This is the official website of the Coding Help Desk at the American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2019 Fall Meeting. You can tag this event using #codinghelpdesk and #agu19 on all the social medias.
Coding is becoming an increasingly important skill for geophysicists interested in data science and Big Data. However, it can be tough to know where to start, know how to get help, and find others who are interested in developing coding skills. The Coding Help Desk is meant to be a drop-in spot where anyone can come by to ask coding questions (any programming language), learn skills to help them with their research, and connect with fellow AGU members who are passionate about coding. The Coding Help Desk will also feature a series of coding and data management demos.
Please contact Sheila Saia at ssaia at ncsu dot edu if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. Feel free to see our list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) below.
Stop by to ask our volunteers for help with your code or for more information on coding best practices.
| Day | Time | Location | Volunteers | Coding Help Available |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tues, Dec 10 | 10am-12pm | Career Center Moscone South LL 5-6 | Sam Zipper, Maria Elena Orduña Alegria, Sheila Saia | GAMA, Netlogo, Python, R |
| Weds, Dec 11 | 10am-12pm | Career Center Moscone South LL 5-6 | Sharad Kumar Gupta, Justine Neville, Colin Smith, Melinda Martinez | MATLAB, Python, R |
| Weds, Dec 11 | 1pm-2:30pm | Moscone North Exhibit Hall Booth #1329 (ESIP) | Emine Fidan, Heather Kropp, Danica Schaffer-Smith | R, Google Earth Engine Javascript API |
| Thur, Dec 12 | 10am-12pm | Career Center Moscone South LL 5-6 | Joe Shannon, Chinmay Deval, Sharad Kumar Gupta | BASH, Python, R |
| Thur, Dec 12 | 1pm-2:30pm | Moscone North Exhibit Hall Booth #1329 (ESIP) | Kathe Todd-Brown, Lise Montefiore, Sadegh Sadeghi-Tabas, Jeanette Clark | MATLAB, R |
Besides getting help at the Coding Help Desk, AGU attendees are welcome to attend short (10 minute) demonstrations (i.e., "demos") presented by their peers. This is a great way to learn about new coding tools and best practices.
| Day | Time | Location | Presenter | Demo Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tues, Dec 10 | 9:30-9:40am | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Sam Zipper | Organizing Data and Code for Reproducibility |
| Tues, Dec 10 | 9:45-9:55am | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Lise Montefiore | Basic GIS in R |
| Weds, Dec 11 | 9:30-9:40am | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Natalie Nelson | Publication-ready Graphics with ggplot2 |
| Weds, Dec 11 | 9:45-9:55am | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Jianghao Wang | Creating Interactive Documents with MATLAB Live Scripts |
| Thur, Dec 12 | 12-12:10pm | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Aycan Hacioglu | Creating Interactive Documents with MATLAB Live Scripts |
| Thur, Dec 12 | 12:15-12:25pm | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Vinit Sehgal | Spatial Data Visualization in R |
| Day | Time | Location | Activity | Number of People |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tues, Dec 10 | 9:30-10am | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Demos | 26 |
| Tues, Dec 10 | 10am-12pm | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Coding Help Desk | 9 |
| Weds, Dec 11 | 9:30-10am | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Demos | 30 |
| Weds, Dec 11 | 10am-12pm | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Coding Help Desk | 5 |
| Weds, Dec 11 | 1-2:30pm | Moscone North Exhibit Hall Booth #1329 (ESIP) | Coding Help Desk | 1 |
| Thur, Dec 12 | 10am-12pm | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Coding Help Desk | 10 |
| Thur, Dec 12 | 9:30-10am | Career Center Theater Moscone South LL 5-6 | Demos | 20 |
| Thur, Dec 12 | 1-2:30pm | Moscone North Exhibit Hall Booth #1329 (ESIP) | Coding Help Desk | 4 |
The following organizations have committed to supporting the Coding Help Desk:
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- American Geophysical Union Ecohydrology Section
- American Geophysical Union Hydrology Student Section Subcommittee (H3S)
- The Carpentries
- Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) - Read more about their AGU 2019 Data Help Desk at Exhibitor Hall Booth #1329 here.
- Environmental Data Initiative (EDI)
- MathWorks AGU 2019 Exhibitor Hall Booth #1325
- rOpenSci
If you're interested in volunteering with the Coding Help Desk, please fill out this Goolge form. The form will close on December 1, 2019 but you're welcome to stop by during code desk hours to help if you didn't sign-up before that date.
If you're interested in presenting a demo, please fill out this Goolge form. The form will close on December 1, 2019.
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I keep getting error messages when I run some code that I need to finish my research. I'm really stuck. Is this a place where I can get help?
Yes, please come by during our hours of operation (see schedule above) and we will do our best to help you through your coding issues. -
I ❤️ coding and am looking to meet other people that feel the same. Is this place right for me?
We (the volunteers) also ❤️coding and are always looking to make new friends in the coding community. Please stop by and chat about coding amazingness with us. -
How do I sign-up to volunteer as a tutor at the Coding Help Desk?
If you're interested in volunteering, please fill out this Goolge form. The form will close on December 1, 2019 but you're welcome to stop by during code desk hours to help if you didn't sign up before that date. -
How do I sign-up to present a demo with the Coding Help Desk?
If you're interested in presenting a demo, please fill out this Goolge form. The form will close on December 1, 2019. -
I'm interested in helping to spread the word about the Coding Help Desk. How can I help with this?
Please send an email to Sheila at ssaia at ncsu dot edu and let her know that you're interested in spreading the word about the Coding Help Desk. She'll send along a flier that you can share with others -
I've never heard of this event at the AGU Fall Meeting. How did the Coding Help Desk get started?
The AGU 2018 Fall Meeting in Washington, DC marked the first year of the Coding Help Desk. Sheila Saia and Sam Zipper started it in hopes of building a tight-knit coding community within AGU. Coding skills are becoming increasingly important for geophysicists in the age of "Big Data". Connecting with other AGU members, whether they are beginner or expert coders, can help advance coding training and effective use of coding tools for geoscience applications. -
I'm a coding whiz but could really use some data management and data sharing help. Can you help me?
Some of us might be comfortable answering these questions but a better bet is for you to visit our friends over at Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) or MATLAB (AGU 2019 Exhibitor Hall Booth #1325)! ESIP is hosting a Data Help Desk at AGU 2019. They'll offer one-on-one data management help as well as data management and literacy workshops that are open to all AGU attendees. To learn more about the Data Help Desk, please visit this site. MATLAB expert, Loren Shure, will also be helping with data access and management at the MATLAB booth (AGU 2019 Exhibitor Hall Booth #1325), which is right next to the ESIP booth. -
(Anything we forgot? Please submit a GitHub pull request or email Sheila at ssaia at ncsu dot edu to add another FAQ.)
- More demos! That is, have a longer demo time slot. We only had 30 minutes this year (two demos in 30 minutes).
- Reach out to other organizations for collaboration/demos: USGS Data Viz Lab, NEON, pyOpenSci, pangeo, and Earth Lab, QubesHub, local R-Users and R-Ladies groups, and others (?).
- Coordinate with Megan Carter from the ESIP Data Help Desk next year.