Environmental Data Science Summit
An annual summit to build the environmental data science community
Environmental Data Science (EDS) is a rapidly expanding, interdisciplinary field. As our community grows, there is a need to bring together all types of environmental data scientists to build a foundation for cohesive and effective collaboration.
Through the annual EDS summit, we bring 100 environmental data science community members to Santa Barbara, CA for a two and a half day "un-conference" event. Members of the EDS Community vote on a new summit theme each year. Funding (including travel, fees, and lodging) is covered for up to 60 participants. Attendance is open to EDS practitioners from any sector, discipline, background, or career stage. If you use data to ask questions about our environment and how we interact with it, then the EDS summit is for you!
The 2026 EDS Summit will take place Jan 27-29, 2026 in Santa Barbara, California. For more information, visit the EDS Summit website.
Past Summits
The Future of AI in Conservation & Management
What are the opportunities and risks of using AI to inform (or transform) our approach to conservation and management, in particular with respect to new and different tools, the ethics connected with using AI, and future applications and innovations?
For a peak into the goings on at our 2025 meeting, check out our scenes from the 2025 Summit.
2025 Steering Committee
Ben Halpern | Elizabeth Wolkovich | Noam Ross | Amanda Whitmire | Susan Shingledecker | Dawn Wright | Dorris Scott
Best practices for effective and inclusive communication
What tools and strategies can our community use in the next five years to improve our communication and translation of environmental data to broad and diverse audiences?
The 2024 EDS Summit was centered around the above question, providing participants time and space to explore our current practices in communicating and translating environmental data. This included the technical side of data communication, such as innovations in tools for data visualization, and also the pedagogy, such as best practices in strategic science communication and synergies with journalism and storytelling. We were gratified to see this year's theme build on the 2023 EDS Summit, recognizing that equity and justice are potentially powerful outcomes of improving our communication around environmental data science problems, processes, and solutions.
For more of a peek into the 2024 Summit, you can read our feature article and browse the agenda.
2024 Steering Committee:
Ben Halpern | Elizabeth Wolkovich | Noam Ross | Amanda Whitmire | Susan Shingledecker | Dawn Wright | Dorris Scott | Leah Wasser
Identifying small steps to make big shifts
How might we, as a research and engagement community, work together to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in environmental data science over the next five years?
The 2023 EDS Summit was organized around the question above, challenging individuals and groups to think deeply about barriers and identify concrete steps that could be taken on short time scales to create meaningful changes. These reflections relied on deep collaboration among diverse members of the environmental data science community: from graduate students to research center directors, communicators to postdocs, librarians to industry scientists - all perspectives are critical in advancing the field. By the end of the two-day conference, the 100 participants coalesced on ten ideas, forming focus groups that are still actively working on achieving their desired outcomes.
Still curious? Read one participant's take on the summit and view scenes from the 2023 Summit.
2023 Steering Committee:
Ben Halpern | Elizabeth Wolkovich | Noam Ross | Wendy Guan | Amanda Whitmire | Susan Shingledecker | Dawn Wright | Dorris Scott | Leah Wasser
Outcomes from EDS Summits
Broadening participation in the EDS community
Already, we are seeing impressive actions from the annual EDS Summit. One such deliverable is the Santa Barbara Charter, a document created by a breakout group that wanted to address core values of the local data science community and recommendations for growing their network in an inclusive way. Since its publication, the SB Charter has been supported by over 125 individual signatures and adopted by organizations like ESIP (Federation of Earth Science Information Partners). Read more about their call to action in the full charter text and consider adding your name to the growing list of supporters.
Reflections and storytelling about the EDS Summit
EDS Summit participants are welcome to contribute to the EDS Summit blog. Instructions for how to do so are included in the EDS Summit GitHub repository.
We published a feature article about the energy and ideas of the 2024 EDS Summit, found here.
What struck me most, both in the two days we shared together and beyond, was how empowering it was to come together as a community.
EDS Summit in the News
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Scenes from the 2025 Environmental Data Science Summit
Check out photos and descriptions of the 2025 EDS Summit, focusing on "The Future of AI in Conservation & Management".
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EDS Summit 2024 nourishes and inspires the environmental data science community
Researchers explore strategies to improve public understanding of environmental data with an eye on environmental justice.
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Scenes from the 2023 Environmental Data Science Summit
Browse photos and descriptions of the 2023 EDS Summit, "Harnessing Diversity in Environmental Data Science".
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