When we performed our first global assessment in 2012, we did not know data science had deliberate practices and open tools that could help us work with data. Instead, we were involved in the painstaking process of preparing 100 different data sources in Excel and meticulously tracking every step in a 130 page supplemental document. Fast forward one year, we repeated this detailed and labor-intensive process for the 2013 assessment and soon realized our approach needed to change.

Last week our team members Jamie and Julie went to the RStudio Conference 2018 in San Diego to represent the Ocean Health Index (OHI) and learn from this innovative open data science community. Today they share their thoughts with us on the conference.

Down the rabbit hole. No, I’m not referring to Alice in Wonderland but instead the moment you google a topic, only to emerge hours later on a completely different subject, questioning how you ended up there.

The single biggest motivation of the Ocean Health Index project is to use science to inform marine management. And not just any science, the best available science, data, methods, and tools. Open data science is helping us get there, with transparency, reproducibility, collaboration, and communication at its core.