coreR Course
An immersive learning experience applying essential data science tools to environmental research
coreR | Director's Scholarship
Let NCEAS kickstart your data and team science skills
coreR takes open science beyond publications — teaching participants about open data, collaborative software, and reproducible analytical workflows. We highlight these technical skills needed to do open science in the ever-evolving data science field. After this five day immersive course, you will be ready to take on your own environmental data science challenges.
Are you ready to take your research to the next level? Register for the next coreR Course below.
This course was initially developed in partnership with DataONE.
In this course you will
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Increase your confidence in data science
coreR is more than coding in R, it’s also community-centered learning in a collaborative setting. Participants leave knowing which communities to turn to and what resources to utilize long after the course ends.
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Implement reproducible scientific workflows
Effectively manage your data using tidy data practices and develop quality metadata to maximize reproducibility and collaboration. The results? Seamless publishing and accessing of your data for all.
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Create stunning data visualization and reports
More effectively communicate scientific analyses and results using Markdown, GitHub webpages, and R packages like {ggplot} and {leaflet} so that your take-aways reach a broad audience.
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Improve collaboration with team science
Establish best practices and utilize tools like Git & GitHub, and Data Management Plans to optimize your collaboration. When your team is on the same page, you reach effective solutions faster.
Who Should Attend
This opportunity is for researchers and professionals across career stages and sectors who want to gain or advance fundamental data science skills to improve their research techniques. While we welcome all disciplines, we teach this course with an environmental focus and work primarily with environmental data. This course also uses R as the primary programming language. Participants should be familiar with the basics of programming in R. If you are unsure of your ability or do not know R and want to learn, please email learning-hub@nceas.ucsb.edu for more information and pre-course preparation recommendations
- Complete your registration online
- Registration is on a first-come, first-serve basis
- To complete registration and confirm your spot, you must submit a 10% non-refundable deposit
- Full payment of the course fee* ($1,700) is due by the registration deadline
- Registration deadline is six weeks before the course start date
- Check out our upcoming courses
If you have any further questions about registration, please reach out to us via email at learning-hub@nceas.ucsb.edu.
*Includes: Five days of hands-on instruction and lunches. Does not include: travel, lodging costs, breakfast or dinner.
Course Location
- 1021 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (Third Floor)
- Read additional information about Visiting NCEAS
Accommodations
If you are traveling from outside of Santa Barbara please reach out to us at learning-hub@nceas.ucsb.edu and we will connect you with our Travel Coordinator.
NCEAS secures a reduced rate for local hotels. Participants may also find affordable housing options on AirBnB.
Transportation
NCEAS is located in downtown Santa Barbara, 15 minutes driving from the Santa Barbara regional airport. Most visitors to NCEAS choose to stay within walking distance to NCEAS, and utilize ride-sharing apps (Lyft/Uber) for transport to and from the airport. Santa Barbara also has a bus system, in addition to an Amtrak stop.
Cancellations made before the cancellation deadline will receive a refund subject to a 10% fee. Cancellations made after this date are not eligible for a refund, but may go towards a credit that can be applied to another course session date within a 12 month period.
Funding Opportunity: The Director’s Scholarship
The Director’s Scholarship is the exclusive scholarship for the in-person coreR course and is offered to those who identify as part of traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM. As part of NCEAS’ effort to advance diversity and equity among course participants, we offer 1-2 fully funded seats for each coreR course. We encourage individuals from groups underrepresented in environmental data science and ecology to apply. At this time, we are only able to fund in-person participants who currently reside in the United States.
Scholarship recipients will receive a full tuition waiver ($1,700) plus the cost of travel, lodging, and per diem for each day of the course (five days total). Travel and lodging must be reserved through the NCEAS Travel Coordinator.
Applications open six months before our next coreR course. If you have immediate questions, please email us at deij@nceas.ucsb.edu.
Application details:
The Director’s Scholarship application must be completed online and includes four short essay questions (max. 250 words for each question). We recommend preparing your answers before opening the application since you will not be able to save your progress during the application or edit after submitting.
Essay questions:
- Please explain your rationale for requesting funding. In the spirit of expanding the opportunity to a broader applicant pool, we are providing funds to support up to two applicants. If you are currently funded by a NSF or other grant or if you have funding from your employer/advisor/institution, we ask that you first look for eligible support. (250 words)
- What impact will attending this course have on your career and your scientific and/or social communities? (250 words)
- Have any circumstances in your personal and/or professional life presented barriers to your participation in environmental science and/or data science? (250 words)
- Please share any experience you have working towards diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in environmental science and/or data science. (250 words)
Recipients are chosen based primarily on the following criteria:
- The applicant currently resides in the United States and identifies as a person of color, an Indigenous Person, a woman, or a person with disabilities.
- The applicant thoroughly explains their rationale for requesting funding.
- The applicant thoroughly explains the impact that attending this course will have on their career and/or social community.
- The applicant explains any circumstances in their personal and/or professional life that presented barriers to their participation in environmental science and/or data science.
- The applicant shares their experience working towards diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in environmental science and/or data science.
- Responses are well thought-out and make clear that the applicant would benefit from the course.
Cancellation Policy:
Recipients will have three days to confirm acceptance of the scholarship. If you wish to withdraw your registration after this deadline, you will forfeit the ability to apply for future funding for the NCEAS coreR Course for the year you have applied unless there is an emergency that prevents your attendance. This policy exists to ensure that there is sufficient time to reallocate the scholarship to others on our waitlist.
Questions about the application process? Email deij@nceas.ucsb.edu
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Previous recipients say...
“The skills and networks from being able to attend this course in person will directly impact my PhD, and now I can take this back to my research lab to share the knowledge and improve our current processes” -Tonya Hoevet, 2024 Director’s Scholarship recipient.
What participants are saying about core R
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"This course is great for anyone needing formal training in R and Git Hub. Before this course, I was hesitant to venture into data science, but now I feel way more confident and can officially say I have added incredibly useful skills to my belt."
coreR October 2023 participant
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"It is highly informative, not too overwhelming, and extremely useful for a career involving data science."
coreR October 2023 participant
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"It's a great way to cement your understanding of the foundations of R if, like me, you have a lot of experience with R. It was also nice to get a single approach to coding…I am very satisfied with what was taught and how it was taught."
coreR October 2023 participant
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"This course provided skills that I had to cobble together from the internet for myself over months in grad school in one week!"
coreR April 2023 participant
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"Loved this course! The teachers are amazing and this transformed my ability to use R. On Monday morning I had not opened R Studio or Github for 3 years and had been dreading it - now I feel confident wrangling data, making maps, and learning more R!"
coreR April 2023 participant
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"I learned so much in a short amount of time, the tools and coursework used were extremely beneficial to the learning outcomes. This course beautifully allows you to learn how to effectively use R and GitHub for any type of research! Highly recommend!"
coreR April 2023 participant
The coreR course was very diverse, which is quite a triumph in environmental science and coding, and I think that's a direct result of the Director’s scholarship. It makes a big difference for the experience women of color have while visiting institutions and taking part in courses like this.