We welcome our new team of Data Editors to the Proceedings B editorial board.
We are pleased to welcome a new team of eight Data Editors to the Proceedings B editorial board. We asked them to tell us more about their background and current research, and their motivation to take on the role of Data Editor.
Bethany Allen
I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. My research focuses on trying to reconstruct and understand patterns of biodiversity across large temporal and spatial scales. To do this, I build computational models, using data collected from both living and extinct organisms. I chose to become a Data Editor at Proceedings B because I believe that developing a culture of data sharing and research transparency is of net benefit both to scientists as individuals, and the biological sciences as a field, and I look forward to contributing to making this happen.
Ben Auxier
I am interested in fungi, focusing on the consequences of fungal individuality. Particularly, I am interested in the evolutionary forces maintaining the rapid programmed cell death processes. We observe that these processes restrict interactions between fungal individuals, but the reason behind this remains unclear. I have recently started as an Assistant Professor at the Laboratory of Genetics at Wageningen University & Research. The role of Data Editor was attractive to me because I believe most authors are willing to participate in open science, with some assistance. I am excited to be a part of the team here, working with a journal that is quickly responding to the ongoing revolution in biology about data sharing and repeatable research.
Jack Brand
The overarching aim of my research is to understand how global environmental change impacts animal behaviour, and how this in turn affects ecological and evolutionary processes. In particular, I am interested in understanding the environmental factors that mediate individual differences in behaviour and the evolutionary consequences this has for animal populations across a diverse range of taxa. This includes both natural environmental change (e.g. temperature, social context) as well as human-induced environmental change (e.g. chemical pollution, biological invasions). More recently, I have become interested in testing many of the ideas generated from my laboratory-based research in the field—mainly through the use of acoustic telemetry to track animal movements in the wild. I am currently a Postdoctoral Researcher based in Umeå, Sweden with the Aquatic Ecology Research Group at the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.
Throughout my career, my interest in open science research practices has grown significantly. I recognize the substantial value in incorporating accessible data and reproducible analysis workflows into scientific publications—an approach I've actively pursued in my own work. I believe this not only enhances transparency but also promotes the sharing of knowledge and collaboration. During my Ph.D., examining statistical code published alongside scientific articles proved to be a valuable resource for honing my analysis skills and I maintain ongoing communication with several authors of these publications. The Data Editor roles represent a great initiative to advance open science practices, and I am excited about contributing to the Proceedings B team in this capacity.
Jan Engelstaedter
I'm an evolutionary geneticist with broad interests in microbial evolution, genome evolution and evolutionary theory. Current research in my lab focuses on antibiotic resistance evolution, recombination in bacteria, and questions around the predictability and repeatability of evolution. I am based at The University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, where I work as an Associate Professor. I am excited about my role as a Data Editor at Proceedings B because I'm strongly committed to reproducible research and would like to help the field make further progress in this direction, ensuring that data and code underpinning research articles are readily, fully and permanently accessible.
For more information on what our Data Editors do at Proceedings B, please visit our website.
