Veerle Van den Eynden, UK Data Service, manages the Research Data Management team at the UK Data Archive, University of Essex, a centre of expertise for the curation and sharing of digital research data for the social sciences. Her team provides expertise, guidance and training on data management and sharing to researchers across the UK (and beyond), to promote good data practices and optimise data sharing. The team also coordinates the archiving and sharing of research data as part of the UK Data Service, within the scope of the research data policy of the UK's Economic and Social Research Council. Veerle also leads research and development projects on data management and sharing, as well as research data infrastructure developments. She has many years of experience in interdisciplinary research, studying interactions between rural communities and the environment in Namibia, Senegal, Ecuador, Trinidad and Scotland.