Team

Mike hails from sunny Scotland and his background is as a self-taught developer with an interest in building open tools and making things accessible. Prior to joining DataCite, he was the technical lead on the Bodleian Library’s Broadside Ballads Online project and a developer with the University of Edinburgh Digital Library. In his spare time, he can be found bothering a variety of string instruments or trying to solve a cryptic crossword.

Matthew Buys is the Executive Director of DataCite where he leads a passionate and committed team who provides the means to create, find, cite, connect, and use research globally. Matt’s work is focused on building DataCite as a sustainable global community, through efforts that support and advance community-driven practices.

Xiaoli leads the Implementing FAIR Workflows project, working on building exemplar FAIR practices throughout the research lifecycle with the project team and partners. She is also responsible for the outreach effort in the APAC region while co-chairing the DataCite APAC Expert Group. She holds an MLIS from Syracuse University and is working towards her Ph.D. in the same field from the University of Sheffield. Before joining DataCite Xiaoli worked at CERN in parallel with her Ph.D. research on Open Science research practices among high-energy physicists.

Wendel joined DataCite in mid-September 2023 as an Application Developer. Prior to joining DataCite, he worked as a Software Engineer in Fintech largely in the Fintech space. Wendel graduated from the Durban University of Technology and is currently pursuing a BSc in Computer Science. In his spare time, he builds keyboards, plays eight-ball pool, and watches a lot of sports.

Britta joined DataCite in 2015. She is responsible for budget and fiscal functions, policies and procedures, while managing the day-to-day operations of the DataCite business office in Hannover. She holds a BSM from Pepperdine University and an MBA in Entrepreneurship. Before coming to DataCite, Britta managed the human resources and marketing functions of the family business. Britta is passionate about Open Science and her onboarding sessions with new DataCite Members.

Rorie leads the partnership between DataCite and IGSN e.V. He is responsible for driving adoption of PIDs for physical samples, advocacy activities to scale samples community engagement, and the development of sample PID practice standards. Based in Tokyo, Rorie has 12 years’ experience of coordinating international initiatives and scaling communities globally. Before joining DataCite, he was Executive Director of ISC’s World Data System, and Head of Secretariat of CoreTrustSeal. Rorie’s research background is highly multidisciplinary. His first degree is Mathematics, and he holds a Ph.D. in Structural Geology.

Sara joined DataCite in November 2023 as a Metadata Specialist in the Adoption unit. She has a background in life science and a PhD in cancer research, and after completing her PhD, she worked as a scientific curator, research data manager, project leader, and metadata specialist. Sara is a passionate community builder and an advocate for equity and inclusion of marginalized groups in STEM fields, and an enthusiast for all things FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). She lives in Sweden and loves exploring the Swedish landscape hiking, and camping.

Maria leads DataCite’s product vision and coordinates strategic initiatives across the organization and with external partners. Prior to joining DataCite, she managed the California Digital Library’s persistent identifiers portfolio, supporting infrastructure and community activities focused on PIDs and networked research.

Richard Hallett is a technical lead at DataCite, with nearly two decades of experience in software development. He joined DataCite in 2017 and has become a vital member of the team, leading the development of new products and services. Richard has participated in various grant-funded projects aimed at furthering DataCite’s mission. He is passionate about open data and open science, making valuable contributions to the organization’s efforts.

Mary takes care of making sure DataCite provides exceptional support to its members and community. Mary has a background in customer support, communications and knowledge management and has worked at global information companies, smaller research organizations, and NGOs.

Liz leads development of software and infrastructure for the Research Organization Registry (ROR). Liz has over a decade of experience in technology and higher education. Before joining DataCite, Liz was a technical lead and software developer at ORCID. She also has an MLIS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and previously worked in various academic library and IT roles.

Bryceson joined Datacite in September 2022 and recently moved from the United States to Portugal. Before joining DataCite, he was a software development engineer at Cambia Health Solutions, where he worked on a large-scale care gap management engine that assists health professionals in identifying gaps in member care, allowing them to provide better coverage. Prior to that, he was also involved in research at Texas A&M University. Outside of work, he spends much of his time playing music and rock climbing.

In her role, she leads the Global Access Program, contributes to DataCite’s outreach efforts and seeks collaboration with the research community. She also leads DataCite participation in the FAIR-IMPACT project. Previously, she worked at ORCID focusing on community engagement, to increase adoption and membership. Gabriela volunteers at the EOSC PID Policy & Implementation Task Force, the Board of Directors of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations and the NISO Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility committee. She’s interested in shaping a more open research infrastructure.

