The OOI Ocean Data Labs Project

The National Science Foundation’s Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) is advancing our ability to understand the natural world by collecting large quantities of data to address complex oceanographic processes. This expanded access to data also provides professors in the geosciences with new opportunities to engage undergraduate students in authentic data experiences using real-world data sets to teach geoscience processes.

However, students struggle to work with data based on their limited experience and exposure to different data types and sources. Also, supporting students in engaging with the data can be challenging for professors too, as there is a lack of adequate tools to easily digest and manipulate large data sets for in-class learning experiences.

Therefore, the OOI Ocean Data Labs Project (formerly called Data Explorations), with funding from NSF, is developing, testing, refining, and disseminating easy to use, interactive Data Explorations and Data Lab Notebooks that will allow undergraduates to use authentic data in accessible ways while being easy for professors to integrate into their teaching.


Recent Blog Posts

Ocean Sciences 2024

Will you be attending the Ocean Sciences Meeting in New Orleans this year? If so, we hope you'll check out the following talks and posters by OOI Data Labs community members. All of these will feature first-hand accounts from faculty who have…
A table of participants at our Ocean Sciences Workshop hard at work checking out some new Data Explorations.

OOI Data Labs Workshop at OSM24

A table of participants at our Ocean Sciences Workshop hard at work checking out some new Data Explorations. On Wednesday, February 21st, we will host a "mini" workshop for professors interested in learning about…

OOI Data Labs 2.0!

It's official!  You may have seen the news on the newly redesigned OOI website (which is looking great!), or the recent article on our site: Undergraduates Discover New Ways of Exploring the Ocean... with Data.But in…

Undergraduates Discover New Ways of Exploring the Ocean… With Data

Silke Severmann, associate professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences, teaches the introductory course in oceanography at Rutgers. Her role in this first-year seminar is to introduce students to the application of technologies…
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Using OOI Data to Teach Data Analysis and Scientific Computing Skills in Upper-Level Courses

Data Labs in the Classroom: Teaching Tips from the Community Dr. Hilary Palevsky, OOI Data Lab Fellow 2020   I am a faculty member in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Boston College. My research is in marine biogeochemistry,…
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Facilitating Student Analysis of Real Data by Creating a Flexible Python Notebook

Data Labs in the Classroom: Teaching Tips from the Community Dr. Tracy Quan, OOI Data Lab Fellow 2020 I am an Associate Professor in the Boone Pickens School of Geology (BPSoG) at Oklahoma State University. My current research focuses on…