The People Behind PKP

Juan is an Associate Professor in the Publishing Program at SFU and the Co-Director of the Scholarly Communications Lab (ScholCommLab). He is recognized as a leading voice in the open access (OA) and open science (OS) communities who can intermediate between the Latin American experiences and the discussions about OA and OS worldwide. Over the past decade and a half, he has coordinated projects, published numerous peer-reviewed articles, and co-edited two books on the subject and has served on the advisory board of major international initiatives like Redalyc, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC), and the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA). Follow Juan on Mastodon at @juancommander@mastodon.social and see his latest publications and presentations.

As Head of Systems, Michael develops and oversees PKP’s systems infrastructure, works closely with hosted publishers, and leads PKP’s team of system developers and administrators. In his previous versions, Michael contributed to the leadership team at the Vancouver Community Network, ran a server for the Ubuntu community, and wrote about communication rights in online environments and the political significance of open source software. Offline Michael can be found outdoors trying to reboot. Michael holds a PhD and MA in Communication Studies from Simon Fraser University and a BMath in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo.

Mark joined the Project in 2022 with thirty years of academic publishing experience and an Executive MBA from the University of Nottingham. Mark specialises in organisational sustainability, publishing business models, and technology development, working with the scholarly communications community to reduce barriers to access and participation in developing the global knowledge base as a public good. Outside of work, Mark dreams of travelling and reading more, spending as much time as possible with his four kids, and sneaking off for good coffee and pastries with his librarian wife, Rachel.

Patricia joined PKP in 2019 as Publishing Intern and is now the Client Services Manager with PKP Publishing Services. She has a Masters of Publishing from Simon Fraser University and has worked with scholarly journals for the past seven years. Outside of work, Patricia spends her time with her two pups and trying out new foods.

Urooj works to build and maintain relationships with PKP’s diverse international community and partners. She is a trained librarian with a master’s degree from McGill University’s School of Information Studies and holds a Master of Arts in Religion from Temple University.

Alec is the lead developer for all PKP infrastructure and the PKP Web Application Library, works with the community, and writes code. He has been working with PKP since 2005 and in that time has led sprints, taught workshops, and worked with editors everywhere except Antarctica (so far). Away from the computer, he loves running, drumming, cycling, community building, and making robots with his daughter.

Kevin is the Director of Operations for the Public Knowledge Project at Simon Fraser University. He holds a Master of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia, a Master of Adult Education from the University of Regina, and a Bachelor of Arts from Simon Fraser University.

As the Associate Director of Publishing Services, Marisa provides operational direction for PKP’s professional support division. A communications professional turned librarian, she has worked in a variety of roles for Canadian non-profits, including academic, public, and medical libraries, since 2003. She holds a Master of Library and Information Studies, Master of Archival Studies, and BA in Communication Studies.

John, who started PKP at the University of British Columbia in 1998, is currently Professor (Limited Term), SFU, and Khosla Family Professor Emeritus, Stanford University. His dozen books include The Intellectual Properties of Learning: A Prehistory from Saint Jerome to John Locke (Chicago, 2017) and Copyright’s Broken Promise: How to Restore the Law’s Ability to Promote the Progress of Science (MIT Press, 2023).

Lin joined PKP in 2020 as a budget coordinator, to assist PKP directors on budget and financial administration and reporting. Lin also helps to ensure that PKP has sound and accurate fiscal practices and policies in all its operations. She has a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Accounting, and is currently working toward earning a Chartered Professional Accountant designation.

Alejandra joined PKP in 2021, as Publication Support Specialist in PKP|PS, she is now Communications Coordinator. She holds Master of Publishing  and has worked with scholarly journals and University Presses in Mexico since 2017. When she is not working she likes to read, cook, and dance.

Famira joined PKP’s Communications Team in early 2022 to assist with “making knowledge public” after experiencing Open Journal Systems and open access publishing throughout her undergraduate degree, and then as an independent researcher. She has a Master’s Degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology with a focus on effective communication, and a history of advocacy. Outside of work she plays pool, enjoys nature, and experiments with photography.

Jeanette Hatherill is the Senior Coordinator for Coalition Publica, a partnership between Érudit and PKP to develop a non-commercial, open source, national infrastructure for digital scholarly publishing, dissemination, and research to support sustainable open access in Canada. She has an MLIS from the University of Montréal and over a decade of experience in scholarly communication. Outside of work she can usually be found in the Gatineau hills on her road bike or cross-country skis.

