`BCC2020: 2020-07-17 & 2020-07-18`

# Open Life Science: Empowering communities with open* principles

###### tags: `Workshop` `BCC`

Session 3
**Logistics for session**
- Call date and time: 18 July 2020, 17:15 BST ([in your time zone](https://arewemeetingyet.com/London/2020-07-18/17:15/Open%20Life%20Science%20Training%203%20at%20BCC%202020#eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwczovL2hhY2ttZC5pby9Ab3BlbmxpZmVzY2kvYmNjMjAtdHJhaW5pbmczIn0=))
- Joining link: https://live.remo.co/e/w-1-3-2-open_communities
- Session Facilitators: Malvika Sharan, Yo Yehudi, Patricia Herterich, and Kristina Riemer

⏳ Preparation before this event: Project vision & Implicit Bias Test
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*The session leads will share this with the attendees before the session*

**1. Project vision**: Reflect on your current work.
* Take personal notes regarding your favorite open project (that you either lead or work on) by answering the following questions:
* The problem the project is trying to solve.
* How you think openness and open leadership will help solve it.
* How meeting the personal goals will help you and help solve the problem.
* How meeting your cultural goals for your community, organization, or project * will help solve the problem.

**2. Implicit bias and inclusion**: Do the implicit Bias Quiz
* Go to [https://implicit.harvard.edu](https://implicit.harvard.edu) to complete the 'Gender - Career' or ‘Gender - Science’ quiz (10 minutes). You can 'continue as a guest' by choosing your country,
* Reflect on these questions when you've finished the implicit association test:
* What does inclusion mean to you?
* Did your results of the implicit association test surprise you?

## Participants / Roll Call
*Name / (Anything else you want to add, e.g. Job Title, Organisation / Pronouns / Email, Social Media), one person per line/bullet, add new lines as needed.*
* Yo Yehudi / Open Life Science / she/they / t: yoyehudi / g: yochannah / mastodon: [e-mail]
* Malvika Sharan / Open Life Science / She/her / t+gh: malvikasharan
* Kristina Riemer / University of Arizona (OLS-1 mentee) / she/her / (Twitter & GitHub) @KristinaRiemer
* Elnaz Sarbar / UC Santa Cruz / she/her / g:elnazsarbar, [e-mail]
* Allissa Dillman / Training Strategist & Outreach Coordinator / National Institutes of Health / she/her / t: DCHackathons g: allissadillman
* Catrione Lee / Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Research Student / she/her
* Ash O'Farrell / UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute / he/him or they/them (NB) / [e-mail] and linkedin.com/in/ash-ofarrell
* Muhammet Celik / MSc student at Konya Food and Agriculture University
* Irene Ramos / CONABIO, México / she/her
* Colleen Xu / formerly OHSU MSc student, likely getting a job in an open bioinformatics project soon *fingers crossed* / t: BioBabblingHere
* Carolyn Caron / University of Saskatchewan Bioinformaticist / she/her
* late: Patricia Herterich / Research Data Specialist, University of Edinburgh, OLS1 mentor / she/her / @pherterich
* late: Peter van Heusden / South African National Bioinformatics Institute / he/him / @pvanheus

👋 Welcome!
---
*[Lead] (⏰ 5 min)*

* The session leads will confirm if this call is recorded!
* Reminder: [Code of Conduct](https://bcc2020.github.io/code/)
* If you experience or witness unacceptable behavior, or have any other concerns, please report it by contacting the CoC contact:
* **Morgan Taschuk** or **Helen Van De Pol** by sending an email to [[e-mail]](mailto:[e-mail])
* [Reporting form](https://bcc2020.wufoo.com/forms/rbisal20k4lqsc/)
* Call etiquette introduction
* Try to stay muted to prevent background noises
* Okay to ask questions/make comments in chat, in the doc, or by unmuting when prompted
* Breakout rooms will be used for this training

### Icebreaker question

*If you write a book on 2020, what would be your opening line?*

* Name / answer
* Malvika / I moved to a new country, and never left my apartment for too long. 😅
* Elnaz / We thought it could never get worse, but it did..
* Kristina / And nothing was ever the same again. (so true! - MS)
* Muhammet / So it begins... (haha, classic! 👍)
* Yo - It was a dark and plague-ridden night... :thunder_cloud_and_rain: (ooh soo Octavia Butler-ish! MS)
* Catrione / It couldn't get worse, right? (haha wait for it!!)
* Ash / For some, this was evidence the empire was falling. For others, it was a bit of an annoyance because wearing a mask in Costco is stuffy.
* Alex O / It was the worst of times, it was the worst of times. (so on the nose! -KR )
* Colleen / We shouted into the void.

