Mellon University Open Science Symposium
Join us for our signature open science event, a full day of virtual talks and panels from researchers and thought leaders in academia, industry, and publishing. The conference will explore how open science is transforming the ways in which we do research and share it in a variety of science and non-science disciplines.
Open to students, researchers, library, industry, and government professionals, and open science advocates everywhere!
We will also have the following satellite events this fall:
Coming soon! In the meantime, check out our speakers from the 2023 program.
Executive Director, The Open Energy Outlook (OEO) Initiative | Engineering & Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University
Dr. Michael Blackhurst is the Executive Director of the Open Energy Outlook Initiative in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Blackhurst has a strong record of interdisciplinary research in topics related to energy and the environment, with publications in engineering, economics, and computer science. Given his long-standing success integrating research and policy, he was selected by the National Academies of Science and Engineering Ambassador Program to serve as a science ambassador from 2015 to 2017. Dr. Blackhurst was previously the Co-Director of the Urban and Regional Analysis Program at the Center for Social and Urban Research and the Leonard Peters Faculty Fellow in Sustainability at the University of Pittsburgh. He received a doctorate in Engineering and Public Policy/Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, a MS in Environmental and Water Resources at the University of Texas at Austin, and a BS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.
Director, Open Source Programs Office (OSPO) | Associate Dean for Digital Infrastructure, University Libraries, Carnegie Mellon University
G. Sayeed Choudhury is the Associate Dean for Digital Infrastructure and Director of the Open Source Programs Office (OSPO) at Carnegie Mellon Libraries. He is the Director of a Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant for coordination of University OSPOs and a Co-Investigator for the Black Beyond Data Project. Previously, he was Associate Dean for Digital Infrastructure, Applications, and Services and Hodson Director of the Digital Research and Curation Center at the Sheridan Libraries of Johns Hopkins University (JHU). Choudhury led the JHU Library team that supported the Covid-19 dashboard. He launched the JHU’s open source programs office (OSPO), the first of its kind within a US university. Choudhury was also a founding member of the Institute of Data Intensive Engineering and Science (IDIES) based at JHU. He was a Fellow in the Provost’s office focused on open scholarship. Choudhury was also the co-chair of the working committee for a major renovation of the MSE Library at JHU. Choudhury has served as principal investigator for projects funded through the National Science Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Library of Congress’ NDIIPP, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Open Society Foundation, Microsoft Research, and a Maryland based venture capital group.
Associate Professor, Chemistry | Carnegie Mellon University
Subha R. Das is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Carnegie Mellon University and the Director of the ChemZone Outreach program (formerly DNAZone). Since 2007 his laboratory is engaged in research on nucleic acids chemistry, biochemistry and nanobiotechnology for applications in imaging and drug delivery. Das created the Kitchen Chemistry Sessions courses at CMU in 2008 that use food and molecular cuisine to teach the concepts of chemistry and science to students and enthusiasts from kids to adults. Das is particularly eager to train and engage the next generation of nucleic acid scientists who can avail of new technologies and Breakthroughs.
Department Chair, Psychology | University of Maryland
Michael Dougherty is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Maryland. His research focuses on the nexus of decision-making, attention, and memory. His non-research time is spent managing the 3rd largest major on campus with a shoestring budget, making lemonade from lemons, convincing faculty that their committee time was well spent, and making ice cream. A good day is when his ‘research’ self meets his ‘non-research’ self to make data-informed decisions, develop sensible policies, and improve the academic and research culture of his department.
Assistant Director, Open Climate | Creative Commons
Dr. Monica Granados has a PhD in ecology from McGill University. While working on her PhD, Monica discovered incentives in academia promote practices that make knowledge less accessible and has since devoted her career to working in the open science space in pursuit of making knowledge more equitable and accessible. She has worked on open knowledge initiatives with Mozilla, PREreview and the Government of Canada. Monica is now an Assistant Director at Creative Commons working on the Open Climate Campaign promoting open access of climate and biodiversity research.
Co-Lead, Institutional & Departmental Policy Language, HELIOS | Dean, School of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
LaKeisha L. Harris, Ph.D., is the Dean for the School of Graduate Studies and Research where she has oversight of the university’s 28 graduate programs. Additionally, she has responsibility for managing the research enterprise, which has a portfolio of more than $25 million dollars in research funding and expenditures each year. She began her career at UMES in 2006 as an assistant professor in the Department of Rehabilitation at The University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she served as the Graduate Program Director for the masters program in Rehabilitation Counseling. She earned tenure to Associate Professor in 2013. She earned a M.R.C. in Rehabilitation Counseling from Bowling Green State University and a Ph.D. in Rehabilitation Counselor Education from the University of Iowa. She has over 20 years of experience in rehabilitation counseling and higher education. Dr. Harris is currently the Principal Investigator for the Interdisciplinary Research Center which is funded by the Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education and is a strong proponent for Open Access to Research.
CPSS/Barrios Technology/Project Coordinator, NASA TOPS Mission | Executive Secretary, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Subgroup on the Year of Open Science
Jamaica Jones is the Program Coordinator of the NASA TOPS mission and serves as the Executive Secretary of the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy Subgroup on the Year of Open Science 2023, coordinating federal interagency efforts to advance, inform and celebrate open science initiatives. She is also a PhD student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Computing and Information where she is pursuing research into scientific indicators, research assessment and open science.
Reference & Digital Repository Librarian | Arthur Lakes Library, Colorado School of Mines
Joseph (Joe) Kraus is the Reference & Digital Repository Librarian at the Colorado School of Mines where he co-administers the Mines Repository. He was an editor of the journal Collaborative Librarianship from 2009 to 2016, and he is a founding co-editor of the Journal of Creative Library Practice. He has written numerous articles and presented on topics ranging from library unconferences, collection development, citation analysis, usage of open access content, and altmetrics.
