NSF CAMBIUM Partners with DSI to Advance Computational Training
The U of A Climate change Adaptation and Mitigation through Biodiversity Informatics Education and Mentoring program (CAMBIUM), funded by the NSF, trains graduate students to respond to environmental challenges through data-driven research. At the end of the Spring 2025 semester, the U of A DataLab with the Data Science Institute partnered with CAMBIUM to help students build a strong foundation for best research and AI practices in data science. Michele Cosi, Jeff Gillan, and Carlos Lizárraga introduced tools and practices that are important for today’s research with a three-hour presentation that was focused on the tools and approaches any scientist should know.
Michele explained the importance of keeping research clear, organized, and ethical using the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) and CARE (Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, Ethics) principles that help guide how data should be shared and managed responsibly. He also showed students the powerful computing tools available at the University of Arizona, like the High Performance Computing system and CyVerse, which help researchers handle and analyze large amounts of data.
Jeff demonstrated how best to use NotebookLM to assist researchers in summarizing documents, managing notes, and improving information workflows. His presentation emphasized how AI tools can support research productivity without replacing critical thinking. Carlos gave an overview of platforms widely used in data science including GitHub for collaborative coding and version control and Hugging Face for working with machine learning models. He discussed how these tools can help researchers across disciplines navigate the growing demands of computational science.
The instruction that DSI provided the students was a high-level understanding of resources and skills that they can apply while part of the CAMBIUM program and afterward during additional research opportunities.
Read more about the NSF grant that launched the CAMBIUM program. Additional information and research and AI tools training resources are available through the U of A DataLab video library.