📢 Introduction to the Open Life Science program
---
*[Lead] (⏰ 10 mins)*

> “Welcome to Open Life Science! The Open Life Science program helps individuals in research in becoming Open Science ambassadors and leaders in their communities.”

***A quick demo of OLS and next cohort***
* Links and resources
* [Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1dvwjd2i8rzgOfAQLQBsRlqZXRmU67wdrTY3QHKiDXUI/edit?usp=sharing)
* [openlifesci.org]([openlifesci.org)
* Twitter: [@openlifesci](https://twitter.com/openlifesci)
* GitHub: [github.com/open-life-science](github.com/open-life-science)

* **Shared notes** (feel free to add your notes here)

* Next round of OLS has applicants from 6 continents, this is more inclusive than most Open Science initiatives that are very focused on the global North
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## 🏆 Who are Open Leaders?
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*[Lead] (⏰ 10 mins)*

*“Open leaders design and build projects that empower others to collaborate within inclusive communities.”*
* Links and resources
* [Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MrZpgkj8yyUp-4jnER5FsLJ_jM2HYw4ciBIHPfZ1wOI/edit?usp=sharing)

* **Shared notes** (feel free to add your notes here)

* Open project to bring cultural change. Non-traditional methods of information dissemination.
* Question from Harpreet: How are the projects evaluated during OLS? There were no official evaluations or assessments, especially due to varying levels of funding for different projects and impacts of covid.
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## 👥 First breakout: Exchange what we practice.
*[Lead] (⏰ 10 mins)*

**During our first breakout:**
* Say hello and introduce ourselves. (4 in each breakout, 2 mins for everyone to talk, and last 2 minutes for capturing your responses.)
* **Discuss:** What common community practices (how people interact with your project) do you use for maintaining interactions in your open projects?
* **Shared insights**, Write any insights/thoughts/comments to share from your breakout room?

* Gitter / Github / Slack / Microsoft Teams - but some community or forum is good beyond Github. Also note that Github has a barrier for entry and can be hard to navigate. + 1
* Communication with a lot of people is hard (lots of communication channels.) +2 +1
* We have different communication channels, depending on who we are communicating with. Within our technical team, we mostly use slack + github, but for communicating with other areas we use email, lots of video calls. Also some other communities require more personal channels, like personalized emails or other text based communication.
* +1 to GitHub being a possible technical barrier.
* +1 for text. Language & culture are a huge barrier though. I know many African researchers who are reluctant to just jump in and start speaking in technical fora.

### Q&A about OLS and Open Leadership
*[Lead](⏰ 5 mins)*

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## 🔓 Unpacking the difference between Open “by Default” & “by Design”
*[Lead] (⏰ 20 mins)*

> “Open leaders design and build projects that empower others to collaborate within inclusive communities.”
* Links and resources:
* [Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1H82WnOR-siINJMU5Tzjdwft34ZlRhrzzfO-iEW3j33Q/edit?usp=sharing)

* **Shared notes** (feel free to add your notes here)

* Question for all: how open is Taro's sharing? can it be improved?
* Only somewhat open. Taro only started making the repository open but didn't ensure that everyone would be able to use it. As mentioned in earlier section, Github has a technological barrier that the wetlab scientists of their lab may or may not be able to use. Given the audience for the scripts, a detailed README would benefit many on how to use and download the scripts.
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### ✏️ Reflect and share insights
*[Lead] (⏰ 5 mins)*

**Question to reflect on**: Based on the difference you learned, how do you categorize your community interaction practices? Is it Open “by default” or “by design”? How do you feel about it?

