Apply now!
(Deadline: June 1st, 2024)
Data Science In Oceanography
The School of Oceanography at the University of Washington is excited to announce a reoccurring undergraduate summer program, “Data Science in Oceanography.” The goal of the program is to provide undergraduate students with opportunities in contemporary data-driven research in oceanography and attract them to exciting possibilities of career paths in oceanography. Participating students will interact closely with faculty and graduate student mentors to develop and advance research projects revolving around oceanographic data analysis. Students will attend overview lectures on fundamental problems in different oceanography fields, including physical, biological, and chemical oceanography as well as marine geology and geophysics. They will gain a basic understanding and hands-on experience in data science techniques, including time series analysis and machine learning. Students will also learn about scientific writing and presentation skills, explore possible careers in oceanography and related fields, receive tips for gaining additional undergraduate research experience, and get an overview of the graduate school admissions process. The program will organize fun activities in the Seattle area, including hiking, kayaking, and sailing. Participants will be provided on-campus housing, meals, and partial travel reimbursement.
Undergraduate students with programming experience and interests in oceanography and data science are welcome to apply. International students with strong interests in pursuing graduate programs in US institutions are also welcome to apply. We are particularly eager to provide research and mentoring opportunities to First-Generation students and those from historically underrepresented groups in STEM.
The program does not have any participation fees. For students who request it, the program will provide paid-for on-campus housing, breakfast and lunch included, but students make their own dinner plans. For students who do not request housing, either because they are local or can arrange their own housing, the program will provide reimbursement for meals. The program will make partial travel reimbursement for flight fees depending on the availability of funds.
For more information, see the FAQs below. For inquiries, email the program organizer, Professor Georgy Manucharyan, at gmanuch@uw.edu.
Apply: applications for the 2024 DSO program are open until June 1st!
2023 Undergraduate Summer Program (Aug 7-18) [Flyer]
Participants
- Lacie Levy, University of Texas at Austin, TX
- Connor Steinke, University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI
- Martina Berrutti, Williams College, MA
- Robin Chartand, University of Washington, WA
- Anna Fisher Lopez, Stanford University, CA
- M. Geogdzhayeva, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA
- Emma Nguyen, University of Washington, WA
- Reynaldi Wijaya, UC Berkeley, CA
- Ashley Gonzales, George Washington University, District of Columbia
- Andrew Fagerheim, Columbia University, NY
- Desiree Jones, Florida State University, FL
- Samah Alam, Brown University, RI
- Lianne Leslie, SUNY Westchester Community College, NY
- Janluis Rivera, University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez
- Ana Dominguez, University of California, San Diego, CA
- Hope Johnson, University at Buffalo, NY
- Dawn Kaufman, Boston University, MA
- Ana Herrera Cantarero, Lake Washington Institute of Technology, WA
- Jinguang Chai, University of California, Davis, CA
- Ryan Wicklund, University of Washington, Tacoma, WA
- Max Buglisi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC
- Nilesh Sathyanarayanan, Skyline High School, Sammamish, WA
Organizers, Lecturers, Mentors
Graduate students: Katherine Qi, Zoe Krauss, William Kumler, Scott Martin, Susan Garcia, Song Sangmin, Elaina Thomas, Katy Christensen, Jacob Cohen, Joshua Sacks
Postdoctoral scholars: Hannah Joy-Warren, Channing Prend
Faculty: Kendall Valentine, Alison Gray, William Wilcock, Jodi Young, Randie Bundy, Georgy Manucharyan, Maike Sonnewald
Python tutorial and project developers: Georgy Manucharyan, Channing Prend, Katherine Qi, Scott Martin, Kendall Valentine, Susan Garcia
Administrative support: Shannon Gilmore, Su Tipple, Joel Garcia
Special thanks to the Director of the School of Oceanography Rick Keil and the Maggie Walker Dean of the College of the Environment Maya Tolstoy for support.
