BEDE Network Meetings
June 2024
We held the third annual meeting of the BEDE Network on June 10-12 at the City University of New York’s Macaulay Honors College in New York City. Twenty-seven participants joined us in person with an additional nine participants attending virtually. The theme for this year’s meeting was planning for a sustainable future for the BEDE Network. We reviewed our mission and discussed governance structures that would allow the network to continue past the end of our current National Science Foundation funding, and in a way that promotes inclusivity of people from different backgrounds and institution types. A wonderful keynote presentation was delivered on Day 1 by Dr. Carrie Diaz Eaton, Associate Professor of Digital and Computational Studies at Bates College, who provided expert guidance on how we can sustain the BEDE Network based on our shared values and visions. Day 2 activities included a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History’s new Gilder Center with tour guides from the Metropolitan Society of Natural Historians. The meeting was rounded out by subcommittee breakout group meetings to plan for our ongoing endeavors including developing our curriculum map, quantifying data science in undergraduate education analysis, programming pedagogy in biology, and discussing community norms. Day 3 included a concurrent workshop for local educators to learn about integrating data science pedagogy into their courses. Photo credits: Dr. Erika Crispo, Pace University; Michael McKay, CUNY
June 2023
Our second annual meeting was held from June 12-14 at Denison University in Granville, OH. Twenty-three participants attended in person with additional participants attending remotely. The theme of this year's meeting was designing curricular maps to effectively scaffold data science skills into undergraduate biology courses. On the first day, participants were given the opportunity to identify ways in which data science skills could be incorporated into syllabi for courses they are designing or revising. An activity on making data science more inclusive and equitable rounded out the first day of activities, followed by a nature walk at Denison’s Biological Reserve. On the second day, initiatives revolving around quantifying data science skills across curricula were discussed in the morning. In the afternoon, participants self-organized into groups to work on various “subcommittee” initiatives, including curriculum mapping, BEDE Network governance and norms, workshop planning, and ways to assess data science skill learning outcomes. These conversations were continued on the third day, alongside a concurrent workshop led by Dr. Sarah Supp (Denison University) to support local educators interested in learning data science skills and pedagogical techniques. Sixteen learners from 7 different colleges and universities attended the workshop. Another successful meeting completed – looking forward to meeting again next year! Photo credits: Dr. Nate Emery, UC Santa Barbara; Joseph Leija, Denison University
August 2022
We, the BEDE Network, held our inaugural meeting on August 12-13, 2022, at the Palais des congrès in Montréal, Québec, Canada. Our meeting coincided with the joint meeting of the Ecological Society of America and the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution. Our theme for this meeting was "Inclusive Pedagogy and Bridging International Borders". On Day 1, guest speaker, Dr. Laura MacDonald (Associate Professor, Hendrix College) guided participants through exercises that empowered us to be more inclusive in the classroom. On Day 2, participants discussed myriad ways in which we teach data science in the classroom, multinational needs for data science education, and the next steps to move our Network forward in the months and years to come. The meeting was attended by approximately 30 in-person and 30 virtual attendees from various institution types and backgrounds. Photo credits: Dr. Erika Crispo, Pace University