* The community that I'm a part of is a diverse bioinformatics team where trouble-shooting is often done through slack or MS teams. Github is open by default rather than by design. All members are fluent in the different channels of communication but sharing this outside of the group may not be accessible. *The difference is still something I will have to continue to learn and differentiate.*
* We could definitely improve our community interactions on Slack and GitHub by providing actual guidelines for how to interact and contribute. (this is a different person: +1 as someone who sometimes wants to interact and contribute but doesn't know how and feels scared about publically breaking something) +1
* My project is not software but rather a forum - https://rsse-africa.sanbi.ac.za/ - where I and a few others are trying to build a community of Research Software & Systems Engineers in Africa. It is a very "bare bones" at the moment. In part the whole field - running & building scientific computing systems in Africa - lacks "onramps" (and some of the "onramps" are very unevenly distributed, like having access to a computer while growing up) and I want to address with with only a small amount of volunteer time available. Future plans include at least making a website to explain more about what is research software engineering and systems engineering / research systems administration and how can you develop in these fields. We don't currently use "real time" systems like Slack (and my computer is currently groaning from belonging to too many Slack communities +1). +1 slack is great, but too many channels are overwhelming, too +1
*
* So far, our community interactions have been "by default", for example, we share our code publicly and intend to follow FAIR principles, but mostly from a technical perspective. I had not thought about the difference between open by design or by default. I think this is because "open" is mostly discussed in terms of technical aspects, for example use licences, but it leaves out the community aspect.
* I fi
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* My github repos are more "open by default" rather than "open by design". I don't feel like I have the all the skills I need to make it "open by design". Do I need to promote or register my code somewhere so people find it? Did I pick the right license? How do I write a nice ReadMe?
* +1 I had these same questions when I started learning about open principles and applying them in my personal work. I guess some smaller, personal projects have different requirements than bigger and more community-oriented projects?
* What kind of "accessible" are we aiming for? Accessibility for those who are disabled or neurodiverse is different from accessibility for those with spotty/slow internet or for those who are not comfortable with the tech used...
* Any work around building communities and trust involves a lot of work, how does one get buy in from leadership that may not understand this level of commitment and support?

### Q&A
*[Lead] (⏰ 5 mins)*

* This sounds like it involves constant leadership and effort to moderate and take responsibility for negative interactions in the public space made for communication. any tips?
* providing clear community contribution guidelines and a code of conduct can help with this. Then there are clear and explicit expectations for community interactions. Of course, not everyone will follow those unfortunately. (Kristina on chat)
* another tip is to call for volunteers in your community who would like to support your community by offering moderation (this role can be rotated)
* Code of conduct committee formation in large communities are very useful for moderation.
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🖥 Unconscious Bias & Designing for inclusion
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## 💪 Why is intent important in Open Science?
*[Lead] (⏰ 20 mins)*

* Links and Resources:
* [Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1NeELYlOA9MedF43BloZJiDf9AULOTi1lS6zPB3YGPSU/edit?usp=sharing)
* Slides from OLS-1 expert speaker [Alex Chan](https://alexwlchan.net/2020/03/inclusion-cant-be-an-afterthought/)

* **Shared notes** (feel free to add your notes here)

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### Q&A

*[Lead] (⏰ 10 mins)*

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## 👥 Second breakout: Recalling a moment of inclusion
*[Lead] (⏰ 10 mins)*
During our second breakout reflect on:
* What’s a place that made you feel included the first time you visited? (online or in-person)

* This workshop - :heart: <3
* My workplace -- Ash 🏠😍
* United States - I am from Iran, I was a second hand citizen just by being woman! Not allowed to enter univeristy without adhering to the strict dress code, now alllowed to sing solo in public, not allowed to dance in public, as a witness my testtmony counts as half as a man's.
* places where there are people who aren't men and aren't white. And they are speaking up and being included. (another person: allys are so important)
*

* What made that place so inclusive?
* Direct opening statements that reach out and address people who may not have felt like they belinged implicitly. These kinds of statements really go a long way. Even if the particular statement doesn't apply directly to me, just knowing that under-represented groups that I care about are being acknowledged makes me feel safer/included myself.
*
* The team I'm working with is interdisciplinary, so they have a lot of experience working with people from different backgrounds. Also, my supervisor is female and a scientist, and it's been important for me to have a role model.
* Being aksed to speak and give my opinion even as a newcomer +1000
* I am transgender (non-binary, which means I don't fit male or female very well). My workplace is very welcome. The one time someone called me by the wrong pronouns, it was a mistake, and he pinged me on Slack to apologize about ten minutes later. The ability to be respectful and to say a quick "oops, I messed up, sorry" is something that is often lacking, but here at UC Santa Cruz I've had no issues. (PS: I'm very open about being trans but I know some people don't know a lot about it, so please feel free to ask me if you have questions as to what that means) -- Ash (To Ash: I'd love to talk to you more about this! since I shared my non-binary-ness in my breakout session too. From another NB person) Sure thing my fellow enby!
* :D yay! chatting thru this is...different. Trying to figure out how to respond to people without typing over you. Sorry!
* It's tricky, that's for sure. Kind of reminds me trying to write a story with my friend on a shared Google Docs, except that was about Warrior Cats so it was a little bit different in content.
* First time I attending Rstudio Conference. Seeing a much more diverse group of people than I normally saw at “traditional” scientific confereneces. More mindfulness around code of conduct

