University of Notre Dame

Minor in Data Science Program

MDSC 30100 Open Government Data (Spring 2022; instructor of record): Open government data—simply put, government-related data freely made available to the public—is on the rise. Our federal, state, and local governments are developing and implementing open data policies and infrastructure in efforts to foster transparency, economic development, and wider civic engagement and participation. We will investigate the technical, legal, and ethical implications of open data (i.e., using open content to train harmful artificial intelligence technologies), acknowledging that personal privacy and civic society are closely intertwined. Class meetings are split between reading discussions and engagement with data science tools and data collection/harvesting methods. Students will inspect the major laws and policies surrounding open government while also examining the social and technological challenges and advancements that shape the future of open data—for example, grassroots data intermediaries are obtaining and “translating” open government data for a public audience. In the spirit of open scholarship, students will develop their own “open data projects” by incorporating open-source tools. No prior knowledge of computer science or data science tools (i.e., R, Python, etc.) is required.

The Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship Pedagogy Fellowship Program

I developed and now lead the Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship Pedagogy Fellowship Program, an opportunity for Notre Dame PhD students to build their teaching expertise, gain instructional experience, and engage in a community of practice. In addition to devising and delivering digital scholarship learning opportunities (including, but not limited to, geographic information systems, data analysis/visualization, natural language processing, and discipline-specific computational tools), fellows gain experience in evidence-based and innovative instructional methods, collaborative teamwork, and communicating their research and scholarly interests outside of their discipline.

Course-integrated Library Sessions (Select and Recurring)

The Carpentries

As a certified Carpentries Instructor, I have taught or assisted with The Carpentries workshops at the University of Notre Dame, University of Montana, and Texas A&M University. As a Carpentries Instructor Trainer, I am also certified to teach at all authorized Carpentries Instructor Training workshops, onboarding new Instructors who may in turn become certified to teach Data Carpentry, Library Carpentry, and Software Carpentry workshops.

I have taught versions of the following Carpentries curriculum:

• Data Analysis and Visualization in R for Ecologists
• Data Analysis and Visualization with R for Social Scientists
• Data Analysis and Visualization with Python for Social Scientists
• Data Cleaning with OpenRefine for Social Scientists

University of Montana

Environmental Studies Program

ENST 201 Environmental Information Resources (Fall 2019 & 2020; co-instructed): What makes good research good? Whose voices carry the most authority? Whose voices are missing? Equally important, what skills do we need to be able to tell the difference between quality information and misinformation? As researchers, scientists, and storytellers living in the 21st century, there has never been a more important time for us to develop critical thinking skills that allow us to meaningfully synthesize the flood of information we deal with every day. This class is designed to help you not only identify trustworthy sources, but also to help you contribute to the larger landscape of environmental understanding. This course is fundamentally a skills-based writing course, and we will work to discover its importance as a means to share research. This does not mean, however, that research needs to be boring. Instructors in this course will partner with you to develop your writing in a way that is equal parts quality research and captivating storytelling. Not only is it important to know how to source good information, it’s important to synthesize it in ways that captivate a broader, more inclusive audience.

Course-integrated Library Sessions (Select and Recurring)