Mike Nason is the Open Scholarship & Publishing Librarian at the University of New Brunswick and an Open Scholarly Infrastructure Advisor with the Public Knowledge Project. He’s a passionate advocate for collective action, open access, cool hats, advancing publishing and metadata literacy, dismantling the cultural trappings of professionalism, and the principles of open scholarly infrastructure.

As the education lead at PKP, Kate coordinates educational opportunities and resources to enhance the scholarly publishing efforts of our community. Kate is also the Digital Publishing Librarian at Simon Fraser University Library, where she offers software, training, and expertise for members of the SFU community who are creating digital open access publications including journals, conference proceedings, volumes of student work, and textbooks. A member of the PKP team since 2018, Kate holds a Master’s in Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia and a BA in Communication Studies from the University of Calgary.

Emma joined PKP in 2020 as Publication Support Specialist. She has a Master of Library and Information Sciences and is rapidly approaching a decade of experience as a freelance Japanese to English translator. Outside of work, she enjoys long meandering walks, listening to every music genre under the sun, and eating anything sweet!

Zoe is a dedicated advocate for how open publishing and open infrastructure can increase access to and participation in knowledge creation globally. She joined PKP in 2024 as the Open Monograph Press (OMP) Coordinator to focus efforts around OMP and user communities. A 2016 SFU Master of Publishing graduate, monographs were her first love, though she now takes an expansive view of what counts as “publishing” – an interest reflected in Radish Press, the independent press and consultancy she founded. Originally from New Zealand, Canada is her adopted home, and she has the hockey obsession to prove it.

Vitaliy joined PKP in 2018 as a software developer focused mainly on the editorial and JATS XML workflow, as well as on themes development, and is now Workflow Lead. He holds a Doctor of Medicine degree and has conducted several studies in the field of mental health, while contributing to the management of the university’s medical journal. Outside of this work, he engages in active leisure activities, involving long-distance running, triathlon participation, and travelling.

Blessie joined the PKP team in 2024 as a software developer. Before PKP, she worked as a full-stack developer at a startup company for 2 years and then spent 7 years at Cambridge University Press focusing on frontend projects. Her primary expertise lies in frontend development. When she’s not coding, she enjoys playing video games, travelling, binge-watching rom-com TV series, and spending quality time with her family.

Bozana joined PKP in 2016. Before that she worked with OJS at the Freie University Berlin for many years. She was responsible for the OJS hosting services there, and she contributed to adapting OJS to the publishing needs in Germany. Currently, she works on OJS, OMP and OPS, with a focus on metadata and distribution. Besides that she loves spending time with her family and friends, and travelling.

Dimitris has been developing software since 2005 and joined the PKP development team in 2016. Besides developing, he loves family, engineering and books. He has a Master of Science (MSc) in Computer Science.

Devika has been working in digital transformation, product design and strategy for about five years while joining PKP in 2022 as a UX/UI designer with concentration on design and user research, user experience, interface design, usability testing and design analysis. Previously she has built digital products and systems for United Nations, Manchester City Football Club, Visa, Amazon, Starbucks, and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. She holds a Master of Digital Management from Teesside University, Manchester. In her free time, Devika loves to read, cook, binge watch television shows and travel with her family and friends. She aspires to build more community-centric and sustainable digital ecosystems in the future.

Taslan joined PKP in 2024. Since 2020, he has been a full-stack software engineer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computing from the University of Technology, Jamaica. Outside of his professional pursuits, he enjoys reading, watching football, photography, and spending time with friends and family.

Beau joined PKP in 2024 as a Quality Assurance Analyst, and has almost a decade of experience working in the technology sector in various roles with a focus on software development, testing and quality assurance. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Computing Science from Simon Fraser University. Outside of work, he enjoys spending time with his family including his cat Darwin and dog Lacey (named after Ada Lovelace). He also enjoys all sports, video games, and carrying on the tradition of playing DnD with his childhood friends when time permits.

Erik joined PKP in 2019. He is currently a Systems Developer and works closely with both PKP Publishing Services and PKP’s development team. He holds a Master’s of Library and Information Studies from the University of British Columbia and a Master’s of Publishing from Simon Fraser University. When not working, he can likely be found walking through the forest or relaxing by the water.

Jarda joined PKP in 2023 as a lead front-end software developer with focus on accessibility and good user experience. Despite majoring in Applied Mathematics Degree he spent most of his career in the software development field. He worked on several key front-end projects in Cambridge University Press in the last 5 years. And he is very excited to carry on his journey in the academic publishing domain yet with more focus on open access and open source. After working hours he enjoys dancing Lindy Hop, swimming, cycling and listening to music.

