Introduction to management and processing of natural resources datasets using dedicated tools and flexible scripting techniques. Case studies and a project will develop spreadsheet analysis, scripting, queries of data repositories, and dataset integration using joins.
Athena Title
Nat Res Data Processing
Prerequisite
STAT 2000 or STAT 2000E or STAT 2100H or BIOS 2010 or BIOS 2010E or FANR 2010-2010L or BUSN 3000 or BUSN 3000E or BUSN 3000H or UNIV 1108
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, student should be able to explain fundamental concepts of algorithmic data processing.
At the end of this course, student should be able to describe how common data structures relevant to the management of natural resources data may be linked in time or space.
At the end of this course, student should be able to identify popular repositories for spatial, ecological, and time-series datasets, and assess the quality and utility of novel repositories.
At the end of this course, student should be able to adapt, implement, test, and document algorithms for manipulating structured datasets.
At the end of this course, student should be able to design, develop, and document a novel data-processing workflow.
Topical Outline
I/O of structured data
File types, local and remote storage
Data types and structures
Database queries
SQL/SQLite/Oracle
Online data sources
Census, spatial, hydrological, landuse
Conditionals
If statements
Boolean logic
Regular expressions
Case/switch statements
Algorithms
Pseudocode, inputs, outputs
Compiled programs vs. scripts
Scripting environments
Testing, breakpoints, debugging, commenting, and documentation
Seeking help effectively
Projects (should include 1+ from)
Dataviz programmatically generates plots or images
Image analysis
Spatial data summary/manipulation
Time series data summary/manipulation
Text analysis
Institutional Competencies Learning Outcomes
Analytical Thinking
The ability to reason, interpret, analyze, and solve problems from a wide array of authentic contexts.
Critical Thinking
The ability to pursue and comprehensively evaluate information before accepting or establishing a conclusion, decision, or action.
