Wednesday, August 12
1:00 – 2:00 pm EDT
Publishers and funders often talk about each other, but they don’t always have the opportunity to talk to each other. This Ask the Experts Virtual Discussion Group brings together a panel of funders to answer your questions about funder policies and mandates and how funders view their role in the scholarly publishing ecosystem.
Attendees of Ask the Experts events have the opportunity to steer the conversation, asking whatever questions they’d like of our panel of experts. Attendees will also be able to continue the conversation online in the weeks immediately following the event. These discussion groups are a great opportunity to speak with other members of the community and stay abreast of the latest issues in scholarly communications.
Moderator:
Greg Tananbaum, Director, Open Research Funders Group
Greg Tananbaum is the Director of the Open Research Funders Group (ORFG), a partnership of 17 funding organizations committed to the open sharing of research outputs. The ORFG engages a range of stakeholders to develop actionable principles and policies that promote greater dissemination, transparency, replicability, and reuse of papers, data, and a range of other research types. Collectively, the ORFG members hold assets in excess of $100 billion, with total annual giving in the $10 billion range. Members fund critical research across the entirety of the disciplinary spectrum, including life sciences, physical sciences, social sciences, and the humanities. Greg also coordinates the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Roundtable on Aligning Incentives for Open Science. The multiyear project brings together senior leaders from universities, funding agencies, societies, foundations, and industry to discuss incentives for adopting open science practices, current barriers and disincentives, and ways to work with communities and disciplines to develop hiring, review, tenure and promotion, and funding practices that are more reflective of open practices.
Panel of Experts:
Ashley Farley, Program Officer, Knowledge & Research Services, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Over the past decade Ashley has worked in both academic and public libraries, focusing on digital inclusion and facilitating access to scholarly content. She completed her Masters in Library and Information Sciences through the University of Washington’s Information School. Ashley is a Program Officer of Knowledge and Research Services at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. In this capacity she focuses on the foundation’s Open Access Policy’s implementation and associated initiatives. This includes leading the work of Gates Open Research, a transparent and revolutionary publishing platform. Other core activities involve supporting the strategic and operational aspects of the foundation’s library. This work has sparked a passion for open access, believing that freely accessible knowledge has the power to improve and save lives.
Chonnettia Jones, Vice President of Research at the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
Chonnettia has more than twenty years of experience in science research, strategy and evaluation in government and philanthropic sectors in the US, UK and Europe. She initially trained as a geneticist and developmental biologist at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Following her postdoctoral studies, Chonnettia joined the Janelia Research Campus, an intramural research campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, where she managed an ambitious scientific research program that supported collaborative research projects between Janelia scientists and international visiting scientists from around the world. Immediately prior to joining the Michael Smith Foundation, Chonnettia worked in London at the Wellcome Trust, a private charitable foundation dedicated to improving health through research, innovation, policy and engagement with society. As Director of Insight and Analysis, Chonnettia provided strategic leadership to maximize the impact of the achievements and opportunities that arose from Wellcome’s funded research and strategic initiatives. Chonnettia is an active champion of equality, diversity and inclusion and has held a long-standing commitment to mentorship of emerging leaders. Her personal interests include English history and international travel.
Tim Wilson, Associate Vice-President at Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
Dr. Tim Wilson is the Associate Vice-President of Research Programs at the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, where he is responsible for overseeing the Agency’s grants and scholarships programs. Prior to coming to SSHRC, Tim held a number of executive positions at the Government of Canada’s Treasury Board Secretariat and the Public Service Commission. In addition to his career in the Public Service, Tim teaches English Literature at the University of Ottawa, specializing in Renaissance Literature and Literary Theory. In his spare time, Tim enjoys outdoor activities with his spouse and two boys, aged 10 and 6.
