By Sofia Paraskevopoulou
The Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary biology (SORTEE) is a grassroots organization dedicated to improving how science is practiced and shared. SORTEE’s mission is to promote open science, reproducibility, and a more collaborative and equitable research culture in ecology and evolution.
As part of this mission, the SORTEE Conference is anything but traditional. Designed to be virtual, accessible, and community-driven, the conference prioritizes meaningful interaction over passive attendance. Instead of long lecture-style sessions, the program is built around three core formats:
- Unconferences: informal discussions around a specific topic.
- Hackathons: collaborative sessions for building tools, resources, or ideas.
- Workshops: practical, skill-based sessions covering topics like open data, and pre-registration.
This structure not only encourages active engagement, but also ensures that the conference remains inclusive across career stages, geographic regions, and disciplines. Low-cost registration, flexible scheduling across time zones, and a strong focus on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) make it easier for more voices to be heard.
Being part of SORTEE and its conference committee has shown me that scientific gatherings can be more equitable, more interactive, and more effective. I am very proud of this effort.
You can find more information about the upcoming SORTEE 2025 conference program here. For registration please visit the official website sortee.org.