Canadian Sciences Speakers Network

Réseau Canadien de Panélistes Scientifiques


Greg Wilson: CSSN Speaker

Greg Wilson

Toronto, Ontario

Position: Software Engineering Manager

Organization: Plotly Inc.

Dr. Greg Wilson is a programmer, author, and educator based in Toronto. He co-founded and was the first Executive Director of Software Carpentry, which has taught basic software skills to tens of thousands of researchers worldwide, and has authored or edited over a dozen books. Greg is a Fellow of the Python Software Foundation and a recipient of ACM SIGSOFT’s Influential Educator of the Year award, and currently works as a software engineering manager at Plotly.

Areas of Expertise:

+ software engineering
+ scientific computing
+ education

Language(s):

+ English


My Work

What I do:

I have been helping researchers learn how to program for over thirty years, both as an academic and by founding and leading a non-profit that runs short, intensive workshops on data science and computing skills. Along the way I’ve learned a few things about evidence-based teaching, empirical research in software engineering, and the publishing industry (I’ve written, co-written, or co-edited over a dozen books).

Ask me about:

I have moved back and forth between industry, academia, and the non-profit sector; as a result, I think I have a different perspective on career development than most people working in science.

Why me:

I’ve had a lot of practice communicating with people in very different roles.

Fun facts:

Along with my professional books, I’ve written two for children.


About Me

English proficiency: Read, Write, Speak

Title: Dr.

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Gender: Male

Demographic: European / White


Recent Publications

Title Year
Cell and animal models lacking RAB39B show biochemical and behavioural phenotypes that model aspects of Parkinson’s disease2018
swcarpentry/instructor-training: Software Carpentry: Instructor Training2017
An Object in Motion: An Integrative STEM Approach to Accelerating Students’ Interest in Newton’s Laws of Motion.2017
Do Software Developers Understand Open Source Licenses?2017
Data Carpentry OpenRefine Ecology lesson v2017.04.02017
Data Carpentry Spreadsheet Ecology Lesson v2017.04.02017
Data Carpentry Python Ecology lesson v2017.04.02017
Data Carpentry SQL Ecology lesson v2017.04.02017
Referee report. For: Four simple recommendations to encourage best practices in research software [version 1; referees: 2 approved]2017
Software Carpentry: R For Reproducible Scientific Analysis2016
Software Carpentry: Automation And Make2016
Giving Over Taking/Receiving in Volunteer Tourism. The impact of motivation, attitude, and subjective norm on stage of readiness and its implication on social marketing2016
3D/Additive Printing Manufacturing: A Brief History and Purchasing Guide.2016
Software Carpentry: Data Management In The Ocean, Weather And Climate Sciences2015
2015-07-15-feltham v1.02015
shell-novice: Version 5.32015
python-novice-inflammation: Version 5.32015
matlab-novice-inflammation: Version 5.32015
Software Carpentry: Programming With Matlab2015
Software Carpentry: Version Control With Git2015
Software Carpentry: Using Databases And Sql2015
Software Carpentry: Version Control With Mercurial2015
Software Carpentry: Programming With Python2015
Code review for and by scientists: preliminary findings2014
Best Practices for Scientific Computing2014