Delta Workshop Materials

1 Overview

The Delta Science Program is once again partnering with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) to convene a collaborative data synthesis working group in the spring of 2026. Delta Synthesis Working Groups receive advanced data science and statistics training with immediate opportunities to use those newly acquired skills to analyze available data and produce relevant research and data products. The upcoming working group will be the third cohort held through this partnership.

2 Learning Objectives

LearningLearning Objectives

After completing this workshop, you will be able to:

  • Use tidy data practices to effectively manage data
  • Identify best practices and tools for optimizing collaboration (like Git & GitHub)
  • Implement reproducible scientific workflows throughout all aspects of a project
  • Summarize scientific analyses and results clearly and effectively by using computational notebook files, GitHub webpages, and R packages like ggplot2 and shiny

3 Course Schedule

Table Color Legend: Technical Topic; Non-Technical Topic; Synthesis Work

Screenshot of visual version of schedule. All information is also included in the table version of the schedule

Day Time Module Name Primary Instructor
1 8:30 - 9a Welcome & Intro to Week -
1 9 - 10a R, Positron, Git,
and GitHub Setup		 Jim Regetz; Casey O’Hara; Nick Lyon
1 10 - 10:30a Break -
1 10:30 - 12p Thinking Preferences &
Meeting Design		 Nick Lyon
1 12 - 1p Lunch -
1 1 - 2:30p Crafting Synthesis Project Ideas Nick Lyon
1 2:30 - 3p Break -
1 3 - 4:30p Free Synthesis Work
(Now Go Do It!)		 -
Day Time Module Name Primary Instructor
2 8:30 - 10a Project Management &
Team Facilitation		 Nick Lyon
2 10 - 10:30a Break -
2 10:30 - 12p Data Management &
Data Discovery		 Jim Regetz
2 12 - 1p Lunch -
2 1 - 2:30p Introduction to Git and GitHub Casey O’Hara
2 2:30 - 3p Break -
2 3 - 4:30p Logic Models &
Synthesis Development		 Casey O’Hara

* Tentatively choose your group by EoD

Day Time Module Name Primary Instructor
3 8:30 - 10a LEGO Reproducibility Activity Jim Regetz; Casey O’Hara; Nick Lyon
3 10 - 10:30a Break -
3 10:30 - 12p Literate Analysis with Quarto Casey O’Hara
3 12 - 1p Lunch -
3 1 - 2:30p Free Synthesis Work -
3 2:30 - 3p Break -
3 3 - 4:30p Free Synthesis Work -
Day Time Module Name Primary Instructor
4 8:30 - 10a Tidy Data Jim Regetz
4 10 - 10:30a Break -
4 10:30 - 12p Cleaning and Wrangling Data Jim Regetz
4 12 - 1p Lunch -
4 1 - 2:30p Cleaning and Wrangling Data
Practice Session		 Jim Regetz; Casey O’Hara; Nick Lyon
4 2:30 - 3p Break -
4 3 - 4:30p Free Synthesis Work -
Day Time Module Name Primary Instructor
5 8:30 - 10a GitHub for Project Management Jim Regetz
5 10 - 10:30a Break -
5 10:30 - 12p Free Synthesis Work -
5 12 - 1p Lunch -
5 1 - 2:30p Synthesis Work: Planning Next Steps -
5 2:30 - 3p Adjourn -

4 Pre-Workshop Preparation

If you are participating in this workshop series, we are so excited to help you acquire new or hone existing technical and interpersonal skills in the realm of synthesis science! To ensure that you get the most out of this workshop series, please follow the instructions on the Pre-Workshop Prep page before the first week.

5 Code of Conduct

By participating in this activity you agree to abide by the NCEAS Code of Conduct.

6 About this book

These written materials are the result of a continuous and collaborative effort at NCEAS to help researchers make their work more transparent and reproducible. This work began in the early 2000’s, and reflects the expertise and diligence of many, many individuals. The primary authors are listed in the citation below, with additional contributors recognized for their role in developing previous iterations of these or similar materials.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Citation: Casey O’Hara, Nick J. Lyon & Jim Regetz (2026), NCEAS Synthesis Skills Training for the Delta Science Program, April 2026, NCEAS Learning Hub. nceas-learning-hub.github.io/2026_delta_week1.

Content contributors: Ben Bolker, Amber E. Budden, Julien Brun, Angel Chen, Samantha Csik, Halina Do-Linh, Marty Downs, Sarah Elmendorf, Natasha Haycock-Chavez, S. Jeanette Clark, Carrie Kappel, Li Kui, Julie Lowndes, Stephanie Hampton, Matt Jones, Samantha Katz, Nick J. Lyon, Gregory Maurer, Erin McLean, Bryce Mecum, Casey O’Hara, Deanna Pennington, Karthik Ram, Jim Regetz, Tracy Teal, Camila Vargas Poulsen, Daphne Virlar-Knight, Leah Wasser.

This is a Quarto-built website. To learn more about Quarto sites visit https://quarto.org/docs/websites/.