The Data Patch offers data management, data publishing, and data education services. We've worked with government agencies, academia, and NGOs to help scientists put data standards and practices into action across projects, data systems, and policies. It was founded by Steve Formel and Abby Benson in October 2025. Abby left in 2026 to focus on other work.
Steve FormelORCID
Principal
Steve started out as a microbial ecologist studying how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill affected salt marsh microbiomes. Then he slid down the slippery (and fun!) slope into data stewardship and information science, and hasn't looked back.
He brings more than a decade of experience in biodiversity data management, including serving as OBIS-USA and GBIF-US Node Manager at USGS and as a data officer at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information. He has also developed data management solutions for large, complex projects like the Mesophotic and Deep Benthic Communities (MDBC) Restoration Portfolio.
Steve is currently a Data Officer with the IOC-UNESCO Ocean Biodiversity Information System (OBIS) Secretariat, where he coordinates OBIS activities in the EU project MARCO-BOLO, focusing on metadata standards, data pipelines, and data modeling. Other things he's working on:
- Modeling the FAIRe checklist for eDNA publishing
- Developing AI tools for eDNA standardization and publishing
- Co-chairing the OBIS Products Coordination Group
He remains involved with TDWG and the Genomics Standards Consortium, and recently stepped down as co-chair of the ESIP Biological Data Standards Cluster.