posts/2022-12-16-femc/

[utterances-bot]

Mike Mahoney - Legibility and seats at the table

Reflections on FEMC 2022.

https://www.mm218.dev/posts/2022-12-16-femc/

[CodetoDrum]

"The data sciencification of everything" really hit home for me. I've been in a somewhat constant state of trying to get better using R and leveraging other forms of data "sciencey" tools just to stay relevant in the environmental field. And it's one of those things that you really hit the nail on the head with: When you are learning to code, you aren't in the woods.

I've been trying to keep my career in aquatic sciences moving along and have found some reasonable success due to what I have been able to learn about tech-related tools, but it certainly drains my ability to get out in my "domain" as it were. I've had so many weekends where instead of going out for a hike or walking along a river I was on my computer trying to teach myself more about coding and data management. And even when I was (am) out and about, I still have parts of my attention pre-occupied with knowing there's a seemingly infinite number of tech-related things I need to improve on.

But it's also very true: It ain't going anywhere. I really do believe that coding will be a requirement for the generations coming after us in most professions (not just science-based). There's often times I ask if I'm trying to be a computer scientist or an environmental scientist with how much attention I need to spend on learning R and associated data tasks.

And I also can't say that tech isn't needed in our respective lines of work. We NEED data to do science. And I can just note from my most recent experience working for Arkansas's DEQ, there are places that are truly lacking in that regard. And that really complicates things when there are domain experts available, but who are handicapped by not having data situated well enough to make scientifically-defensible decisions.

Really great post, Mike.