David Mellor leads the Policy and Incentives programs at the Center for Open Science (COS), which involves both grassroots and institutional efforts to include open science in research. These require implementing the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines, preregistration, Registered Reports, and signaling adherence to best practices with badges.

Mellor received his PhD in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers University. As Director of Advising in the Division of Life Sciences at Rutgers University, he supported undergraduate research and education. At Virginia Tech, Mellor investigated the relationships between land managers and citizen scientists contributing to authentic scientific knowledge and land use decisions. His research interests cover the behavioral ecology of cichlid fish, citizen science, and reproducibility.