Building a community of students and student-led data science organizations
Description: The Midwest Big Data Hub hosts a webinar series during the academic year for student-led data science organizations to share and discuss their experiences, activities, structures, and goals, to foster development of a Midwestern data science student groups community. Contact the Hub if you are a student group leader or faculty advisor and would like to participate: info@midwestbigdatahub.org
We are also building a series of profiles of student groups. Contact us if you would like your group to participate.
Join our Slack community to continue the discussion and make new connections.
This webinar series is free and open to all. View the playlist of all prior events, or choose an individual webinar below.
Webinar archive:
June 4, 2024
Presenters: Sreya Vadapalli, Research Associate II | Rogers Behavioral Health; Leif Olmanson, Research Scientist | University of Minnesota; and Laurie Nowatzke, Coordinator of the Midwest Climate Hub | U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS)
Topic: Clean Sheets or Muddy Boots: A Discussion of Curated vs. Field Data Sets
Host: J.D. Graham | MBDH Outreach and Engagement Specialist View the slides (pdf)
April 26, 2024
Presenters: Samridhi Verma, President and Ambassador of Women in Data Science (WiDS) Urbana-Champaign | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; Aarushi Sharma, Vice President and Co-Ambassador of Women in Data Science (WiDS) Urbana-Champaign | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Claudia Robles, Vice President (External) and Co-Ambassador of Women in Data Science (WiDS) Urbana-Champaign | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Topic: Empowering Women in Data Science: A UIUC Chapter Spotlight
Host: J.D. Graham | MBDH Outreach and Engagement Specialist View the slides (pdf)
April 22, 2024
Presenters: Jon Schwabish, Senior Fellow | Urban Institute; Molly Hirst, Data Curator | Dryad; John Nerge, GIS and Data Analysis Coordinator | City of Brooklyn Park (MN); Yitong Jiang, Data & GIS Specialist | Midstory; and Dr. Kevin Czajkowski, Distinguished Professor of Geography and Planning | The University of Toledo
Topic: The Art of Data Storytelling
Host: J.D. Graham | MBDH Outreach and Engagement Specialist
February 21, 2024
Presenters: Dr. Tami McDonald, Associate Professor of Biology | St. Catherine University; Jessica Braun, Higher Education Administrator | St. Catherine University; Dr. John Daniels, Professor of Statistics | Central Michigan University; Paige Duncan, Community Engagement Specialist, Center for Social & Behavioral Science | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Asanti Ahmed, Student Camp Counselor | St. Catherine University
Topic: Lessons Learned: Best Practices Running Youth Science Enrichment Programs
Host: J.D. Graham | MBDH Outreach and Engagement Specialist
January 24, 2024
Presenters: Lucy Hancock, Emotional-Wellness Coach | Counseling Connections & Associates; and Sarah Giencke, Nervous System and Resilience Coach | Riset Resiliency
Topic: Managing Stress and Anxiety in Higher Education
Host: J.D. Graham | MBDH Outreach and Engagement Specialist
November 1, 2023
Presenters: Dr. E. Sally Chang, Genomics Education Specialist and Education Lead | National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH); David Lockett, Grants Development Specialist and K–12 Outreach | Meharry School of Applied Computational Sciences (SACS); and Tony Staubach, Food Waste Diversion Coordinator | Hamilton County R3Source
Topic: Exploring Alternative Paths to Teaching Science
Host: J.D. Graham | MBDH Outreach and Engagement Specialist
September 26, 2023
Presenters: Briana Brown, Outgoing Associate Director | National Science Policy Network; Ben Rush, Creator, Host, and Producer | Podcast: Deeper Than Data; and Shifra Isaacs, Data Scientist/Freelance Technical Writer | Annalect/Complexly (Crash Course)
Topic: Mastering Science Communications: Insider Tips and Best Practices for Success
Host: J.D. Graham | MBDH Outreach and Engagement Specialist
May 23, 2023
Presenters: Elizabeth Gilbert, Leader | Cincinnati Data & Analytics Meetup; Oleksandra Tkachuk, Junior Officer of the Data Science Club | Indiana University; and Khushi Jain, Project Director of the Illinois Data Science Club | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Topic: Science Clubs: Challenges and Successes of Outreach Activities
Host: J.D. Graham | MBDH Outreach and Engagement Specialist View the slides (pdf)
April 7, 2023
Presenters: Dr. Brittany Whitley, Executive Director; Dr. Sarah Anderson, Fellow; Dr. Tomotaroh (Tomy) Granzier-Nakajima, Fellow; and Dr. Ramon Martinez III, Fellow | MOST Policy Initiative
Topic: Exploring Science Policy Careers | MOST Policy Initiative
Host: John MacMullen | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
October 27, 2022
Presenters: Dr. Cassandra “Cass” Dorius, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies; Dr. Shawn Dorius, Associate Professor of Sociology and Co-Director of the Public Science Collaborative; Christopher J. Seeger, Professor and Extension Specialist in Landscape Architecture and Geospatial Technology; Kelsey Van Selous, Project Manager and Data Analyst for the Public Science Collaborative; Matthew Voss, Rural Policy Data Analyst for the Public Science Collaborative; and Harun Çelik, Graduate Student in the Department of History | Iowa State University