CLIR Postdoctoral Fellow in Community Data Literacy | Carnegie Mellon University Libraries
Taiwo Lasisi is a CLIR Postdoctoral Fellow in Community Data Literacy at Carnegie Mellon University. She works with the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries where she develops pedagogies on Qualitative Research Design, Qualitative Coding, Using Community Data to Improve Community Actions and more. Her current research project focuses on exploring the use of data visualization to assess the problematics of flooding, particularly in Pittsburgh flood plain communities. Lasisi also works with the CMU’s Sustainability Initiatives, and Center for Shared Prosperity to promote community engagement, data literacy, and management. In 2023, she served as a Delegate at the United Nations’ Youth Assembly to support the use of community data and community engagement, amongst others, to advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. She also served as a research associate for the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded project titled “Sustainability of Chesapeake Bay Shorescapes” from 2019 to 2021. Lasisi has a strong research prowess and has single-authored and co-authored articles featured in top academic journals, including the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Virginia Social Science Journal, and Public Administration Review.
Senior Data Engineer | Open Alex
Jason Portenoy is a senior data engineer at OpenAlex, the open, comprehensive catalog of the global research system. It is his job to understand and improve OpenAlex's data, and to show people how to make use of it. He has a PhD in Information Science from the University of Washington. His background is in data science and research in bibliometrics and the science of science.
Senior Researcher – Open Research | Co-Lead, The Turing Way Project
Dr. Malvika Sharan is a senior researcher for the Tools, Practices and Systems research programme at The Alan Turing Institute, London. With a focus on Open Research, she leads a team of community managers and co-lead The Turing Way project that aim to make data science reproducible, collaborative, ethical and inclusive for researchers around the globe. Malvika is a co-founder of Open Life Science, a mentoring and training programme that empowers researchers to gain an understanding of open science principles, build collaborations with experts and adopt best practices in the context of their communities. After receiving her PhD in Bioinformatics, Malvika started her career in community building at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory. She is a Software Sustainability Institute fellow, Open Bioinformatics Foundation board member and an active contributor of open source projects.
Editor-in-Chief, Field Robotics | Professor, Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
Dr. Sanjiv Singh is an innovator, educator, and entrepreneur. He is currently a Consulting Professor at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, and the CEO of Near Earth Autonomy, a start-up that develops autonomy for next-generation aircraft that will inspect infrastructure, deliver cargo, and transport passengers. Dr. Singh started his career in 1985, working on the first autonomous ground vehicles to operate outdoors. Since then, he has led research and development efforts with applications in aviation, agriculture, mining, and construction. In 2010 he led a team that demonstrated the first autonomous full-scale helicopter capable of take-off, landing zone evaluation, and safe descent. In 2011 he led the autonomy effort for Transformer, DARPA’s flying car program. From 2012-2017, he led the perception efforts for ONR’s AACUS program that demonstrated high-performance autonomous rotorcraft flight in austere environments. Dr. Singh obtained his Ph.D. in Robotics at Carnegie Mellon in 1995. He is the founding editor of Field Robotics, a new open-access journal, a TEDx speaker, and a co-founder of four companies.
Helen and Henry Posner, Jr. Dean of the University Libraries | Carnegie Mellon University
Keith Webster was appointed Dean of University Libraries at Carnegie Mellon University in July 2013 and was additionally appointed as Director of Emerging and Integrative Media Initiatives in July 2015 and Posner Dean’s Chair in 2021. He also has a courtesy academic appointment at the University’s H. John Heinz III College. Previously, Keith was Vice President and Director of Academic Relations and Strategy for the global publishing company John Wiley and Sons. He was formerly Dean of Libraries and University Librarian at the University of Queensland in Australia, leading one of the largest universities and hospital library services in the southern hemisphere. Earlier positions include University Librarian at Victoria University in New Zealand, Head of Information Policy at HM Treasury, London, and Director of Information Services at the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London. Keith has held professorships in information science at Victoria University of Wellington and City University, London. He is a Chartered Fellow and an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (UK), and has served on government advisory boards, journal editorial boards, and as an officer in professional and learned societies around the world. He was Chair of the National Information Standards Organization in 2018/19. Keith’s professional interests include research evaluation, learning space design, and trends in scholarly communication. He is a regular speaker on topics such as the future of research libraries and the impact of open science on publishing and libraries.
Coming soon! In the meantime, check out our 2023 program.
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The 2025 Open Science Symposium will be held virtually through Zoom. We will be sharing the Zoom link to the email address that you used during registration.
OSS 2025 is committed to providing a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all conference participants and the OSS 2025 planning committees and volunteers. This Code of Conduct applies to all interactions between presenters, attendees, and the conference planning committees within the Zoom virtual sessions, Slack, and any other conference activities, correspondence, or attendance (prior, during, and/or after the conference). As a participant in this conference, it is expected that you follow Zoom etiquette while inside any Zoom rooms associated with the conferences. OSS 2025 will not tolerate harassment in any form. We use the definition of harassment from the Code4Lib Code of Conduct to include:
ExpandAny behavior that threatens or demeans another person or group, or produces an unsafe environment. It includes offensive verbal comments or non-verbal expressions related to gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, religious or political beliefs; sexual or discriminatory images in public spaces (including online); deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording; sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.
If you experience harassment or hear of any incidents of unacceptable behavior, OSS 2025 asks that you either make an anonymous report or a personal report as follows:
OSS 2025 reserves the right to take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including immediate removal from the meeting without warning, in response to any incident of unacceptable behavior, and OSS 2025 reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future meeting, virtually or in person.