Mohamad collaborates with the community to foster a more open, equitable, and trusted research ecosystem. In his role at DataCite, he supports institutions and communities across Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, implementing Open Research principles. Mohamad contributed to launching the ORCID Arabic interface in the Arab world and served as a volunteer Crossref Ambassador for the MENA region, advocating for Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) adoption and open infrastructure.

Bosun currently works as a regional consultant (Sub-Saharan Africa) for DataCite. He spent six years serving as the Institutional Data Manager for International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, IITA, having presence in more than 35 African countries. He was instrumental to the institutionalization of Open Data in the organization. Within CGIAR, he was active in various Community of Practices (CoP) and working groups like Repository Working Group, Metadata Working Group, among others. He had earlier spent his immediate years as a leader in the Information Technology industry. Bosun spends his leisure time with his family, playing the piano, reading, editing videos and walking.

Iratxe joined DataCite in June 2023 as Director of Make Data Count, in this role she supports adoption of open data metrics and the development of the Open Global Data Citation Corpus. Prior to DataCite, Iratxe held editorial roles at the open-access publishers PLOS and BioMed Central and more recently, she worked at ASAPbio, focusing on community engagement with preprints and multi-stakeholder projects related to best practices and adoption of preprints. Iratxe is based in Cambridge (UK), she is passionate about open science and community building, and also has an interest in research reproducibility and publication ethics.

Joseph works on the development team and contributes to the technical infrastructure. He lives in Rhode Island with his family. Prior to joining Datacite, Joseph led the Repository team at the Brown University Library. He studied mathematics and holds degrees in Computational Mathematics and Biomedical Mathematics. When not working, Joseph spends his time traveling with his family, playing board games, and reading as much science fiction and fantasy as he can get his hands on.

Cody joined DataCite as an Application Support Engineer in March 2022 and became Product Manager in July 2024. Before joining DataCite, Cody worked at the Brown University Library, where his primary responsibilities included supporting the University’s digital repository service and advancing the Library’s digital preservation program. He has professional experience in software development, archives and special collections, library IT services, and library technical services. He volunteers in arts programming and administration.

Kudakwashe joined DataCite in mid-September 2023 as an Application Developer. He lives in South Africa. Kudakwashe has worked with various technologies for a number of companies in consulting, Fintech, E-Commerce, and EduTech. His recent work was as a Software Engineer for a software consulting firm responsible for Ruby on Rails upgrades and performance optimisation. Outside of work, Kudakwashe spends time with family, plays volleyball, enjoys long scenic drives and traveling.

Kelly leads adoption efforts and engages with the DataCite community on technical implementation. Before joining DataCite, Kelly worked at the Portage Network of the Digital Research Alliance of Canada, where they contributed to national data discovery initiatives and supported the DataCite Canada Consortium. Kelly holds an MLIS from the University of British Columbia, a BS in Computer Science, and a BMus in Music Composition.

Ashwini joined DataCite in mid-September 2023 as an Application Developer. Hailing from the vibrant and diverse land of India 🇮🇳, I come with over 12 years of experience in crafting and delivering applications using the power of Ruby on Rails. My expertise spans a wide array of domains, including Ecommerce, Energy analytics, Healthcare, and Survey management. Beyond the code, Ashwini’s heart beats for the great outdoors. She’s an avid trekker and an enthusiastic dancer.

Since 2020, Paul has served as DataCite’s outreach manager. In addition to his work in communications, he engages with the PID Network Germany project. Prior to joining DataCite, Paul was employed at the Helmholtz Open Science Office and various universities, where he contributed to the development of publication and data repositories. Paul holds an M.A. in North American Studies, Italian, and ethnology. As a committed advocate for Open Research, Paul aims to promote the concept of openness in scientific communication.

Suzanne joined DataCite in November 2020 as an application developer. She lives in the seacoast area of New Hampshire with her family. Suzanne contributes to the DataCite technical infrastructure. She has worked as a software developer for a number of companies in the U.S. with a wide range of technologies and applications, most recently in higher education at the University of New Hampshire library moving forward the modernization of their library digital repository. Outside of work, I play the violin in the New Hampshire Philharmonic, a local community orchestra.

Sarala is responsible for the technical and product vision at DataCite. She leads the technical team to deliver DataCite services. She collaborates with external and internal stakeholders to improve existing member services and identify potential member service opportunities. She has been working with the Open Science and PID communities for many years. Before joining DataCite, Sarala spent ten years at the EMBL-EBI leading multiple data integration projects including the Identifiers.org resource. She holds a PhD in Bioengineering and a BE in Software Engineering from the University of Auckland.