Name: posit::conf(2026) %>% glimpse()
Start: 2026-10-29T17:30:00+11:00
End: 2026-10-29T19:00:00+11:00
Location: DiUS

**posit::conf(2026) %>% glimpse()**

**Date:** 29th October, 2026
**Time:** 5:30 PM (networking and refreshments from 5:30 PM; talk begins at 6:00 PM)
**Where:** DiUS, Level 3/31 Queen St, Melbourne

Curious about how involvement in open source, community building, mentoring, advocacy, or volunteering can open unexpected doors in your career?

Wondering how people find their way into international conferences, scholarship opportunities, and global professional networks, and what role community participation plays along the way?

Join us for a conversation with Dionne and Mansi, who attended **posit::conf(2026)** in Houston, Texas as **Opportunity Scholars**.
This session is not just about the conference itself. It is about the communities, relationships, and contributions that helped make the opportunity possible.

They will share their journeys through open source and community involvement, and the value of networking, building meaningful professional connections, and contributing to communities in ways that create impact for both oneself and others.

Along the way, they will share some of their favourite moments from the conference, lessons from meeting people across the global data science ecosystem, and insights that stayed with them long after the conference ended.

Whether you're new to the R community, considering your first conference application, interested in open source, or simply curious about building a more connected and community-focused career, we'd love to see you there!

Mansi Aggarwal

Kirsty McCann

Dionne Argy

R-Ladies+ Melbourne

RLadies+

Provide support to the organizations developing, and using R software

R Consortium

A venue to host our events and sponsors our casual food and drinks.

DiUS

It gives us occasional space for events and space for meetings

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI)

R User Group

CSL provides us with funding that makes our events possible! 

Nous Group supports us by providing a great space to run our events 

Nous Group

Zendesk kindly provides us with a space and drinks for all our events.

Zendesk

Technology

Women Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics

Girls in Tech

Data Visualization

Data Science

Programming in R

R Project for Statistical Computing

Women Programmers

Data Analytics

Computer Programming

R-Ladies

Mansi is a Product Bioinformatician at Mass Dynamics, where she works at the intersection of bioinformatics, statistics, and software product development. She is passionate about translating complex scientific methods into accessible tools that help researchers gain insights from biological data. Mansi is an active contributor to the data science and bioinformatics community. She serves as Vice President of R-Ladies+ Melbourne, is a member of the ABACBS Professional Bioinformatics Committee, and enjoys fostering inclusive spaces for learning, collaboration, and professional growth.

Dionne is a molecular epidemiologist and population geneticist currently positioned at WEHI. She is interested in genetics, evolution and coding which led her to apply these approaches to studies of infectious diseases, such as Plasmodium falciparum malaria in her Masters of Science and PhD, to P. vivax malaria and various microbes in her first post-doc position. Being an active member of the R-Ladies+ Melbourne community, acting in executive roles from 2023-current, has led to the development of practical content (workshops and the website) and has motivated her to learn and develop new techniques.

Dr Dionne Argyropoulos and Mansi Aggarwal