Kaitlin joined the PKP team in 2024. A librarian turned software developer, Kaitlin has been working with PKP applications since 2016 in her previous roles with Scholars Portal and the PKP Documentation Interest Group (DIG). She has a Master of Information from the University of Toronto and a Certificate in Computer Programming from Toronto Metropolitan University. Outside of work, she enjoys watching movies, weightlifting, running, baking, and spending time with her family.

Hafsa joined the team in June 2024 as a software developer. She has over 4 years of experience and worked on projects like Askforce.one, the European Environment for Scientific Software Installations (EESSI) Bot with Ghent University, and the Waddist App for Artevelde University. Hafsa has also worked on enterprise resource planning (ERP) modules and developed various web services and applications. In her free time, she enjoys learning to play the violin, exploring nature, baking, and reading. Hafsa is passionate about exploring new technologies and contributing to open-source projects.

Antti-Jussi has been working with PKP applications since 2015 and joined the development team part-time in 2019. He works at the Federation of Finnish Learned Societies hosting a national OJS platform, Journal.fi.

Touhidur has been developing software since 2011 and joined the PKP development team in 2022. Besides developing, he loves spending time with family, learning new stuff, playing video games, watching documentaries and travelling. He has completed graduation in Computer Science & Engineering.

Müge joined PKP in 2023 as a Publishing Support Specialist. She holds a BSc in Political Science and International Relations, and an MSc in Middle East Studies. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Administration. She is interested in developing publishing strategies and policies, and aspires to provide a richer user experience for all stakeholders involved in the publishing process. Beyond her role at PKP, Müge collaborates with universities, NGOs, and IOs, contributing her expertise as a policy analyst, project-based M&E expert, and freelance researcher. Having chosen Muğla as her new base, she enjoys sailing, the tranquil coastline, and solitary walks in the woods.

Devlin joined PKP in November of 2023 as Publication Support Specialist. She holds a Master of Political Science degree and a Bachelor degree in International Relations. Outside of work, she enjoys practicing Muay Thai, watching horror movies, reading novels, and cooking for friends and family.

Pedro is a graduate of the Faculty of Computer Science, from the Benemerita Universidad Autonoma de Puebla, in Mexico. He had his first approach with PKP software in 2010, installing the software, developing, customizing and training editorial teams. Since then Pedro has been working closely with the Open Access initiative, and today on Open Science issues, in Mexico and Latin America. He has a second shift with his two children (Leo and Rebe), who never seem to get tired. Pedro enjoys good coffee, biographical movies or movies based on true stories, and enjoys family trips the best.

As a librarian, Mariya has worked with OJS since 2015 and joined PKP as a Publication Support Specialist in 2019. She is passionate about open access, accessibility, and loves helping users untangle tricky troubleshooting requests. She has been a regular contributor to the PKP Documentation Interest Group and led the PKP Accessibility Interest Group in 2020-2021. Outside of work, Mariya spends time hanging upside down in an aerial circus studio or following twisty trails on her mountain bike.

Israel joined PKP in 2017 as Publication Support Specialist and has served the team in different capabilities such as System Administrator, UX Researcher, and Accessibility Specialist. He has a Master’s Degree in Design and has been working in scholarly communication for the past 20 years developing accessible websites for devices such as laptops and smartphones (even before touch screen technology spread). When he is not working, he is likely working out, studying languages, watching online series’ and movies, or chilling out with his family and their three kittens: Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, and Ozzy (yes, the singers).

Guilherme has been a software developer since 2019, working with different systems, languages, and patterns. Outside work, he likes to play guitar, watch series and movies and enjoy time with family.

Josh joined PKP in 2021 as a Systems Administrator. He has a Physics Degree, used to be a high school teacher and has worked as a sysadmin for over a decade. Outside of work, he likes good movies, Italian food, and books.

Jason has been with PKP since 2011 and is currently a Senior Systems Administrator. He holds an honours degree in Chemistry and once worked in a mine. He is a competitive cyclist and a professional motorsport photographer. His landscape photography is featured across this website. Find Jason online at nugentimages.com 

Janio has been a Systems Administrator with PKP since 2019 and has more than 20 years of experience working with Linux-based systems and web applications.

Rafael has joined PKP as a Systems Administrator.  He has a bachelor degree in Information Management and 20 years experience working with computers. He likes to swim and lift weights, do programming, watch birds, and spend time with friends and family.

Jonas joined PKP at the end of 2018 as a Systems Developer. Since that time he has developed and maintained some key services for PKP, such as the PKP Index, Beacon, and Preservation Network. He also contributes to the development of PKP applications and works closely with PKP Publishing Services hosted clients helping them realise their development projects. He has a Bachelor’s of Computer Information Systems and outside work enjoys playing soccer, travelling, Italian food, and desserts.