Code of Conduct

Updated June 24, 2026

1. Preamble: Principles (why we have a code of conduct)

We value the participation of each member of the Dryad community. Accordingly, all community members are expected to show respect and courtesy to other community members in Dryad spaces.

Every member of our community has the right to have their identity respected. The Dryad community is dedicated to providing a positive experience for everyone, regardless of age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion (or lack thereof), education, or socio-economic status.

To ensure that we uphold our commitment to these principles, all staff, attendees, speakers, exhibitors, organizers, participants, and volunteers in any Dryad virtual or in-person space are expected to conform to this Code of Conduct. The Code of Conduct Committee (COCC) will enforce this code in alignment with our reporting guidelines and procedures, as described below.

This is not an exhaustive list of things that we can’t do. Rather, please take these guidelines in the spirit in which they’re intended—to make it easier to enrich each of us and the communities in which we participate.

2. Scope

This Code of Conduct applies to all spaces managed by Dryad, which include Slack, Github, online and offline events and meetings, and other fora created by Dryad and used for communication by the organization. This Code of Conduct also applies to individuals representing the Dryad organization or our community in public spaces. Examples of representing the organization or community include using a Dryad email address, posting via a Dryad social media account, or acting as an appointed representative at an online or offline event. In addition, violations of this code outside these spaces may affect a person’s ability to participate within them.

Dryad staff are held accountable to these guidelines. For contractors or vendors, violation of these guidelines may affect continuation or renewal of contract.

3. Standards of Behavior

Participants in Dryad spaces are expected to:

• Be friendly and positive. Discussions and collaborations are easier and more successful when they happen among positive and open-minded people who share knowledge generously and look to learn from others’ experience and perspective.

• Be welcoming. We strive to be welcoming and supportive to people of all backgrounds and identities. This includes, but is not limited to members of any race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, color, immigration status, social and economic status, educational level, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, size, family status, political belief, religion, and mental and physical ability.

• Be considerate. Your work will be used by other people, and you in turn will depend on the work of others. Any decision you take will affect users and colleagues, and you should take those consequences into account when making decisions. Remember that Dryad projects affect a diverse and worldwide community, so you likely will not always be communicating in someone else’s primary language.

• Be respectful. Not all of us will agree all the time, but disagreement is no excuse for poor behavior. We might all experience some frustration now and then, but we cannot allow that frustration to turn into a personal attack. It’s important to remember that a community where people feel uncomfortable or threatened is not a productive one.

• Be careful in the words that you choose. We are a community of professionals, and we conduct ourselves professionally. Be kind to others. Do not insult or put down other participants. Harassment and other exclusionary behavior aren’t acceptable. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Violent threats or language directed against another person
  • Discriminatory jokes and language
  • Posting sexually explicit or violent material
  • Posting (or threatening to post) other people’s personally identifying information (“doxing”)
  • Personal insults, especially those using racist or sexist terms
  • Unwelcome sexual attention
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior
  • Repeated harassment of others. In general, if someone asks you to stop, then stop

• When we disagree, listen. Disagreements, both social and technical, happen all the time and we are no exception. It is important that we listen to each other and work to resolve disagreements constructively.

Thank you for helping make this a welcoming, friendly community for everyone.

4. How you can help/how we support you

We recognize that consistently maintaining all of the standards outlined above may sometimes be challenging, e.g., when discussing issues on which opinions of different participants are strongly contrasting and polarized. If you would like guidance on how to navigate such situations and/or if you have suggestions to offer, please contact the Code of Conduct Committee (COCC) at gro.dayrdatad@tcudnoc. Committee members will discuss your request and respond with resources and/or an offer to meet to discuss in more detail.

5. Reporting procedures and guidelines

Reports of harassment/discrimination will be promptly and thoroughly investigated by the people responsible for the safety of the space, event or activity. For online spaces, this is the Code of Conduct Committee. For in-person events, there will be clearly identified Code of Conduct incident responders. Appropriate measures will be taken to address the situation.

Anyone asked to stop unacceptable behavior is expected to comply immediately. Violation of these guidelines can result in the individual being asked to leave an event or online space (either temporarily, or for the duration of the event), or being banned from participation in spaces or future events and activities in perpetuity.

If you believe someone is violating the Code of Conduct, we ask that you report it by emailing the Code of Conduct Committee at conduct@datadryad.org.

