Big Data Blitz

This past July, GRIIDC participated in the Stakeholder-Guided Environmental Science (STAGES) program’s Big Data Blitz at Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC). The STAGES program, funded by the National Science Foundation, provides graduate students with opportunities to learn about big data science, data communication, and integrating stakeholder needs into science. Students participating in the STAGES program undergo curricula focused on data intensive environmental science, a week-long field trip, a stakeholder workshop, the Big Data Blitz where they process data, and a capstone project.

GRIIDC’s program manager, Rosalie Rossi, gave a guest lecture on July 23, 2025, to the STAGES graduate students on metadata and data management best practices. The presentation focused on the importance of metadata, FAIR data, data organization and documentation, and metadata components necessary for long-term storage of data.

Providing data management training during college is important to set researchers up for success in data sharing, which is now required by many funding agencies and journals. GRIIDC encourages universities to focus on data management early and often and is excited that the STAGES program “focuses on ensuring the next generation of interdisciplinary environmental scientists are capable of harnessing the data revolution”!

Information about the STAGES program is located on the TAMUC-CC website (https://www.tamucc.edu/science/departments/physical-sciences/coastal-marine/nsf-research-traineeship.php).