* Shared Insights on the implicit bias test?
* I got a strong automatic association of Male-Career and Female-Family and *little to no association of Male-Science vs Female-Humanities and vice versa*. I know I'm fortunate to have many role models growing up who were female engineers.
* (A quote that somewhat applies? "When you exist in spaces that weren't built for you, sometimes just being you is the revolution" - Elaine Welteroth, *More Than Enough*) - of course, I think one takeaway is that it is REALLY HARD being in spaces that aren't built inclusively. And people shouldn't have to work so hard or be that brave in order to be there. It helps with empathy.
* I have a moderate association of female with science and male with humanities. Reflecting back on why this might be, I realize I've been fortunate to have a support system in place growing up female and I always wanted to pursue science.
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* I had a moderate association of female with science and male with humanities. I think it might have also been because I was quite slow in answering - I am not good at "match up" activities. Ironically I skipped some of the questions they asked because the categories (like "Liberal") did not make sense for me - I think they mean something different in the USA.
* Yep, in the United States, politics is skewed a bit to the right compared to the rest of the world. Liberal still means liberal in the international sense (ie pro free markets) but because the left doesn't exist in electoral politics as much, people tend to see liberal as the only thing that is to the left of conservative. It's kind of a mess... but politics are always messy :-)
* I had a slight association of female with career and male with family, which surprised me. But maybe this is because of my own personal and professional goals, and my work and academic environment where I've been surrounded by female role models.
* Strong association with Male career, Female family. May be because my mum was stay at home and never had a career?

🖥 Personas & Pathways to welcome contributions
---
*[Lead] (⏰ 20 min)*
* Links and Resources:
* [Slides](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1wEcgznz9wt32Sk2ViXg6oNPkgC6w1NnlyI9XgNuy1xs/edit?usp=sharing)

* **Shared Notes** (feel free to add your notes here)

* Remove barriers to engage people into an open project.
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### Q&A
*[Lead] (⏰ 10 mins)*

* Do you have any more resources on using personas and pathways?
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⚖ Balance
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*[Lead] (⏰ 20 min)*

**Balance: Value exchanges are for you, too.**
> Reflect on what you give to your community, organization, or project and what does this bring back to you. If there are gaps and unmatched expectations, think about how you can adjust them.

## 👥 Third breakout: Value exchange in open leadership
*[Lead] (⏰ 10 mins)*
During our third breakout discuss:
* What kinds of things do you give to others in your daily practices?

* Time +3
* mentorship +1
* helping hand
* sharing resources to further help when I can't do the first three things
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*
* What kinds of things do you get back?

* Enthusiasm
* Feedback
* Validity of my work
* time
* Mentorship
* I learn so much seeing things with fresh eyes!
* Does the balance seem right to you, or are there adjustments you’d like to make?

* reflect on my feelings when I lack balance, and think how others might feel when I'm asking for help.
* Need for communication to set reasonable expectations and timelines
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### Silent reflection (shared note-taking)

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### Q&A

*[Lead] (⏰ 10 mins)*

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🗣️ Closing
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*[Lead](⏰ 10 minutes)*

**Note to add on self care and mental health**:
- Taking care of yourself and others in sustaining your energy so that you can do what you enjoy in a long term. This is called "Personal Ecology".
- Working openly is a choice. Working openly as a volunteer is a privilege. Not everyone has the time, resource or bandwidth to do that (that includes you) - and therefore [burnout is prevalent in Open Source](https://opensource.com/article/19/11/burnout-open-source-communities).
- Be aware of your personal needs, learn to step back when you need to and encourage your members to do that too.

**Summary**
* You learned what Open Life Science program is and why is designed.
* Who the open leaders are and what kind of training they receive from OLS.
* How we can bring open by design principle to our project and go beyond the thoughtless default of open label.
* How we can use our understanding of personal bias to overcome them and intentionally create an inclusive and welcoming space for collaboration.
* How "persona and pathway" tool can help us create pathways for open engagement and collaboration for diverse members in our community.
* How we create opportunities for value exchange for others and ourselves in the work we do.
* Be aware of your needs by understanding your personal ecology and well being of your mental health.

**Assignments**
* In a typical cohort call OLS participants get home works and assignments to apply what they learn into their work. If you would like to make a full use of this training, then go ahead an create a vision statement for your work
* Review your notes that you created before this event and improve them based on your training today.
* Using those details, create a vision statement for yourself.
* Develop your personal notes on how you will overcome your bias when designing open projects. Use persona creation tool in this process.

**Open Q & A**
*The session leads will write responses to your questions here after the session if we can’t cover this during the call*

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## Feedback

What worked?

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What didn’t work?

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What would you change?

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What surprised you?

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*License: CC-BY-4.0, Open Life Science*