We’re so pleased to announce that Andrew Beckerman has been elected Chair by the Dryad Board of Directors. Andrew is Professor in Evolutionary Ecology and Faculty Director of Education for Science at the University of Sheffield (UK), Co-Editor-in-Chief of the multi-society-sponsored journal Ecology and Evolution (one of our largest contributing journals)
As a leader in two of Dryad’s core constituencies – ecology and evolutionary biology and society-sponsored journals, and with two years’ experience on our Board so far, most recently as Vice-chair, Andrew is in an excellent position to help steer Dryad into the new year.
Andrew takes over from Jason Williams, Assistant Director, Diversity and Research Readiness at the DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (USA), who first joined the Dryad in 2020 and served as Board Secretary (2020 to 2022) and Board Chair (2022 to 2024). Jason was a fantastic Chair for Dryad, bringing cohesion to the Board and organizing our first strategy retreat since the pandemic, and ensuring that every member of the Dryad team felt supported personally and professionally during his term – while also helping to position us effectively in a wildly changing context for research data.
Andrew adds: “I’m very much looking forward to taking over from Jason. He’s established an atmosphere of inclusivity and effectiveness in equal measure and that’s a wonderful platform to move forward with in supporting the ED and team.”
Jason continues on the Board in a second, three-year term to which he was elected in 2023. The current Dryad Board is on our website.
As Chair, Andrew leads the Board and the Executive Committee, which is one of the organization’s most important instruments according to the bylaws. Members of the Executive Committee are elected by the Board to serve as officers, including Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. For the current Board term, we are pleased to also announce that Ian Mulvany (BMJ, UK) has agreed to serve as Vice Chair (serving as Treasurer for two years), Mona Ramonetti (Stony Brook University, USA) as Secretary (for a second year), and Bekah Darksmith (Public Library of Science, USA) as Treasurer.
We are grateful for the wealth and diversity of knowledge and experience each of our officers – and indeed every member of the Board – brings to their roles.
Board Directors join or start their second terms in October of each year, usually following an open call for applications to fill open positions. However in 2024, the lone open seat was filled as Ian Mulvany was elected to start his second term. And, the Board opted not to act to fill the seat left open by Kristi Holmes as she stepped down in late 2024 to take on other obligations. We certainly thank Kristi for her time, dedication and insights while she was with us. The next election is scheduled to take place in 2025 and will be overseen by the Nominations and Elections Advisory Group.