Building a community of tech savvy astronomers

A short 12 minute talk presented at the 2016 Astronomical Society of Australia Annual General Meeting, University of Sydney, Australia.

Conference website: http://www.asa2016.org

Transcript

1. Building a community of
   TECH SAVVY ASTRONOMERS
   Dr. Arna Karick ! @drarnakarick Astronomical Society of Australia AGM, 7th July 2016
   

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2. This talk is about challenging the status quo
   

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3. Why build a community of tech savvy
   astronomers?
   

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4. The next generation telescopes and large science-surveys will require
   astronomers to handle large volumes and complex datasets. Developing
   new tools and data analysis techniques will be crucial for rapid science.
   

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5. The rise of “data science” in academia and the technology industry has created
   a generation of researchers who are keen to explore new approaches, embrace
   new techniques, and eager to build new tools to manipulate, explore, analyse,
   interpret complex datasets. Many researchers want to be tech savvy – the
   combination of data analysis and innovative tools and projects is appealing.
   http:/
   /www.arnakarick.com/data-science/
   

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6. The lack of tenured positions and non-traditional roles
   in astronomy makes the tech industry a very attractive
   alternative.
   

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7. Astronomy communities in the US and Europe are
   leading the charge
   

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10. The .Astronomy, AstroHackWeek, SPIE/NAM/AAS Hack
    Days, bring together a diverse community of astronomers,
    instrument scientists, software developers, data archivists,
    wranglers, educators, and science communicators.
    

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11. They typically have this effect on participants…
    

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12. Why?
    They provide a forum for discussing best practises in scientific
    computing and open data, for discovering the latest tech tools,
    sharing skills, and increasing digital literacy, They inspire.
    

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13. They provide a forum for discussing best practises in scientific
    computing and open data, for discovering the latest tech tools,
    sharing skills, and increasing digital literacy, They inspire.
    An opportunity for astronomers to create innovative research
    and outreach tools in a safe and collaborative environment.
    Why?
    

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14. What actually happens?
    Formal talks | Unconference sessions | Tutorials | Hacking
    

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15. Software & data publishing: DOIs –> AAS policy
    Collaborative coding & source control
    Astropy & the open-source revolution
    Hacking the literature
    Astronomy in the petascale data era: databases & advanced visualisation
    Django & Flask web-application frameworks
    Blogs, websites, hosting & domain names
    HTML, CSS & Javascript
    Webscraping & using/writing APIs
    Sonification of Kepler, IFU, & other multi-wavelength datasets
    Interactive data visualisation with D3js (javascript) & Glue (python)
    Visual storytelling & other media hacks
    TwitterBots: e.g. Zoonibot, AstroGoldStars
    Data Mining: machine learning, astrostatistics etc.
    

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16. At some point magic happens
    

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19. Discovering new
    tools & learning
    the lingo
    Combining tools
    to build
    something
    entirely new
    A better sense of
    what can be
    achieved in a short
    amount of time
    Lean and agile
    principles
    A better
    appreciation of
    what is needed to
    make a robust final
    product
    Learn how
    languages and
    applications fit
    together
    Complexities of
    software
    development
    

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20. Building a tech savvy community in Australia
    has its challenges
    tech
    aware?
    

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21. Benefits
    • Retention of expertise that would otherwise move to industry
    • Sustainability of NCRIS funded projects - perhaps?
    • Increased collaboration between astronomers, instrument scientists,
    software developers, and ASVO project staff.
    • Breaking down barriers between communities
    • A pool of blue-sky tool builders able to contribute to projects
    • Innovative research tools: inc. data mining, statistics & visualisation tools
    • Non-traditional research outputs - increasing impact?
    • A network of astronomers and data scientists within academia and industry
    • Tech savvy mentors for PhDs and researchers at all levels
    • Opportunities for industry engagement and potentially, funding
    • The ability to better equip researchers for alternative careers
    • Start-ups? Consultancies?
    

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22. How?
    • Alternative career paths for tool builders and data wranglers:
    dual positions? e.g. software development / teaching / research
    • Workshops and events that bring together astronomers, instrument
    scientists, software developers, hackers and science communicators
    • ADASS or ASVO Hack Day – tools and/or early release datasets?
    • Developing new research training and strategies that focus on best
    practises in scientific computing, tech tools, & HPC
    • New coding in STEM initiatives: “debugging the gender gap”
    • Engaging with “innovation precincts” and “incubators”
    • Engaging with tech companies and emerging space industries:
    Atlassian? AWS? Google? Delta-V? Quberider? Saber? and other space
    research organisations
    

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27. techsavvyastronomer.io
    ! @astrotechtools
    " www.arnakarick.com
    ! @drarnakarick
    # http:/
    /github.com/drarnakarick
    Generously supported by the ASA and the Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing
    

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