Additional Resources
See below for a (non-exhaustive) list of additional resources that may prove helpful complements to SSECR course content.
Analysis & Modeling
- Harrier, M. et al. Doing Meta-Analysis with R: A Hands-On Guide. 2021.
- Kurz, A. S. Bayesian Meta-Analysis in brms. 2020.
- Kurz, A. S. Bayesian Meta-Analysis in brms-II. 2022.
- Spake, R. et al. Understanding ‘It Depends’ in Ecology: A Guide to Hypothesizing, Visualising and Interpreting Statistical Interactions. 2023. Biological Reviews
- Spake, R. et al. Improving Quantitative Synthesis to Achieve Generality in Ecology. 2022. Nature Ecology and Evolution
- Tredennick, A.T. et al. A Practical Guide to Selecting Models for Exploration, Inference, and Prediction in Ecology. 2021. Ecology
- Viechtbauer, W. The
metaforPackage: A Meta-Analysis Package for R. 2021. - Viechtbauer, W. Meta-Analysis with R. 2022.
- Vuorre, M. Bayesian Meta-Analysis with R, Stan, and brms. 2016.
- Zuur, A.F. et al. Mixed Effects Models and Extensions in Ecology with R. 2009.
Communicating Findings
- AAAS SciLine. Five tips for scientists speaking to reporters. 2021.
- American Geophysical Union (AGU). A Scientist’s Guide to Working with the Media.
- Cartoonbase. A Guide to Scientific Storytelling.
- Christiansen, Jen. Science Graphics, LTER Visual Media Series. 2024.
- Corominas, J. Adapted Creativities: How to customize your messages to win over different audiences. 2024. Adsmurai
- Delta Science Program. Session 7: Communicating Your Research: The Message Box. 2021.
- Foot, G. How to get an audience to care about your science. 2020. ‘Talking Science’ Course #4. YouTube
- Foot, G. How to explain a science idea clearly. 2020. ‘Talking Science’ Course #6. YouTube
- Harper, Kelso. LTER Visual Media Series. 2024.
- Krishnan, A. Why do we use jargon when talking about science?. 2023. MongaBay
- Krzysztofiak, Jasiek. LTER Visual Media Series. 2024.
- NCEAS Learning Hub & Delta Stewardship Council. Open Science Synthesis: Communicating Your Science. 2023.
- Olson, R. Great Challenges Day at TEDMED 2013. 2013
- Prast, I. Writing for Different Audiences: Adapting Your Tone and Style. 2023. Medium
- Webster, T. The Simplest Storytelling Structure. 2020. Medium
- Wenker, R. Storytelling and Science: What’s ABT got to do with it?. 2018. University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science
Data Discovery & Management
- British Ecological Society (BES). Better Science Guides: Data Management Guide. 2024.
- DataONE Data Catalog
- Data Is Plural and its data list for exploring the cool datasets in various domains
- Environmental Data Initiative (EDI) Data Portal
- Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Data Portal
- iDigBio Digitized Specimen Portal
- LTAR Data Dashboards and Visualizations
- LTAR Group Data within the Ag Data Commons, the digital repository of the National Agricultural Library
- LTER Scientific Computing Team. Data Acquisition Guide for TRY and AppEEARS. 2024.
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Learning Hub. coreR: Data Management Essentials. 2023.
- NCEAS Learning Hub. UCSB Faculty Seminar Series: Data Management Essentials and the FAIR & CARE Principles. 2023.
- NCEAS Learning Hub. UCSB Faculty Seminar Series: Writing Data Management Plans. 2023.
- Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI) Data Explorer
Data Harmonization & Wrangling
- Borer, E. et al. Some Simple Guidelines for Effective Data Management. 2009. Ecological Society of America Bulletin
- The Carpentries. Data Analysis and Visualization in R for Ecologists: Working with Data. 2024.
- Delta Science Program Data Munging / QA / QC / Cleaning. 2019.
- Elgarby, O. The Ultimate Guide to Data Cleaning. 2019. Medium
- Fox, J. Ten Commandments for Good Data Management. 2016. Dynamic Ecology
- LTER Scientific Computing Team. Coding in the Tidyverse. 2023.
