Julia Stewart Lowndes

*At their closing keynote at the 2020 RStudio Conference, Hilary Parker
and Roger Peng mentioned that they hatched the idea for their excellent
[Not So Standard Deviations podcast](http://nssdeviations.com/)
following their reunion at the [2015 rOpenSci unconf,
("runconf15")](https://unconf15.ropensci.org/). That statement went
straight to my heart because it pin-pointed how I had been feeling
throughout the week of RStudio Conference that I had been unable to
name. At rstudio::conf, I was surrounded by so many of the incredible
people I had met at that very same runconf15. These folks are
visionaries and leaders, founding and leading global efforts in open
source software and inclusive culture, and the fact that they were all
together at a small event convened by rOpenSci holds great significance.
I am so honored to know this community, and to consider them allies and
friends. The RStudio Conference ("rstudio::conf"), a conference with
2400 people, felt cozy with their presence and with the visible efforts
they have led to make R and beyond a welcoming, innovative space. In a
follow-up to an earlier [blog summary of
rstudio::conf(2020)](/blog/2020/02/04/rstudioconf-2020/), here I want to
reflect on how important runconf15 was, and how truly unique and
gamechanging rOpenSci is.*

<figure class="center">
<a href="/blog/2017/07/18/value-of-welcome/"><img
src="ropensci-butland-welcome.png" width="400"
alt="Screenshot of Stefanie Butland&#39;s blog post about the value of welcome" /></a>
</figure>

The 2020 RStudio Conference felt monumentous to me personally because it
marked five years of me being in the \#rstats community (which I define
broadly to be the deliberate, inclusive, and welcoming culture around R
and that visibly exists on the [Twitter \#rstats
hashtag](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23rstats&src=typed_query)) .
\#rstats has not only upgraded my analytical practices, but it has also
changed the trajectory of my career and life: it has upgraded my
skillset and also my mindset and expectations of what is possible for
scientific research and beyond. I mentioned this in my [2019 useR!
keynote](/blog/2019/08/22/user-keynote/), but I intentionally did not
really talk about it. What I could not say in that keynote was describe
really at all how important rOpenSci --- the program, leadership, and
community --- is to me because I can't talk about it without my voice
wavering with emotion. But here, written, I will try.

My entryway to \#rstats all started with a single person who welcomed
me: [Karthik Ram](http://karthik.io/).

Karthik is a data scientist, an ecologist, and a world-changer. He not
only co-founded, built up, and leads rOpenSci, but also leads efforts at
the Berkeley Institute for Data Science and the US Research Software
Sustainability Institute, among a million other things. He is an
incredibly warm, thoughtful person, and he first said hello to me when
he was co-teaching the [Open Science for
Synthesis](https://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/OSS) course at
[NCEAS](https://www.nceas.ucsb.edu) where I am based (but was not
attending). I met him in the hallway one day and he asked me about my
work and told me a bit about rOpenSci.

[rOpenSci](https://ropensci.org/) brings software developers and users
together to innovate on creating new coding tools and promoting open
science. It does this by deliberately creating a friendly, positive
environment where folks with different backgrounds and expertise feel
welcome and comfortable to learn, share ideas and innovate together.
rOpenSci exists primarily online, through its extensive staff- and
community-developed and ever-growing ecosystem of [R
packages](https://ropensci.org/packages/), [Community
Calls](https://ropensci.org/commcalls/), [discussion
forum](https://discuss.ropensci.org/),
[Twitter](https://twitter.com/ropensci,) and Slack. It also catalyzes
relationships and strengthens community through in-person "unconf"
events, bringing community members physically together to collaborate on
specific projects of their choice.

> we'd love to have you at the conf! Please submit! 💯
>
> --- Karthik Ram (@\_inundata) [December 29,
> 2016](https://twitter.com/_inundata/status/814333386563194880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

The [2015 rOpenSci unconf](https://unconf15.ropensci.org/) ("runconf15")
was transformative for someone like me, so new to coding. Beforehand, I
was pretty scarred by my experience coding, and really thought that
software was a static, untouchable, and unalterable thing, sort of like
a refrigerator that did Its Purpose and Too Bad if it doesn't work quite
right or limits your imagination of could be possible. Honestly, my
closest inkling that I could interact with software or software
developers was through
[Clippy](https://jules32.github.io/useR-2019-keynote/#59).

But at runconf15, I learned not only that software developers were real
people, they were kind people. They were kind people who would take time
to talk to a new user/marine ecologist like me, and be interested in my
use cases, questions, needs, and learning process. My colleague Jamie
and I were able to talk with RStudio's Joe Cheng about our pitfalls and
limitations of working with raster map data in R. And then we were blown
away as Joe began coding a package to make rasters faster right before
our eyes, in dialogue with us as we sat together.

