Archives: People

Rebecca Ciezarek is a Journals Manager at CSIRO Publishing, managing a portfolio of animals, health, food and agriculture journals. Her role involves working with editors and societies to develop and direct journal strategy and provide guidance on publishing best practice. Rebecca received her PhD from Victoria University (Aust) in 2016. She was previously a Journal Publishing Manager at Wiley before joining CSIRO Publishing.

Sena Evren is an Associate Publisher at Springer Nature, overseeing the microbiology hybrid portfolio, as well as managing the mycology and parasitology sub-portfolios within Springer journals. Sena joined the STM Association’s Early Career Publishers Committee (ECPC) in 2024 and is also a member of the Society for Scholarly Publishing’s Training Committee. She graduated from the University of Hamburg, Germany, with an MSc in Politics, Economics, and Philosophy.

Jessica Gedamu is the VP Global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Springer Nature, where she leads the company’s internal DEI strategy. She has extensive expertise in designing and implementing programmes that foster inclusion and equity, such as inclusive hiring and talent management, data-driven goal setting, implicit bias awareness, and community building.

Prior to joining Springer Nature in 2018, Jessica served as a DEI consultant and facilitator at EAF Berlin, where she continues to hold a board position. In this role, she supported companies across various industries in their efforts to enhance diversity in leadership. Jessica is also a certified diversity trainer, specializing in inclusive leadership.

I am currently a Deputy Director of Journals, Europe at World Scientific Publishing (WSP). Before that I had the privilege of serving as a Chief Commissioning Editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief at Wiley for 8 years. Prior to my publishing career, I worked at the Council of National Research in Italy where I simultaneously completed a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Bologna under a Marie-Curie fellowship from the European Commission.

D.J. Anning is a former researcher and data engineer.

At the start of 2023, he joined Elsevier’s Research Integrity & Publishing Ethics Centre of Expertise, where he is a Senior Ethics Expert and leads the new Ethics Data & Insights Hub.

He specializes in large-scale and complex ethics cases—especially those involving coordinated network activity—and in co-developing data-driven investigative and screening tools.

Dr. Mikka Lene Pers is a psychologist, chartered by The British Psychological Society.

Mikka works to help make IOP Publishing a leading voice in the physical science community and broader publishing industry on matters relating to diversity, equity and inclusion, and wellbeing.

Additionally, Dr. Pers teaches narrative research, digital technology, and patient experiences at King’s College London. She also serves as an Associate Researcher with the Bridge Group, where she contributes to research on social mobility.

Dr Adya Misra is the Associate Director, Research Integrity at Sage, and leads the Global Research Integrity Team with oversight of publishing ethics activity in 1300+ journals.

She is responsible for developing a research integrity vision for Sage, prevention of publication ethics issues, ensuring policy and processes stand the test of emerging threats to research integrity. Adya has previously worked in senior editorial roles at PLOS and PeerJ bringing together subject level expertise in molecular biology, medicine, and public health along with research integrity practices. In 2024, she won the People of Publishing Award to recognise her contribution to Scholarly Publishing.

Christene Smith is a Commercial Editor at Wiley, specializing in B2B publications and working on the editorial team of CHEManager International. She plays a key role in shaping the editorial strategy to ensure the content is both relevant and impactful for industry professionals. Christene holds a PhD in Chemistry, which enhances her editorial expertise.

Additionally, she currently co-leads the Research & Learning DEI Council at Wiley, where she champions diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the organization. Before joining Wiley, Christene worked at De Gruyter (now De Gruyter Brill), as an Acquisition Editor and was a founding member of their IDEAL Committee.

Damita Snow, CAE, ENV SP, is the Director of Accessibility & Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategy, Publications & Standards, at the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). She is the founder and former chair of ASCE’s Staff Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Council. In addition, she has served as a co-chair for the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee at the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP), where she currently holds a position on the board.

Snow’s leadership experience extends to her roles as the Community Engagement Committee and the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Committee chairs for Association Media & Publishing (AM&P). She also served on the AM&P board. Snow was also a member of the Research Committee arm of the Foundation at the American Society of Association Executives Foundation (ASAE).

Previously, she co-chaired the Publications Special Interest Group for the Council of Engineering and Scientific Society Executives (CESSE) and was a member of the Annual Meeting Committee. At present, she is a board member of Black Associations Executives (BAE), as well as the program lead for the 2024 Women in Artificial Intelligence, Global Ethical & Responsible AI Speaker Series.

Carmen is an innovator who views the world through the lens of possibilities and progress. With a unique blend of technical and creative expertise as both an engineer and a musician, she constantly explores the systems around her to find efficient and original ways to advance them.

Since 2015, Carmen has gained extensive experience in the Clinical and Molecular Imaging sectors, working with several market-leading companies. She served as an Imaging Specialist for Southern Europe before taking over her current role as Global Imaging Product Manager in May 1, 2022.

Her colleagues describe her as passionate, energetic, and open-minded. She readily leads projects that deliver significant value to customers and contribute to the growth of her organization.

Carmen holds a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University Carlos III in Madrid, an MBA with a focus on the Biopharmaceutical and Biotechnological industries from the University of Alcalá, and a Professional degree in Double Bass from the Professional Conservatoire of Music in Madrid.

In her free time, she enjoys CrossFit, weightlifting, traveling, and walking her dog, Niobe.