Open source training for reproducibility, collaboration, and community in academic research
338 | Fri 02 Aug 10:45 a.m.–11:30 a.m.
Presented by
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Alex Marden
https://opensource.utexas.edu/our-team
Alex Marden began using open source software to facilitate international fieldwork and collaboration while studying wildfire ecology in the Kalahari Basin. He incorporates that experience into teaching numerous open source software-based courses and workshops at the University of Texas at Austin. As the GIS and Geospatial Data Coordinator at the UT Libraries, he supports the GIS needs of the university community and works to make geospatial data broadly available and accessible. In his role as an Open Geospatial Software Specialist with the UT Open Source Program Office (UT-OSPO), he focuses on open-source software training and best practice documentation. Additionally, he is the current Chair of the newly formed UT-OSPO User Advisory Group, which aims to effectively serve and foster a community of open-source focused researchers. He received a PhD in Geography from UT Austin in 2024, where his research focused on spatiotemporally complex climate-disturbance linkages and how scale relates to the observability of those linkages.
Alex Marden
https://opensource.utexas.edu/our-team
Abstract
Research-focused data and software training outside of the standard academic curriculum can play a crucial role in university environments. Reproducibility and collaboration are fundamental aspects of research, creating an opportunity to incorporate open source software development strategies and techniques into training workshops.
The University of Texas at Austin Open Source Program Office (UT-OSPO) has co-sponsored numerous workshops that emphasize the interplay among open source software, reproducibility, and collaboration. A key focus is engaging researchers across diverse use-case scenarios along the open source participation pathway – from introducing participants to the benefits of using open source software to managing collaborative open source software ecosystems.
This session will explore the UT-OSPO’s cross-departmental initiative, integrating open source software training into research workshops and events. We will discuss pedagogical and administrative strategies for appealing to a wide range of researchers and fostering an open source community within a large university.
Research-focused data and software training outside of the standard academic curriculum can play a crucial role in university environments. Reproducibility and collaboration are fundamental aspects of research, creating an opportunity to incorporate open source software development strategies and techniques into training workshops. The University of Texas at Austin Open Source Program Office (UT-OSPO) has co-sponsored numerous workshops that emphasize the interplay among open source software, reproducibility, and collaboration. A key focus is engaging researchers across diverse use-case scenarios along the open source participation pathway – from introducing participants to the benefits of using open source software to managing collaborative open source software ecosystems. This session will explore the UT-OSPO’s cross-departmental initiative, integrating open source software training into research workshops and events. We will discuss pedagogical and administrative strategies for appealing to a wide range of researchers and fostering an open source community within a large university.