UW Yacht Club and Simons Collaborative Marine Atlas Project
2022 Undergraduate Summer Program (Aug 8-26) [Flyer]
Participants:
- Charlene Ruiz, UC San Diego
- Sara Delawalla, Georgia Institute of Technology
- Jennifer Dunstan, University of Cambridge
- Anuj Jain, UC San Diego
- Xinjin Li, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Sandy Wu, UC San Diego
- Jinting Liu, University of Washington
- Yiran Li, Univerisity of Washington
- Mariam Garcia, UC Irvine
- Noah Barton, UC San Diego
Graduate student mentors: Katherine Qi, Zoe Krauss, Maleen Kidiwela, Cassia Cai, William Kumler, Scott Martin
Postdoctoral presenters: Yang Xiang, Marin Cornec
Faculty mentors and lecturers: Alison Gray, William Wilcock, Jodi Young, Randie Bundy, Georgy Manucharyan, Maike Sonnewald, Rick Keil
Python tutorial developers: Georgy Manucharyan, Katherine Qi, Zoe Krauss, Maleen Kidiwela, William Kumler, Scott Martin, Zachary Erickson
Special thanks to:
Testimonials
The Data Science in Oceanography program was amazing. We learned about all areas of oceanography and put it into practice using interesting coding tutorials. We joined OceanHackWeek and had the chance to work on real-life projects with people working in the field. It was also such a great group of people, and I loved exploring Seattle and doing all the fun activities organized with them. I would recommend it to anyone interested in science and research!
I really like the second week that we learned new data analysis tools and packages. I see the strong power behind creative methods to do visualization. And various panel sessions to help me know how the real industry works, in which case I know deeply how data science works in fun parts for oceanography. Besides, getting in touch with how data analysis in general oceanography fields through tutorials is extremely helpful for me to validate my skills. The mentorship is also helpful and nice! I collaborated with others on clustering projects effectively, which brings me a feeling of achievement when doing presentations.
I spent an amazing three weeks in Seattle with some great people and great oceanview! I have learned the different branches of oceanography as well as data visualization and machine learning which are super useful for my future career. I also love meeting and working with people from all around the world who share the same passion. Professor Georgy and his Ph.D. students are proficient, accessible, and patient, and they are always there to support and help you. I would highly recommend this program to people who have interests in oceanography or data science. Thank you so much for the interesting and memorable experience!
The data science in oceanography program was a really meaningful experience for me. I came in with an interest in data science and oceanography, and the program helped develop those interests by giving informative lectures on different aspects of oceanography (e.g. physical, chemical, biological etc.) and tutorials where I can apply my coding skills. I’m glad that the program had people from diverse backgrounds so that everyone could teach others something and learn something from others. The program supported and encouraged collaboration, so I worked on a project in a group. I appreciate this cooperative environment since we can bring together different perspectives and expertise to achieve better results. I benefited a lot by sharing codes, exchanging ideas with my group members, and asking for their feedback and suggestions. Not only did I expand my toolkit in terms of coding, but I also learned to think of problems in a different and potentially more efficient way. Overall, it was a meaningful experience for me and I really recommend attending this program!
This program opened my mind to the myriad of possibilities at the intersection of oceanography and data science. I got to work hands-on with very knowledgeable mentors to solve complex and interdisciplinary problems. Strongly recommended!
Being a rising sophomore, this program acted as a stepping stone to making research projects for me. The tutorials were well-designed and challenged my analytical skills. There was always someone from the team to help me when I was stuck. The knowledge, experiences, and skills shared by professors at UW are highly valuable to me. OceanHackWeek gave me an opportunity to collaborate with other students and work constructively. Not to mention, I enjoyed exploring Seattle with my peers.
Thank you so much for giving us a fantastic experience!!!
The UW Data Science in Oceanography Summer Program gave the technical skills to want to pursue a more tech-y career in environmental science. It served a great purpose in helping me network with grad students and postdocs and exploring other career options my degree holds. Being in an uplifting environment like this program helped me confidently flourish in learning and exploring Python. Every staff member involved helped make this program an enjoyable learning experience. From start to finish, every day I was given the opportunity to learn something new. I came into this program with little to no experience in Python, but the patience and faith Georgy had really made me feel like my presence in the program did make the difference. Because of this program, I am applying to a few schools in their masters program in Environmental Data Science. A big thank you to the staff and especially to Georgy for hosting such a great program!
Frequently Asked Questions
- installing new packages, loading modules,
- if-statements, for-loops,
- manipulating the data stored as lists, dictionaries, and numpy arrays
- working with data stored as pandas data frame
- defining functions
- plotting basic figures with matplotlib (like plot, scatter, imshow, contourf),
- writing code in Jupyter Notebooks,
- basic terminal commands for creating text files, moving files and folders around, downloading a file using url links
- using Git and GitHub to save all versions of your code online (this is needed as we do team projects)
Contact Info
Georgy Manucharyan [organizer]
Assistant Professor
School of Oceanography
University of Washington
Email: gmanuch@uw.edu
Phone: (206) 221-4879
Office: 317, Ocean Sciences Building
