Introducing the New Instructor Trainers Leadership Committee for 2025
In March, members of the Instructor Trainer community were invited to vote in its fifth annual election for the Instructor Trainers Leadership Committee (ITLC). ITLC provides governance and development support to our growing subcommunity of Instructor Trainers, and makes decisions on behalf of that community that affect our Instructor Training program and related policies. However, this year an election was not required because the number of candidates (four) was fewer than the number of available seats (five). All four candidates were thus appointed by default, and to ensure all seats were filled, the committee appointed a fifth member.
In their fourth year as an elected body, the ITLC focused on adapting communication workflows to support the Core Team and Instructor Trainers community following staffing changes at the Carpentries. Specific outcomes include:
- Increased planning and coordination of monthly Instructor Trainers meetings, including developing topics, sending out reminders, and hosting meetings. Updated workflows and other information are documented in a draft Instructor Trainers Meeting Guide.
- Development of additional documentation about ITLC roles and responsibilities for the updated Carpentries Handbook.
The ITLC is excited about the year ahead and our continued commitment to fostering a strong and supportive Instructor Trainer community. We will continue to host our monthly meetings, providing a dedicated space for Instructor Trainers to connect, share best practices, and raise concerns. To further support you in your training events, we plan to release a new “What to Cut (If You Have to Cut)” guide, which will offer practical advice on prioritising content in Instructor Training when time is limited. Above all, we are dedicated to ensuring the Instructor Trainer community remains a fun, welcoming, and inclusive environment for everyone. We encourage all Instructor Trainers to stay engaged and share their voices with us throughout the year!
ITLC Member Bios
Cera Fisher
I am passionate about helping people learn how to understand and work with data. As Community Engagement Manager for programs related to cancer research and health data at Velsera, I spend my days making complex software tools easier to use and helping researchers learn data skills. I have been involved with The Carpentries organisation for almost ten years, starting as a student in 2015. I was among the first to participate in online Instructor Training in 2016 and have since taught many workshops at the University of Connecticut and trained colleagues in the R programming language. My favourite class to teach is Shell Novice because I enjoy helping people build basic computer skills. I renewed my Instructor Training in 2023 and became an Instructor Trainer for other Instructors in 2024. Now, I am excited to help shepherd the Instructor Trainer community, as I strongly believe in The Carpentries’ goal of giving researchers the skills they need and boosting their confidence. Outside of classroom teaching, The Carpentries has greatly influenced how I teach and present ideas, helping me become a more effective teacher in my current role.
Amanda Kis
Hello from Norman, Oklahoma, USA! I am a Lecturer in the University of Oklahoma’s School of Meteorology and an Adjunct Lecturer in OU’s Department of Mathematics, and I teach a variety of major and non-major courses in these fields. During the pandemic, I started taking virtual workshops offered by Carpentries-certified Instructors in OU’s University Libraries. Eventually, I realised helping with and instructing Carpentries workshops would be a great way to gain experience teaching (my favourite language) Python, and my Instructors encouraged me and helped me move toward this goal by providing information, feedback, and a token for Instructor Training. I taught my first Python workshop—a Carpentries-inspired virtual workshop for novice coders—in summer 2022 and became a certified Carpentries Instructor in summer 2023. Since then, I have so enjoyed teaching and helping alongside many of the Instructors and Trainers I look up to! To integrate further into The Carpentries community, I completed Instructor Trainer certification in fall 2024, taught my first Instructor Training in spring 2025, and recently joined the Instructor Trainer Leadership Committee. I have felt welcomed and supported every step of the way in my Carpentries journey, and I hope, as a member of the ITLC, to help other Instructor Trainers feel the same!
Jesse Sadler
I am the Digital Humanities Trainer and Project Consultant in the Virginia Tech University Libraries (Blacksburg, Virginia, USA). A major part of my data education role involves helping to coordinate local Carpentries-related programs. I am also the Maintainer of the Data Carpentries, R for Social Scientists lesson. I am passionate about making digital methodologies more approachable to diverse audiences across a variety of disciplines, especially to those who might feel alienated by the foreignness of computer jargon or the Data Science tool chain. I look forward to engaging with the Instructor Trainers community and seeing everyone at the monthly Instructor Trainer meetings!
Jannetta Steyn
I’m a senior research software engineer and head of training and community in the RSE Team at Newcastle University in the UK. I did my Carpentries Instructor Training at the end of March 2020 and then Instructor Trainer Training towards the end of 2021. I am also a member of the Carpentries Board of Directors. At Newcastle University, most of my time is spent organising and delivering Carpentries workshops and developing bespoke lessons in The Carpentries’ style. In 2022, I became a fellow of the Software Sustainability Institute to further work on CarpentriesOffline, a project which aims to assist instructors in delivering workshops when there is little or no Internet access. The feedback we get after delivering Carpentries workshops is an indication of the great need there is in research for this type of training. I think the best way to meet this need is by training and inspiring new instructors to go out and spread the critical research skills that The Carpentries provide. I want to be a part of this by serving on the ITLC and using this role to share my enthusiasm for The Carpentries with future generations of Instructor Trainers.
Jon Wheeler
I am a data curation librarian at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico (US). In addition to consulting with researchers on the management, sharing, and preservation of their data, I lead a statewide network of Carpentries Instructors in the coordination and delivery of Carpentries workshops at higher education institutions across New Mexico. Sharing in the accomplishments of this statewide Carpentries community over the past five years has given me a great appreciation for the commitment I see at every level of the Carpentries—local, national, and global. I value the energy and enthusiasm that Instructors and Instructor Trainers bring to the workshop experience, and encourage everyone in the Instructor Trainers community to stay engaged as we navigate recent organisational changes. We look forward to seeing you at the monthly Instructor Trainer meetings!