Ocean Sciences 2020 Recap
Last week, the Data Labs team and many members of our growing community attended the 2020 Ocean Sciences meeting in San Diego.
If you haven’t had a chance to go, Ocean Sciences is a meeting that’s jam packed with thousands of science talks, and dozens of workshop and town halls. You’re basically talking and learning about science from 8am till dinner (and sometimes until well after).
In case you missed it, or all that you remember is a blur, here’s a brief recap of the week…
Data Labs Workshop
On Sunday, we hosted our 2nd “mini-workshop” with 32 participants from across the US as well as several other countries (including Mexico, Norway, Brazil, France, Italy and Australia). We discussed the origins and scientific potential of the OOI, and participants had a chance to explore the OOI Data Explorations collection.
Six Data Labs “alumni” were also on hand to share their experiences using Explorations in their classrooms and they had an opportunity to showcase their newly developed widgets with their peers for feedback. All in all, it was a great workshop!
Our workshop page includes the full agenda, list of resources and slide presentations. Participants will be added to our new community map soon.
A table of participants at our Ocean Sciences Workshop hard at work checking out some new Data Explorations.
Teaching With Data Session
On Tuesday, team members Anna Pfeiffer-Herbert and Denise Bristol, along with piloter/developer Cheryl Greengrove and Logan Brenner chaired the session Teaching with Data: Engaging Students in Learning Ocean Sciences Through Large Data Sets.
It was a great series of talks and posters that highlighted the myriad ways educators can incorporate data into their classrooms, along with a good discussion of the many challenges along the way. About half of the presenters specifically discussed their experiences with using OOI data with students.
Rachel Eveleth from Oberlin College shows off her poster at Ocean Sciences
You can find the full list of the OOI related talks and posters that were presented in this session on our Ocean Sciences preview page, along with many of the slides and posters that were presented. Special thanks to all of the presenters for helping to make this session successful and insightful.
Town Halls
On Tuesday afternoon, Janice and I attended the OOI Early Career Town Hall, to discuss the possibilities of using OOI data in teaching, and to share many of the resources our community has developed.
And on Thursday, the OOI Facilities Board hosted their own town hall, which featured an update on the program, results from a recent data delivery survey, and lightening talks from many members of the community, including Data Labs community members Hilary Palevsky, Kristen Fogaren, Cheryl Greengrove, Matthew Iacchei and myself.
You can find the full agenda and slide presentations on the OOIFB Town Hall page.
There were two key announcements at the OOIFB Town Hall:
- The OOI Facilities Board also announced an opening for a new board member. Applications are due March 20th.
- NSF announced a Dear Colleague Letter: Conferences and other training events for the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). This opportunity is specifically geared to supporting small, regional workshops that focus on OOI science, education or both. We encourage community members to take a look at this opportunity. Janice and I are happy to help if you have any questions.
What’s Next?
At the end of the week my head was spinning from the deluge of cool new science I learned and all the educational conversations I had with many members of our community. Not only that, but my legs were also sore from the many many miles of walking (in search of posters and tea), and for the first time, I also joined the 5K fun run which was… well, a lot of fun! #runningforscience
Ocean Sciences is an intense week, but it’s also a rejuvenating one. It’s so nice meet so many passionate scientists and educators aiming to make a difference with our understanding of the ocean, and I was especially encouraged by the interest so many had in our new Data Explorations. And, of course, it was also great to see and catch up with so many members of our community.
If you were able to join us, I hope you had a fun and rewarding experience too. If not, I hope you find the resources above useful. Either way, I hope our paths cross again soon.
-Sage Lichtenwalner, Rutgers University
