ESIP Update: 4 weeks to go to Summer Meeting, ESIP Collaborative Infrastructure

Register NOW for the ESIP Summer Meeting (July 14th-24th, ONLINE)
The ESIP Summer Meeting is now less than 30 days away! Have you seen the agenda at https://2020esipsummermeeting.sched.com/?

• 50+ Community-Contributed Breakout Sessions: jump in to learn and collaborate with others on numerous topics.
• 6 Plenary Sessions, including Australia-friendly timeslots: check out some of our featured speakers here.
• FUNding Friday: take part in this fast-paced mini-grant competition.
• Research Showcase: share your work through brief recordings & live Q&A [spaces limited!]
• …and more!

You can find the link to register and more info about the event here.

A note from Erin on what does registration cover in a virtual conference (if there aren't snacks)?
We know that ESIP meetings key value is in networking and professional development, so we are working to reimagine that in the virtual space using a platform called QiQoChat. As ESIP transitions to virtual conferences we are charging a registration rate because ESIP meetings support some of our operational costs in our annual budget. The registration rate was based on $25/hr of plenary content with over 9 hours of planned plenary and $35 for use of the QiQoChat platform. Registration to the meeting includes FUNding Friday eligibility and networking events associated with the live event. The meeting sessions will be recorded and immediately available to registrants and freely available to the entire ESIP community after the event ends.

Putting Data to Work Webinar – Usability: How Usability Techniques Can Support Your Scientific Communities (June 24th at 2 pm ET/ 11 am PT)
Presented by: Sophie Hou (Data & Usability Analyst, Apogee Engineering – Contractor to the USGS)
At the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), it is critical that our scientific research and products are provided in a useful way to our communities. The USGS Community for Data Integration (CDI) Usability Collaboration Area focuses on bringing the USGS community together to 1) discuss usability challenges when serving scientific data, and 2) identify strategies that can help improve data’s usability from an end-user perspective. As the current lead for the USGS CDI Usability Collaboration Area, Sophie will provide an overview of how the Usability Collaboration Area is providing usability resources to the USGS community. Sophie will also discuss a few use cases for how she is applying the usability resources to USGS projects. Finally, as a former co-chair of ESIP’s Usability Cluster, Sophie will share her lessons learned for how to collaborate with our communities to optimize the usability of our scientific data.
Find Connection Info and Learn More about ESIP's 2020 Putting Data to Work Webinar Series: https://www.esipfed.org/webinars.

New Partner Applications Posted for Comment
The Partnership Committee has reviewed the 3 recent applications received for organizational partnership with ESIP. These applications have been posted for comment from the ESIP Partner Assembly until July 5th, 2020. They are for the following organizations:

• American Meteorological Society – ESIP-V
• Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) – ESIP-V
• First Street Foundation – ESIP-III

ESIP Lab Spring Request for Proposals OPEN Now (Due 7/1)
The ESIP Lab supports the Earth science community in building innovative, applied technologies through funding and community input. Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), the ESIP Lab seeks projects that lie in the realm of good ideas ready to be tried out. Projects should last 6 – 8 months, with a maximum budget of $10,000. Proposals that address the following needs in the Earth science community will be given priority:

• Modernization of Earth science workflows using community-recommended best practices — the use of open-source software and cloud computing are encouraged.
• Cloud computing use cases for Earth science — creation of well-documented notebooks showing how to collect, distribute, or analyze Earth science data in the cloud.
• Extension of open source software critical to collecting, distributing, fusing, or analyzing Earth science data.
• Comparison or assessment of Machine Learning or Deep Learning techniques with controlled datasets and/or using well-defined benchmarks.
• Linked open data techniques and methods, particularly harmonization of disparate information about the same identified objects and entities.

Although this RFP will give priority to proposals addressing the bulleted topics above, other high-quality proposals will also be given consideration. Read the full RFP here.

