2024-05-20: Kickoff meeting

Our path to better science in less time using open data science tools

Published

May 20, 2024

Attendees

Trey Stafford, Matt Fisher, Julia Collins, Ann Windnagel, Andy Barrett, Robyn Marowitz

Discussion

  • Liked the documentation (R Markdown) integrated with code base

  • It’s rare to have a “forced reproducibility” opportunity for study.

  • Data science tools “require a substantial investment to learn” how to get buy- in for things that take time to learn

  • “Learning together and supporting each other peer-to-peer can be more fun and rewarding”

  • Treat “future selves as collaborators”

  • At end of paper: “critical for the broader science community to build a culture where openness and reproducibility are valued, formally taught and practiced, where we all agree that they are worth the investment”

    • How do?

  • Engagement as an evolution instead of a revolution +1

    • Incremental changes to workflow while retaining annual deliverables

  • I liked the term “Janitor Work”. I often feel like I am cleaning up after people when dealing with data.

  • “These tools quickly became the keystone of how we work, and have overhauled our approach to science, perhaps as much as e-mail did in decades prior. They have changed the way we think about science and about what is possible.”

  • Andy: The OHI team faced a very common problem, but did an uncommon behavior: they sought a solution! These people are open to finding new ways of doing things and willing to put in the work. +1

    • Building a community means you don’t have to do the change yourself. You can do the thing you’re good at and let others do the thing they’re good at!

  • Nice to see this progress, but a reminder of frustration with some folks that don’t take this mindset.

  • Trey: How much of this was championed by a few experts? Incremental change is a valuable foothold for broader changes, exposes value that can’t be seen otherwise.

    • Onus to push small changes is on us

  • Andy: “Checkbox open science”

    • Matt: +1!! Open science is downstream of values. Open science is Inclusivity
    • +1!
    • Checkboxes can prevent folks from being open in principle

  • Julia: “What happens when you train your employees and they leave?”

    • Worse: “What happens when you don’t train your employees and they stay?”
    • +1000

  • Trey: Foster a strong support network [within NSIDC]

  • Matt: “Inreach”

  • Matt: We should have a holistic workforce development program, a good first increment is Git/GitHub skills tailored to our service groups

    • Andy: Can we explore CIRES funding for this.
    • Julia: May be easier to justify/fund outside trainer rather than in-house. Also need to justify time of trainees.