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title: July Newsletter 2023

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June Newsletter 2023
=======================


Hi from AutSPACEs! 

Our next meet-up session is coming up on Thursday 3rd August. Join us for all the latest AutSPACEs updates and opportunities, and to influence the next stages of the project. For the next session, we will be presenting on a paper pre-print on moderation we have just published, as well as sharing the latest platform development progress. 

**Date:** Thursday 03 August 2023

**Time:** 12:00-1:30pm

**Location:**     

   Online via. Zoom: https://turing-uk.zoom.us/j/5232350717

We’ve started to set-up a standing calendar invite for our monthly community meetings. If it would be useful for your planning to have this event in your calendar as well, please email [Bastian](mailto:bgreshaketzovaras@turing.ac.uk) and he will take care of this!

Email [Sophia](mailto:sbatchelor@turing.ac.uk) or [Georgia](mailto:gaitkenhead@turing.ac.uk) to let us know if you want to get involved or don't know where to start, and feel free to share this newsletter to anyone who you think would be interested in joining us. They can sign up by following this link: [https://tinyletter.com/AutisticaTuringCitizenScience](https://tinyletter.com/AutisticaTuringCitizenScience).

Best wishes for everyone!

Project News
------------

### New team member - Obinna

A very warm welcome to our newest team member, Obinna Ofomah. Obinna is interning with The Turing's Research Engineering Group and will be working with the development team to help build the AutSPACEs platform. You can read more about him in the Spotlight section below. 


### Moderation Paper Pre-print Published!

We have now published a pre-print titled, "How to co-create content moderation policies: The case of the AutSPACEs project". The paper shares the steps taken to co-create the moderation strategies for AutSPACEs, unfolding some of the challenges and solutions, and explaining next steps. The paper is published online at SocArXiv (https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/c2xe7/) and is open to be read and downloaded by anyone. Thanks especially to Suzanna Fantoni and James Scott who have co-led on moderation for AutSPACEs! 

The paper has also been submitted to the journal Data & Policy as a translational article. 


### AutSPACEs at Bioinformatics Open Source Conference

Our team member Bastian Greshake Tzovaras will be presenting our work with AutSPACEs at this year's Bioinformatics Open Source Conference in Lyon, France. The conference brings together researchers, software developers and others in the field of developing open source tools for biology to learn from each other. Beyond his talk, Bastian will also be part of a panel on "Open & Ethical Data Sharing"

Links: https://www.open-bio.org/events/bosc-2023/ and https://www.open-bio.org/events/bosc-2023/bosc-2023-panel/

### AutSPACEs at the Citizen Science 4 Health Conference.

From 29 October to Wednesday 1 November 2023, the first international Citizen Science 4 Health conference will happen University of Twente Enschede, the Netherlands. Bastian will be delivering a poster presentation for the conference. It will be a great opportunity to demo our work to a wider citizen science audience that is particularly interested in health, and will include researchers, medical practitioners, patients and other stakeholders.


June Contributor Spotlight - Obinna Ofomah
-------------------------------------------

Today we are spotlighting Obinna Ofomah. Obinna is a member of The Turing's REG team and has been doing fantastic work implementing community recommendations for the AutSPACEs platform.

>## Tell us a little about yourself...
>
>Obinna is an intern at Turing and currently pursuing a master's degree at Northumbria University Newcastle. With background in chemical engineering, he had 4 years of experience in the upstream sector of the energy industry as a Service Engineer. In this role, he collaborated with a team of experts to enhance oil productivity by remediating  well damages.
>
>During his time designing chemical systems for well intervention, he acquired proficiency in Python and SQL, which eventually sparked his interest in data science as a career path. Over time, Obinna has worked in various analytical projects spanning across different industries.
>
>Currently, he is studying the prevalent traits associated with mental health condition alongside other health data science projects.

>## What are your favourite hobbies/things to do?
>
>Participating in high-intensity sports such as football, table tennis, and jogging brings me immense joy as it not only keeps me physically fit but also mentally sharp. Engaging in these activities has become an integral part of my life, as they provide a perfect outlet for stress and a means to stay active and energized. The thrill of competing in sports like football and table tennis fuels my passion for athleticism, while the meditative quality of jogging allows me to clear my mind and find inner peace. Each session spent on the field or the court rejuvenates me, making me more focused and ready to take on life's challenges.
>
>Besides sports, music holds a special place in my heart. It serves as a powerful form of expression and comfort during both happy and challenging times. Whether it's listening to soul-stirring melodies or playing an instrument myself, music connects me to my emotions and brings a sense of serenity to my soul. It has the incredible ability to uplift my spirits and provide solace when words alone cannot convey the depth of my feelings.
>
>
>## What have you been working on for the AutSPACEs project?
>
>I am working alongside Helen to improve the search strategy for the AutSPACEs project. This NLP integrated feature ensures that a story is listed or returned if it is of the same context as the searched word.
>
>
>## Give your best tips and tricks for contributing:
>
>Making a valuable contributions starts with a good understanding of the project. By delving deep into the details of the each task, contributors can truly immerse themselves in the project. A thorough understanding of the problem-statement would allow team members to be more proactive and can adapt swiftly to any unforeseen issues that may arise during the project's execution.
>
>Moreover, effective communication stands as my go-to tip for successful collaborations. Within any team setting, clear and concise communication serves as the backbone of efficient workflow. By encouraging an open and transparent dialogue, team members can readily share their ideas, concerns, and feedback. This fosters a collaborative environment where everyone's perspectives are valued and taken into consideration.
>


Get involved
------------

Our project consists of many different areas where we would love people to contribute and give us their thoughts and ideas. It is really important we hear the voices and perspective of all of our community members.

We have identified the following areas where we need your help:

*   Communication, Engagement and Promotion
*   Platform development
*   Accessibility and Inclusion
*   Moderation

If you want to get stuck in ASAP and know how to use GitHub, you can visit our main repository: [https://github.com/alan-turing-institute/AutSPACEs](https://github.com/alan-turing-institute/AutSPACEs). If you look at the issues list in each of these, you can see a list of tasks that need to be completed, and we welcome anyone to contribute and get involved. We also invite you to take part (or start up) discussions on GitHub. You can do this by going to the repository and clicking on the "discussion" tab, where you can share your views:

[https://github.com/alan-turing-institute/AutSPACEs/discussions](https://github.com/alan-turing-institute/AutSPACEs/discussions)

If you're not too sure about GitHub but would like to know more, _The Turing Way Book_ has a whole section on how to get started for successful collaboration and involvement. We highly recommend this book also for anyone who is interested in Open Source Research and Reproducibility! Follow this link for Getting Started with GitHub: https://the-turing-way.netlify.app/collaboration/github-novice.html

### Connect with us

*   [Github repository](https://github.com/alan-turing-institute/AutSPACEs)
*   [Join us on Slack](https://slackin.openhumans.org/)
*   [Follow us on Twitter](https://twitter.com/AutSpaces)

You are also welcome to email [Sophia](mailto:sbatchelor@turing.ac.uk) or [Georgia](mailto:gaitkenhead@turing.ac.uk) and we will support you to be involved or answer any questions you might have.

As always, a huge thank you is due to everyone in the community for all of your ongoing efforts and wonderful contributions. You are making a big difference in creating research which can benefit autistic people and their families.

Very best wishes,

Georgia, Sophia, Bastian and Obinna