New Mentoring Team with Experienced Mentors and New Voices

We are excited to introduce the new team of mentors for the rOpenSci 2026 Champions Program! This year we have eleven individuals committed to open science, bringing together a rich diversity of backgrounds and perspectives. The team is made up of people joining the program for the first time, former Champions returning as mentors, and experienced mentors from previous cohorts returning to continue to strengthen this community.

This year’s mentors come from a variety of disciplines and countries, and are active voices in the R community in Latin America and beyond. With their guidance, the new group of Champions will not only develop their projects, but also grow as leaders in open science and research software development.

🔗 New mentors

🔗 Alber Hamersson Sánchez Ipia

Hi! I’m Alber and I’m going to be an rOpenSci mentor this year.

I was born in Colombia, in the department of Cauca, in one of the country’s most mountainous regions, called Tierradentro. I am a Cadastral and Geodetic Engineer from the Francisco José de Caldas District University in Colombia, where I earned a Master’s in Information and Communication Sciences; additionally, I completed another Master’s degree in Geoinformatics at the University of Münster in Germany, and later earned a PhD in Earth System Science at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) in Brazil. Currently, I live and work in Brazil and serve as a research assistant at the same INPE.

Part of my daily work involves writing R code to process spatial data and ensure the reproducibility of the scientific experiment results, so I am familiar with R package development. Additionally, I am a co-author of the segmetric package, which is currently available on CRAN, and I maintain one of the Data Carpentry lessons, specifically the introduction to R for geospatial data.

I am interested in sharing the knowledge and experience I have accumulated so far with anyone who is going to write scientific or statistical software, particularly in Spanish. For this reason I am joining rOpenSci, where I hope to be part of and help build a community of developers.

🔗 Pablo Paccioretti

Hello! I am Pablo, Agricultural Engineer and PhD from the National University of Córdoba (Argentina), where I work as a researcher and teacher. Since my student years I have been interested in Statistics, which directed my work towards data analysis. In particular, I apply and develop methodologies and software tools to analyze georeferenced data from field trials and agricultural monitoring platforms.

I am interested in the development of open tools for data processing and analysis. I have developed scientific software, including R packages for georeferenced data analysis.

My participation in the Champions Program arises from an interest in strengthening the links between applied data analysis and programming, and promoting good practices in both areas. Through this program I hope to contribute to the community by sharing experiences and resources, while also learning from other professionals working in different contexts and disciplines.

🔗 Champions to mentors

🔗 Erick Navarro Delgado

Hello! My name is Erick Navarro, and I have a degree in biology from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and I am a PhD candidate in Bioinformatics at The University of British Columbia. I was born and raised in Mexico City, but currently live in Vancouver, Canada. My line of research is focused on developing computational tools to understand how genetic factors and environmental exposures/lived experiences act together or separately to shape our molecular landscape.

I am excited to participate in the rOpenSci Champions Program because I believe that open and accessible science is essential for conducting relevant research whose results benefit everyone in our society. In this program I hope to connect with new members of the open science community, share my programming skills, and drive software development in Latin America.

🔗 Guadalupe Pascal

Hello! My name is Guadalupe.

I am a researcher and project coordinator in optimization and data science for decision making in social systems, with transfeminist, open science and regional perspectives. I am also an associate professor of optimization and quantitative methods (UNLZ-UCA) and professor in data science and artificial intelligence courses (UGR). I have a Master’s in Decision Systems Engineering from URJC (Spain) and am an industrial engineer from UNLZ (Argentina), a PhD student in Information Technology and Engineering (URJC-UNLZ), and hold deplomas in Gender and Society (UNLZ), Cognitive Neuroscience (Neurotransmitting), and Education in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (UMET). I am part of the Matilda Latin American Open Chair and Women in Engineering, as a founding member and representative of the Gender Network of Engineering Faculties of Argentina.

I am also currently part of the rOpenSci community as a 2025-2026 cohort Champion, and I am very excited to be a mentor in this program for several reasons. On the one hand, I have a deep gratification from being engaged with the current cohort. From a simple point of view, the quality and rigor with which the program is implemented in all its instances have a direct impact on the quality and rigor of my own work. And from an holistic point of view, this serves as extremely valuable and compelling evidence of the synergy within communities of practice in developing skills and producing situated knowledge: the rOpenSci Champions Program is a concrete and real example of how communities share knowledge and, fundamentally, values, perspectives and embodied learning. On the other hand, I am looking forward to the challenge of being a mentor in this program because, although it is a role that I have played in other environments, I have never mentored the development of someone else’s R package. Finally, I would like to work in this role to share my experiences as both a mentor and mentee with the community. I believe that accompanying each other in a formative and transformative process is one of the most human dimensions of this ecosystem in which we work.

