Research Guides: Open Data Panel: Meet Our Panelists

Welcome!

This exciting panel discussion will offer new perspectives on Open Data. Guest panelists, featured below, will offer perspectives and expertise informed by their experience and knowledge in environmental studies, data librarianship, geography, and engineering. You'll learn more about the opportunities and challenges around Open Data and how it impacts research, policy, and the public.

Curious to learn more about this topic? Browse a curated reading list linked on the left menu sidebar.

Questions? Email us at STEM.librarians@groups.dartmouth.edu

Meet Our Panelists

Bala Chaudhary is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies and the EEES program. She is a soil ecologist specializing in plant-soil-microbial interactions and mycorrhizal symbioses. Research in her lab examines ecosystem-scale questions in mycorrhizal ecology along four main themes: microbial dispersal at the macrosystems scale, trait-based mycorrhizal ecology, synthesis in ecology, and microbial mediation of global change solutions. She uses trait-based approaches to develop predictive frameworks for mycorrhizal dispersal, community assembly, and biogeography, and employs complimentary approaches of macroecological field work, controlled lab experiments, and data synthesis to study multi-scale questions in ecology. Her work spans dozens of ecosystem types and has applications in global change solutions including climate mitigation and adaptation, soil conservation, ecosystem restoration, and sustainable agriculture. She also conducts research on ways to broaden scientific participation and promote racial and ethnic diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM.

Lora Leligdon is the Head of Research Data Services at Dartmouth Libraries, where she leads data and computational support for academic research, teaching, and learning. Her work spans data management, open data, and reproducible scholarship, aiming to foster a transparent and open research culture aligned with FAIR principles. On campus, she leads the Reproducible Research at Dartmouth group, a collaboration with ITC Research Computing, teaching best practices in data- and computational-intensive research. She also co-founded the New England Software Carpentry Library Consortium (NESCLiC), promoting reproducible research and open science in the northeastern US. Lora’s scholarly work includes publications and presentations on information literacy in the workplace, strategic relationship management, research support for students, and increasing openness in academic research.

Justin Mankin is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and the EEES program. His research on climate variability and change is motivated by the risks global warming poses to ecosystems and people. Using both observations and process-based models, his efforts focus on constraining three of the major sources of uncertainty in climate impacts, past, present, and future: the chaos innate to the climate system, the complexity of how people and ecosystems induce and respond to climate stress, and how model choices influence model answers. In his previous career, Dr. Mankin worked overseas as an intelligence officer.

Adam Pollack is a Research Scientist in the Keller Lab Group in the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College. His research on natural disaster risk management is motivated by, and responsive to, the concerns and values of affected parties and decision-makers. He pursues research questions that can offer actionable insights for public policy and decision-focused academic research practices, particularly in U.S. flood risk management. This often calls for collaborative and interdisciplinary research which he greatly enjoys.