We are delighted to welcome two new members to the Dryad Board of Directors: Dr. Andrea Chiarelli and Dr. Juan Diego Gaitan-Espitia.
As members of the board, Andrea and JD will work closely with our current directors and Executive Director Jennifer Gibson to help shape the future of research data sharing and preservation at Dryad. They’ll contribute expertise to challenges ranging from sustainability to legal, business, and technical implementation — all with the goal of advancing Dryad’s mission, and making science more open, accessible and reusable.
The new appointees were selected and interviewed by a panel of current board members over a period of several months. The board’s recommendations were then presented to our partners at a meeting of Dryad partner organizations, where the appointments were ratified by popular vote.
“We’re excited to welcome two exceptional leaders to Dryad’s board: Dr. Andrea Chiarelli, whose unique blend of technical expertise, business acumen, and consultancy experience in sustainable scholarly communication models will support our strategic development; and Dr. Juan Diego Gaitan-Espitia, whose research excellence and editorial experience across Asia and Latin America brings invaluable insight into the practical challenges of global data sharing,” said Ian Mulvany, vice chair of the Dryad Board of Directors.
At the same time, the partners also confirmed term extensions for current board members Andrew Beckerman, Barbara Ebert, and Devika Madalli.
Meet our newest board members
Dr. Andrea Chiarelli. Andrea is an Associate Director at Research Consulting Limited, a mission-driven consultancy dedicated to improving the effectiveness and impact of research and scholarly communication across the global academic landscape. Over the last decade, Andrea has established himself as a leading expert in scholarly communication, research policy and digital infrastructures.
As Associate Director, Andrea serves as a trusted advisor to a diverse portfolio of clients spanning research organisations, non-profits, research funders, infrastructure providers and academic publishers. His work mainly focuses on helping organisations develop sustainable strategies in the context of the transition to open science.
Andrea brings a unique interdisciplinary background to his consultancy work, holding a PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Nottingham (2016), an MSc in Nuclear and Energy Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy (2014), and an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from Nottingham Trent University (2020). Andrea is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (CMgr FCMI).
Dr. Juan Diego Gaitan-Espitia. JD is a marine biologist from Colombia with a PhD in Evolutionary Ecology from the Austral University of Chile. Since 2018, he has been an Assistant Professor at the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Hong Kong. During this time, JD has been actively involved in research, knowledge exchange, and academic activities, including mentoring early-career researchers and promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in science and education.
He has served on editorial boards for journals such as Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Journal of Thermal Biology, Journal of Evolutionary Biology, and Evolution. Additionally, JD has contributed to university training programs focused on best practices for open and reproducible scientific research. He has also been invited to governmental and international advisory panels to facilitate knowledge exchange and translational research on climate change.
The Dryad board
Andrea and JD join a roster of directors with broad expertise, deep knowledge, and great passion for open data and scholarly research. We are endlessly grateful for their dedicated service to our organization. The complete list of Dryad board members is available on our website.