All reports will be kept confidential. In some cases we may determine that a public statement will need to be made. If that’s the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.

If you believe anyone is in physical danger, please notify appropriate first responders immediately. If you are unsure what types of responders are appropriate, please send an urgent request to the CoC Committee at conduct@datadryad.org.

In your report please include:

• Your contact information (so we can get in touch with you if we need to follow up).

• Your name.

• Names (as complete as known) of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include them as well. The committee will protect everyone’s anonymity.

• When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.

• Your account of what occurred. If there is a publicly available record (e.g. a mailing list archive or a public IRC logger) please include a link.

• Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.

• If you believe this incident is ongoing.

• Any other information you believe we should have.

What happens after you file a report?

You will receive an email from the Dryad Code of Conduct Committee acknowledging receipt. We commit to acknowledge receipt within 24 hours.

The committee will review the incident ASAP and work to determine:

• What happened

• Whether this event constitutes a code of conduct violation

• Who the bad actor was

• Whether this is an ongoing situation, or if there is a threat to anyone’s physical safety

If this is determined to be an ongoing incident or a threat to physical safety, the committee’s immediate priority will be to protect everyone involved. This means we may delay an “official” response until we believe that the situation has ended and that everyone is physically safe.

Once the committee has a complete account of the events, they will make a decision as to how to respond. Responses may include:

• Taking no further action (if we determine no violation occurred).

• A private reprimand from the committee to the individual(s) involved. In this case, a committee member will deliver that reprimand to the individual(s) over email, cc’ing the committee.

• A public reprimand. In this case, a committee member will deliver that reprimand in the same venue that the violation occurred (i.e. in IRC for an IRC violation; email for an email violation, etc.). The committee may choose to publish this message elsewhere for posterity.

• An imposed vacation (i.e. asking someone to “take a week off” from a mailing list or IRC). A committee member will communicate this temporary ban”vacation” to the individual(s). They’ll be asked to take this vacation voluntarily, but if they don’t agree then a temporary ban may be imposed to enforce this vacation.

• A permanent or temporary ban from some or all Dryad spaces (mailing lists, meetings, etc.). The committee will maintain records of all such bans so that they may be reviewed in the future or otherwise maintained.

• A request for a public or private apology. A committee member will deliver this request and provide mediation where appropriate.

We’ll respond within one week to the person who filed the report with either a resolution or an explanation of why the situation is not yet resolved.

Once we’ve determined our final action, we’ll contact the original reporter to let them know what action (if any) we’ll be taking. We’ll take into account feedback from the reporter on the appropriateness of our response, but we don’t guarantee we’ll act on it.

Finally, the committee will make a report on the situation to the Dryad Executive Committee. The leadership may choose to make a public statement about the incident.

What if your report concerns a possible violation by a committee member?

If your report concerns a current member of the Code of Conduct Committee, you may not feel comfortable sending your report to the committee, as all members will see the report.

In that case, you can make a report directly to any of the individuals on the Code of Conduct Committee. The individuals will follow the usual enforcement process with the other members, but will exclude the member(s) that the report concerns from any discussion or decision making.

Conflicts of Interest

In the event of any conflict of interest¹ a committee member must immediately notify the other members, and recuse themselves if necessary. If a report concerns a possible violation by a current committee member, this member should be excluded from the response process. For these cases, anyone can make a report directly to any of the committee chairs, as documented in the reporting guidelines.

Reconsideration

Any of the parties directly involved or affected can request reconsideration of the committee’s decision. To make such a request, contact the Dryad Board Chair (via chair@datadryad.org) with your request and motivation and the Dryad Board will review the case.

7. Acknowledgement and License

This Code of Conduct is based on the Django CoC, Mozilla Community Participation Guidelines, and UC3’s Code of Conduct. This document is licensed CC-BY in accordance with these other Codes of Conduct’s licenses.

8. Code of Conduct Committee

The composition of this group rotates & will be updated here. Last updated 2024-01-02

• Daniel Potter – ude.sivadcu@rettopd (Dryad Board)

• Jennifer Gibson – gro.dayrdatad@nosbigj (Dryad Executive Director)

• Jenny Muilenburg – ude.wu@liumj (Dryad Board)

• Andrew Beckerman - gro.dayrdatad@riahc (Dryad Board Chair)

• Malvika Sharan – moc.liamg@narahsakivlam (at large)

---