Overview

Instructor(s): Shihan Li, Xiying Sun, and Yating Li

Time: Friday, October 24, 2025 — 10:00AM-12:30PM CT

Location: Blocker 220 and online via Zoom

Prerequisite(s): Active ACCESS ID; familiarity with Jupyter Notebook; basic programming skills recommended

Curious about data science? Wondering how it differs from traditional scientific methods? Want to discover its potential applications in geoscience and global carbon cycle research? Join our workshop to explore these questions and more!

This short course aims to provide an intuitive understanding of data science and its applications in geoscience and carbon cycle research. By presenting two focused case studies—one on rock weathering flux estimation and another on riverine ecosystem metabolism prediction—participants will gain hands-on experience with emerging data science methods and understand their strengths and limitations in real-world applications.

Course Materials

• Data science meets Geoscience: a case study in rock weathering calculations (Spring 2025): PDF

Learning Objectives and Agenda

In this class, attendees will:

• Develop an intuitive understanding of data science concepts and their applications to geoscience and carbon cycle research.
• Gain hands-on experience with practical tools and techniques:
  • R programming basics.
  • Data manipulation, visualization and interpretation skills.
  • Application of machine learning approaches to analyze carbon cycle processes.

This course will be divided into four sections:

• Introduction to R basics
• Machine Learning Modeling Case Study 1
• Applying a machine learning model to estimate rock weathering fluxes across the contiguous United States.
• Machine Learning Modeling Case Study 2
• Applying a machine learning model to predict the primary production and respiration flux across the contiguous United States river system.
• Data Visualization, Interpretation, and Model Intercomparison

Note: During the class sessions many aspects of the material will be shown live using the Jupyter Notebook web application. Attendees will follow along and practice these parts on their own laptops.