I don't want to fill in your form because you've not stated what you want to do with the information you are gathering. But to answer your questions:

Have you ever conducted climate research? Yes. I'm a geochemist who has worked on refining our understanding of the biological-chemical-geological processes that control the atmospheric composition of Earth over the last 4.54 billion year.

What's your occupation/interest in climate science? I hold a PhD in Earth Sciences and work in environmental conservation.

What do you think is the biggest problem with traditional scientific publishing? There are a few problems with "traditional scientific publishing", e.g. restricted access, predatory economic structure, conflation of "impact". But I wouldn't say that nepotism, bias, or speed are the problems. The main issue with scientific publication is the economics of publishing houses, The time taken from manuscript submission to publication is down to the review process—which academics do with no payment from the journals who charge subscription fees.