Topic: Data Science for the Public Good: Supporting Iowa Communities in Translating Data into Action | Iowa State University
Host: John MacMullen | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
April 29, 2022
Presenters: Tiati Thelen, Mistiha Jayaraj, and Qin (Emma) Sun, DREAM | Minnesota State University, Mankato
Topic: Living the DREAM: Data Resources for Eager & Analytical Minds | Minnesota State University, Mankato
Host: John MacMullen | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
February 21, 2022
Presenter: Emily Rothenberg, National Student Data Corps Program Coordinator, Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub | Columbia University
Topic: National Student Data Corps (NSDC) | Columbia University
Host: John MacMullen | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
October 26, 2021
Presenters: Yash Addaganti, Aman Khinvasara, Kyle Morimoto, Christian Sparks, and Justin Tran, The Disruption Lab, Gies College of Business | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Topic: The Disruption Lab, Gies College of Business | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Host: John MacMullen | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
January 15, 2021
Presenter: Helen Yang, COVID Information Commons | Columbia University
Title: “COVID Information Commons Student Paper Challenge“
Host: John MacMullen | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
Wednesday, February 26, 2020, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenters: Heidi Van Every, Riza Li, Adam Faranda, and Menolin Sharma, Bioinformatics Student Association (BiSA) | University of Delaware
Title: “BiSA: Encouraging Creative Student Collaboration and Participation in an Interdisciplinary Field”
Host: John MacMullen | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
Wednesday, November 13, 2019, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenter: Lilian Huang, Lauren Li, and Damini Sharma | South Side Civic and The University of Chicago
Title: “Scopeathon: Focusing on the Crucial First Step of Problem Definition”
Host: Alice Delage | Community Liaison, MBDH
Wednesday, March 27, 2019, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenter: Elizabeth Wickes, Lecturer, School of Information Sciences | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Title: Special session: “Developing data science capacity among students—a mentor’s view”
Bio: Elizabeth Wickes is a Lecturer at the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois, where she teaches programming, data curation, and information technology courses. She was previously a Data Curation Specialist for the Research Data Service at the University Library of the University of Illinois, and the Curation Manager for Wolfram|Alpha. She currently co-organizes the Champaign-Urbana Python user group, has been a Carpentries instructor since 2015, trainer since 2017, and elected member of The Carpentries’ Executive Council for 2018–2020.
Host: Alice Delage | Community Liaison, MBDH
Wednesday, February 27, 2019, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenter: Michael Madaio, Students Using Data for Social Good (SUDS) | Carnegie Mellon University
Title: “SUDS in Pittsburgh: Lessons learned from students using data for social good through community partnerships”
Host: Melissa Cragin | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
Wednesday, November 28, 2018, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenter: Elizabeth McDaniel, ComBEE (Computational Biology, Ecology & Evolution) | UW–Madison
Title: “Integrating Computational Skills into the Biological Sciences through Peer-Led Study Groups”
Host: Melissa Cragin | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
Wednesday, October 24, 2018, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenters: Shivam Kumar and Ian Huntley, Analytics in Business Club | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Title: “Illinois Analytics in Business: Driving Decisions with Data”
Host: Melissa Cragin | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenters:
Jeremy Klein, Parker Scott, and Alycia Holwerda, DREAM | Minnesota State University, Mankato, “DREAM: Empowering students for a successful data science career”
Timothy NeCamp, STATCOM | University of Michigan, “STATCOM (Statistics in the Community)–A student organization providing pro-bono statistical consulting for local community organizations”
Host: Melissa Cragin | MBDH Executive Director
Wednesday, March 28, 2018, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenters: James (J.T.) Bassett and Cole Smith, Big Data and Analytics Association | The Ohio State University
Title: “BDAA at OSU: Empowering the Future of Analytics Talent”
Host: Melissa Cragin | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)
Wednesday, February 28, 2018, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenters:
Divyam Balani and Vaibhav Shah, Data science in Practice | Indiana University, “Data Science In Practice – An Overview”
Harshit Agarwal, Association of Data Science and Analytics | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, “Association of Data Science and Analytics – Taking Data Science Beyond the Hype”
Host: Lior Shamir, Asst. Dean for Research | Lawrence Technical University, MI
Wednesday, January 31, 2018, 5:30–6:30 CST / 6:30–7:30 EST
Presenter: Arya Farahi, Michigan Data Science Team | University of Michigan
Title: “The Michigan Data Science Team: A Data Science Education Program with Social Impact”
Host: Melissa Cragin | MBDH Executive Director View the slides (pdf)