Screenshot of the Netcdf file not found error

A workaround for a common error on NDBC DODS

I've long touted the advantages of using NDBC data for introducing students to programming and data analysis, with an oceanographically focused dataset. In particular, their DODS Server makes it fairly easy to access decades of data from hundreds…
Cover of the OOI Special Issue in Oceanography Magazine
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Student research summaries can help guide activity development

Early on in our OOI Data Labs project planning, we had a big question: Of all the data collected by the OOI, which datasets would really engage students? The OOI has over a thousand instruments deployed across several Arrays, and all of…
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Linking Chlorophyll-a to Fisheries Productivity

Data Labs in the Classroom: Teaching Tips from the Community Sara Smith, OOI Data Lab Fellow 2020   My name is Sara Smith and I teach at Bellingham (WA) Technical College in the Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences program. We are a…
Screenshot of the Ocean Atmosphere Data Investigation activity

EPE Data Investigations Archive

Back in the early days of the OOI, I was part of a small team of designers and developers who were tasked with building tools to support undergraduate education. Our vision consisted of an OOI Ocean Education Portal that included an integrated,…
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Building Student Confidence by Investigating Bomb Cyclone Data

Data Labs in the Classroom: Teaching Tips from the Community Dr. Melissa Hicks, OOI Data Lab Fellow 2020   Hello!  My name is Melissa Hicks and I am a Professor in the Chemistry and Physical Sciences Department at Onondaga Community…
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Guiding Student Exploration of Primary Productivity

Data Labs in the Classroom: Teaching Tips from the Community Dr. Jean Anastasia, OOI Data Lab Fellow 2020   I teach at Suffolk County Community College, a large, tri-campus community college on Long Island, that is part of the…

Ocean Data Labs looks back at 2020

Last year was a tumultuous one for the history books, to put it mildly. And while many of us already trying to forget the year that was 2020, the Ocean Data Labs community actually has a lot to be proud of. Of course, from an educational…
2 years of temperature and salinity data from 30m at Irminger Sea Flanking Mooring B showing the annual cycle.

My ooilab Python Toolbox

Data portals are great for navigating and finding useful datasets. But sometimes, the easiest way to access data is with a bit of code, especially when you want to make your own graphs or do a bit of custom processing (like the above example). For…
Profiles of temperature and salinity from an Argo float off Baja
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Introduction to Python – Argo Float Data

This summer, as part of our virtual REU workshop, we introduced students to the basics of using Python to analyze oceanographic data. When we frantically designed the course back in May (during the early even more frantic days of the pandemic),…
Storytelling with ocean data title slide

Storytelling with Ocean Data

Storytelling with data is a popular topic. In fact, one of the most cited papers in Data Vis, Segel and Heer's 2010 Narrative Visualization: Telling Stories with Data, just celebrated its 10th anniversary and was awarded IEEE's Test of Time…
A graph showing the seasonal cycle of Sea Surface Temperature at NDBC Station 44025
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Introduction to Python – Data Analysis

Weather is something we all experience. Which is why you'll often find weather-related data used in data analysis courses. Of course, as oceanographers, weather data is far more relevant to our research goals, but it's also useful to start with…
Data graph showing NDBC Station 44025 air/sea temps and wind speed

Introduction to Python – Part 2

Teaching students how to visualize ocean data is a challenge. But before you get into cognitive theory, choosing colors, or the the principles of (good) visualization design, you really just need to get your students' feet wet plotting some…