🔗 Andrea Gomez Vargas

I am Colombian by origin and Argentinean by choice, where today I live, develop my career, and actively participate in the community of R. I am a sociologist and work in the national statistics office of Argentina, in the area of social statistics, where I analyze information about the population to understand inequalities and living conditions.

The R community is my favorite space to share knowledge and build collectively. Currently, I am co-organizer of R in Buenos Aires and RSE Argentina, and I also participate in communities such as R-Ladies, LatinR and rOpenSci, contributing to the strengthening of networks at local, regional and global levels, promoting the learning and use of open tools in data science.

I was a Champion in the 2023-2024 cohort. where I developed {ARcenso} a package that facilitates access to historical census data for Argentina. I am motivated to continue in the program as a mentor to continue promoting open knowledge and to accompany other people in the development of projects with an impact on their communities.

🔗 Monika Avila Marquez

Hi, I am Monika, a postdoctoral researcher in statistics at the University of Geneva, where I work on causal inference and machine learning methods for panel data. I have a PhD in econometrics and my research focuses on the development of semi-parametric estimators that combine machine learning techniques with econometric foundations for estimating panel data models. I also work on mixed effects model selection and causal inference with interference.

I am co-organizer of the R-Ladies Geneva chapter, where I strive to build an inclusive community of practice for people using R in research.

I am participating as a mentor in this program because I want to give back for all that rOpenSci has given me. This community has accompanied me in my professional development - as a source of resources, as a learning space and as an example of what it means to do open science with rigor and generosity. Today I have the opportunity to offer that same support to others, and that excites me deeply.

🔗 Returning mentors

🔗 Luis D. Verde Arregoitia

Hi, I’m Luis D. Verde Arregoitia, a Mexican living in Xalapa, Mexico. Biologist and PhD in Biological Sciences, I am a mammal specialist with experience in R programming for data analysis, visualization and statistical modeling. I am also a certified instructor and author of several packages.

I was a mentor in two previous cohorts of the program where I have supported software developers in Latin America and I return with much enthusiasm to this new cohort.

🔗 Pao Corrales

I have a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) and am currently working in Australia at the 21st Century Weather Centre as a research software engineer.

I actively participate in R-Ladies, R Forwards, The Carpentries, LatinR and rOpenSci, learning and sharing knowledge about R in the community. In 2023 I participated in the Champions Program as a Champion, submitting the agroclimate package to the rOpenSci peer review process. I learned a lot and connected with people from all over the world. Tt was an excellent experience!

I am passionate about teaching and helping other people grow in what they do, access new opportunities and develop professionally and as individuals. I am very excited to participate again this year as a mentor in the Latin America Champions Program.

🔗 Francisco Cardozo

My name is Francisco Cardozo. I am originally from Colombia and came to the United States to pursue my doctoral studies. I am currently working at the University of Miami as a postdoctoral researcher in the IMPAC research center, an institution dedicated to advancing our understanding of adolescent development. I have participated in the Champions Program on several occasions. Much of my professional work has focused on research design and the application of statistical methods, particularly through the use of the R software environment.

🔗 Milagros Mendoza

Hello, my name is Milagros. I am an ecologist and statistician driven by a desire to understand the complex systems that intertwine nature, society, and data. Throughout my career, I have worked with interdisciplinary data in the fields of climate, demography, and ecology, always striving to translate that data into knowledge that engages with reality and contributes to more informed decision-making. I am currently pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Vale Institute of Technology in Brazil, where I am part of the research group on territories and natural resources.

I decided to serve as a mentor at rOpenSci because I am motivated to help more people develop confidence in using scientific tools, strengthen their critical thinking, and actively engage within the academic community. In this sense, I view mentoring as a learning space focused on dialogue and mutual growth.

🔗 Elio Campitelli

I am from Argentina but two years ago I moved to Australia because it is the only other country that starts with A and uses the same type of plug.

I am doing a postdoc at Monash University researching interactions between Antarctic sea ice and the atmosphere.

I have been a mentor to previous cohorts of the program. It was a great experience that I want to repeat once more.

🔗 What’s next

We are happy to have this diverse and talented team of mentors, who embody the values of collaboration and commitment to collective growth. Their support will be key to helping the new Champions move their ideas and projects forward and contribute to the development of a stronger and more diverse open science community.

The selection of Champions is now complete, and we’ll be announcing them soon.