education

[On the move] ISEES and the role of software in environmental science

I just landed in Oakland, where I’ll be participating in a two-day workshop exploring the role of software and training for earth and environmental science. The meeting is convened by the Institute for Sustainable Earth and Environmental Software (ISEES), and supported by the National Science Foundation.

Over the course of the meeting we’ll discuss the needs of the community and the evolving role of software as an enabler in advancing the field, with the aim of honing a vision for a “software institute” for environmental science. Whether that’ll be modeled after the Software Sustainability Institute in Edinburgh, I’m not sure – but looking forward to seeing how the conversation unfolds. Also keen to hear if/how training may fit into their vision as a cornerstone for supporting better practice in the discipline.

This is the last in a series of workshops convened by ISEES (with an impressive group behind it, including Trisha Cruse, Peter Fox and Bruce Caron). Stay tuned for more about the event, and for information on ISEES, visit their website.

[On the move] What to teach biologists about computing?

This week, Greg and I are in Annapolis for a workshop convened by Software Carpentry comrade and Michigan State professor Titus Brown on what to teach biologists about computing and data. You can read the full background of the meeting here in the proposal, or a distilled version here. One of the main focuses will be how to extend Software Carpentry, but also looking at assessment, motivation, other comparable projects (and if/how to join forces).

The hashtag for the meeting is #w2tbac, and Greg (@gvwilson) and I (@kaythaney) (and others) will be live tweeting.  We’ll be posting our notes following the meeting. Stay tuned for more. And feel free to add your thoughts here in the post.