Introducing our new Deputy Director of Instructor Training

We are ecstatic to welcome Dr. Kelly Barnes to The Carpentries Team. Kelly’s role as Deputy Director of Instructor Training is supported by a three year grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for scaling and sustaining our Instructor Training and Trainer Training programs. Her work will focus on developing an assessment strategy for instructor and trainer training and working with the Trainer community to maintain and modernise our Instructor Training curriculum. She will also work with The Carpentries Instructor Training Team to scale up our capacity for instructor training by improving our workflows and documentation. Welcome to the team Kelly!

Message from Dr. Kelly Barnes

Hi everyone! I am excited to be joining The Carpentries team as the new Deputy Director of Instructor Training!

I was born and raised just outside of Chicago, in central United States, and moved to Canada in 2011 to do my PhD at the University of Western Ontario. I am a Social Psychologist by training, but have always viewed education through an interdisciplinary lens shaped heavily by my undergraduate, liberal arts education. I believe having the opportunity to learn leaves us with a responsibility to use that education to better the world. I am passionate about people and knowledge and in every role I take on, I strive to use information to improve people’s lives.

I have always been curious and loved learning. While at Western, I had the privilege of teaching several psychology courses and found a new passion for sharing that learning with others. As anyone who has been a teaching assistant or instructor at the college level knows, you often get thrown in without much training. I was committed to being a good teacher, so I took every teaching workshop, course, and seminar I could get my hands on, eventually earning a Certificate in University Teaching and Learning. One thing I love about teaching is the ability to get real time feedback making it easier to continuously improve. I took pride in trying different things and seeing how students responded. That spirit of experimentation, evaluation, and continuous improvement is one I plan to carry with me into my work here.

After my PhD, I moved into the public sector. I’ve worked in government for the past four years, most recently as a Senior Research and Statistics Advisor with the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General. I loved serving the public, but I’m a teacher at heart so I’m thrilled to be part of the education community again.

I’m conscious that now is a challenging time for all of us. In addition to personal struggles, the global pandemic has required us to rethink how we work. And while this is difficult, it’s also an opportunity for innovation and growth. I look forward to being part of this new world of online workshop delivery and undertaking assessment efforts to help ensure that virtual workshops provide the same quality people have come to expect from The Carpentries.

I live in Toronto with my husband, Tristan, and my two cats, Phoebe and Romeo. I like painting, cooking, and going on adventures (which is what I call my long walks around the city). I am excited to get to know you all better, so feel free to reach out kbarnes@carpentries.org.