> Getting raster data into
> [@LeafletJS](https://twitter.com/LeafletJS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) at
> [\#runconf15](https://twitter.com/hashtag/runconf15?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [@jcheng](https://twitter.com/jcheng?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [@juliesquid](https://twitter.com/juliesquid?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [pic.twitter.com/xq5eXorD9u](http://t.co/xq5eXorD9u)
>
> --- Jamie Montgomery (@jamiecmonty) [March 27,
> 2015](https://twitter.com/jamiecmonty/status/581578558977368064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

Having these kind people (note: "kind people" not "kind of people") all
together ready to innovate does not happen by accident. It takes
deliberate intent and attention to bringing us together and setting the
tone in a comfortable space to interact. And this was the vision of
rOpenSci. This runconf15 was the first time I heard a [Code of
Conduct](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_of_conduct). And it was the
first time I had experienced a large setting without hierarchy, and felt
like I belonged and could contribute in a way that was welcomed.

I've been thinking back to rOpenSci's runconf15 event five years ago. My
interests, time investment, and [career focus on kinder
science](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/open-software-means-kinder-science/)
was definitely catalyzed by runconf15, and then reinforced by other's
efforts from this very same event. Those runconf15 participants who were
already \#rstats influencers...were they catalyzed as well? [Hilary
Parker](https://hilaryparker.com/about-hilary-parker/) and [Roger
Peng](http://www.biostat.jhsph.edu/~rpeng/) said that their [NSSD
podcast](http://nssdeviations.com/) idea came out of rOpenSci's event.
How about [Tracy Teal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Teal), who
became executive director of [The
Carpentries](https://carpentries.org/), [Gabriela de
Queiroz](https://k-roz.com/) who had created and then turned
[RLadies](https://rladies.org/) into a global movement, [Arfon
Smith](https://www.arfon.org/), who went on to lead the [Journal of Open
Source Software](https://joss.theoj.org/), and
[RStudio](https://rstudio.com), who increased their team and customer
base by an [order of
magnitude](https://rstudio.com/slides/rstudio-pbc/#32) in five years and
who launched [rstudio::conf in
2017](https://blog.rstudio.com/2016/06/30/join-us-at-rstudioconf-2017/)?

rOpenSci made concerted efforts to continue building and nurturing this
community after runconf15. This means leveraging the power of the
internet, where conversations ignited at runconf15 was continued with
enthusiasm and innovation.

> [@\_inundata](https://twitter.com/_inundata?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [@jcheng](https://twitter.com/jcheng?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) yay this is
> so great!!! cc:
> [@juliesquid](https://twitter.com/juliesquid?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
> [@ben_d_best](https://twitter.com/ben_d_best?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
>
> --- Jamie Montgomery (@jamiecmonty) [June 17,
> 2015](https://twitter.com/jamiecmonty/status/611285143857299457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

But rOpenSci is all about welcoming more and more people into the
rOpenSci and \#rstats community, as is evident in part from
[runconf16](https://unconf16.ropensci.org/),
[runconf17](https://unconf17.ropensci.org/), and
[runconf18](https://unconf18.ropensci.org/), and the [28.2K Twitter
followers](https://twitter.com/rOpenSci) (as of February 2020). rOpenSci
has created a friendly watershed of innovation, with a growing network
of diverse people and skillsets contributing in myriad ways, like
streams joining a ever-stronger flowing river.

And what I am trying to do with Openscapes is to connect additional
tributaries to this rOpenSci watershed. I think that the most important
thing I do here with Openscapes is to pass forward what I've learned
from rOpenSci leadership and community, and welcome additional
scientists to join. When we talk about the awesomeness of R communities
in our mentor sessions, it's not only to encourage them to become a part
of them, but also to extend its ethos and kick-start [kinder
science](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/open-software-means-kinder-science/)
around them.

Thank you rOpenSci leadership and the greater community for being so
welcoming and supportive of me and everyone like me.


<em>
 At their closing keynote at the 2020 RStudio Conference, Hilary Parker and Roger Peng mentioned that they hatched the idea for their excellent Not So Standard Deviations podcast following their reunion at the 2015 rOpenSci unconf, (“runconf15”). That statement went straight to my heart because it pin-pointed how I had been feeling throughout the week of RStudio Conference that I had been unable to name.
</em>

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

rOpenSci's Leadership in #rstats Culture