Mike Sanderson: "Compressing the tree of life onto a single DVD."

Mike's research applies statistical and computational techniques to problems in phylogenetics and evolution, especially those that pose methodological obstacles or present unusual quantitative challenges. In the last few years, his research has shifted toward computational phylogenetic problems at the scale of the "tree of life", with an empirical emphasis on all green plants. Much of this work aimed at developing algorithms and software for assembling data from the large sequences databases for the purpose of building comprehensive phylogenetic trees. More recently, he started working in the area of biodiversity informatics, developing methods for examining patterns of phylogenetic diversity in local floristic assemblages. This dovetails with the phylogenomic work in unexpected ways through the common currency of taxonomic names associated with the sequence data needed to build reliable phylogenetic histories.

Dan Whaley: "Reimagining peer-review." (Video of keynote, and a blog post)

Dan is the founder of Hypothes.is, an open-source distributed framework for the collaborative annotation and merit-based filtering of information on the internet, including news, legislation, software code, and scientific articles. His prime motivation in life is to witness what humanity is capable of if it is truly working together. Before Hypothes.is, Dan in 1994 launched the online travel industry as the coder and entrepreneur who founded the Internet Travel Network (ITN, later renamed GetThere). The first airline reservation made over the web was booked via a server in his living room in 1995. More recently, Dan spent five years working in climate, and is a founder and team member of the ISIS Consortium, a group of 13 oceanographic and atmospheric research institutions that have come together to explore the role of iron in the ocean, and whether there are opportunities for us to play a more active role in our response climate change. He has a degree in Rhetoric from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.