More News

Geospatial Needs for a Pandemic-Resilient World (June 17th, 1-5 pm ET)
Epidemics and pandemics such as the COVID-19 outbreak have clear geographic dimensions due to the vector spreading the virus (human contact), demographics and co-morbidity factors that vary geographically, the distributed and heterogeneous nature of health care systems, and the highly variable response and interventions from political authorities and the public-at-large. The decline and shifts in human activity also affect broader social, economic and environmental systems to varying degrees. Geospatial information can play vital roles in crafting effective government and societal responses at the operational, tactical and strategic levels.

This workshop will explore the needs of federal agencies, organizations, and scientists for geospatial data science to understand and respond to epidemics/pandemics and developing infrastructure and policies that facilitate effective management and graceful recovery from these types of shocks. This committee meeting is being hosted by the Mapping Science Committee. It is completely online and free to attend. Please register here.

Essay Competition: Open Data Challenges to Address Global and Societal Issues
CODATA Connect Early Career and Alumni Network in collaboration with the CODATA Data Science Journal (DSJ) is organizing an Essay Competition for Early Career Researchers (ECR) on Open Data Challenges to Address Global and Societal Issues now through 6/30. Learn more here. Potential topics may include:

• Participants interested in disseminating information on research data in the sciences, humanities and the arts using essays as the medium are welcome to apply.
• Topics might include but not limited to human health, climate change, resilience, etc. 
• Essays which discuss the necessary limits in openness are also in scope and are welcome (e.g. personal health information, indigenous sovereignty etc.)
• Essays that discuss the challenges in making data as open as possible and how such data can be used to address global and societal issues (Crime, Disease, Governance, etc.)
• Essays might discuss challenges at any point in the data lifecycle and in relation to any of a number of global and societal challenges.  
• We discourage essays that simply present well known and generic arguments in favor of open data.   
• Essays are encouraged to use local or specific examples for the benefits of open data and to discuss how challenges can be overcome in both specific circumstances and more globally.  

Earth Lab Professional Certificate in Earth Data Analytics
If you're looking to gain skills in earth data science and scientific programming, consider the Earth Data Analytics – Foundations professional certificate at the University of Colorado, Boulder. This 9 credit program can be completed entirely online or in person over a ten month period from August through June. Applications are currently being accepted for Fall 2020 (priority application deadline is 7/13). The certificate consists of three sequential courses. It provides you with the fundamental skills required to work in the rapidly growing field of earth data science. Graduates will be prepared to launch or advance careers as data scientists, data analysts, GIS/geospatial analysts, remote sensing scientists, or product managers, among other careers. The certificate is appropriate for recent graduates, experienced earth science professionals, and career changers. You can find the entirety of the content covered in the first two courses of the certificate on earthdatascience.org. This content is completely free and available for you to work through on your own time. For more information, please visit this website.

Gateways 2020 Call for Participation
Call for Participation: Gateways 2020 (October 19–21, Bethesda, Maryland) is now accepting submissions of short papers, demos, panels, tutorials, and workshops on the topic of gateways for science, engineering, or other disciplines. Popular topics include: gateway design, use, impact, development processes, sustainability, or best practices, educational topics (tutorials, demos) directed toward the next generation of gateway creators as well as gateways used for education; Any other aspect interesting to fellow gateway creators or users, such as emerging capabilities, approaches or technologies; and Learning Labs (impromptu group discussions and gatherings) will also be welcoming early submissions as well as on-site proposed topics. See more details, including submission deadlines here.

NCEAS Training on Reproducible Research Techniques for Synthesis
Registration is open for a new intensive, five-day immersion course “Reproducible Research Techniques for Synthesis” (8/17-8/21 in Santa Barbara, CA). The course, which will happen quarterly, will enable environmental researchers across career stages and sectors to gain fundamental data science skills in support of open, reproducible research techniques. Major course foci will include managing data to enable better reuse, building reproducible workflows using R and git, and communicating results within the framework of synthesis science. This is an opportunity for students, researchers, data managers, and others to reinforce or expand their learning and become familiar with current best practices and tools in data science and open science. These skills will enable you to maximize your productivity, share your data effectively, and accelerate the scientific community’s ability to work together on solving important questions about the natural environment and our interactions with it. Learn more and apply by 7/20 here.