The sandpiper toolchain is governed at a high level by an 11-member advisory panel. This advisory panel is composed of all sandpiper NSF-project Principal Investigators, and of researchers using a cross-section of modes of inquiry and working in various environments in geomorphology and geoscience.
This panel helps ensure sandpiper toolchain embodies FAIR principles and is genuinely helpful to the Earth-surface processes community. The panel is typically not involved in day-to-day decision making of toolchain developments, but is the adjudicating body for conflicts in toolchain components, by majority vote, if necessary.
Teams developing and maintaining the components of sandpiper are governed as self-directed "circles" (CommunityRule). This system of distributed decision-making enables components to move quickly when needed, and allows new contributors to join and leave the components according to the rules of that component.
Unless otherwise specified, components follow a lazy-consensus approach, whereby development proposals are decided upon after some open discussion, and a lack of significant objection.