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Learning Hub coreR: Cleaning & Wrangling Data. 2023.
- NCEAS Learning Hub coreR: Writing Functions & Packages. 2023.- Todd-Brown, K.E.O. et al. Reviews and Syntheses: The Promise of Big Diverse Soil Data, Moving Current Practices Towards Future Potential. 2022. Biogeosciences
Data Visualization & Exploration
- The Carpentries. Data Analysis and Visualization in R for Ecologists: Data Visualization with
ggplot2. 2024. - The Carpentries. Data Analysis and Visualization in Python for Ecologists: Making Plots with
plotnine. 2024. - Chang, W. et al.,
ggplot2: Elegant Graphics for Data Analysis. 3rd edition. 2023. - LTER Scientific Computing Team. Coding in the Tidyverse: ‘Visualize’ Module. 2023.
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). Colorblind Safe Color Schemes. 2022.
- The R Graph Gallery
- Wilke, C.O. Fundamentals of Data Visualization. 2020.
Inclusive Facilitation
- Cravens, A.E., et al., Science facilitation: navigating the intersection of intellectual and interpersonal expertise in scientific collaboration. 2022.
- Bohm, D. On Dialogue. Routledge Classics. 2004.
- Facilitator School. Facilitation Training Programs recommended by the Facilitator School
- Gray, D. et al.,Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers. O’Reilly Media. 2010.
- International Network for the Science of Team Science. SciTS and Team Science Resources
- Kaner, S. Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (Revised). 2014.
- Kantor, D. Reading the room: Group dynamics for coaches and leaders. John Wiley & Sons. 2012.
- Khuri et al., Inclusive Practice Glossary for Facilitators. 2024.
- International Association of Facilitators. IAF Endorsed Facilitation Training Programmes
- Lipmanowicz & McCandless. The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash a Culture of Innovation. Liberating Structures Press. 2014.
- NOAA Office of Coastal Management. Dealing with Disruptive Behaviors in Meetings
- Tarallo, B. & Monlux, M. Surviving the Horror of Online Meetings: How to Facilitate Good Virtual Meetings & Manage Meeting Monsters. 2021.
- Woodley, L. et al., A guide to using virtual events to facilitate community building: Making a PACT for more engaging virtual meetings and events. 2021.
Interactivity & Shiny Apps
- Lyon, N.J., et al. Shiny Apps for Sharing Science. 2022.
- Posit. Welcome to Shiny. 2024.
Multivariate Data
- Abdi, H. & Williams, L.J., Principal Coponent Analysis. WIREs Computational Statistics. 2010.
- Clarke, K.R., Non-Parametric Multivariate Analyses of Changes in Community Structure. Australian Journal of Ecology. 1993.
- Jackson, D.A., Stopping Rules in Principal Components Analysis: A Comparison of Heuristical and Statistical Approaches. Ecology. 1993.
- Kenkel, N.C. & Oroloci, L., Applying Metric and Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling to Ecological Studies: Some New Results. Ecology. 1986.
- Ramette, A., Multivariate Analyses in Microbial Ecology. FEMS Microbial Ecology. 2007.
Next Steps
- Deutsch L., et al., Leading Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research: Lessons from Applying Theories of Change to a Strategic Research Program. 2021. Environmental Science & Policy
- Schimel, J. Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded. 2011.
- Research proposal examples from every science field.
- NSF funding search
- DoE funding search
- Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU)
- International Synthesis Consortium is an umbrella group for synthesis centers across disciplines
- Science for Nature and People Partnership
- Pivot-RP, a Clarivate product that curates funding opportunities across public and private sources. Pivot is a paid product, but most research universities have access
- Philanthropy News Digest publishes a feed of requests for proposals from private foundations. It can be filtered by topic, location, and other keywords. Awards are small, relative to federal funding agencies and topics tend to be applied
- Community Foundations fund project with clear benefits to a local community
Project Management
- GitHub. Issues and Projects. 2026.
- LTER Scientific Computing Team. Collaborative Coding with GitHub: Issues. 2024.
- LTER Scientific Computing Team. Collaborative Coding with GitHub: Milestones. 2024.
- LTER Scientific Computing Team. Collaborative Coding with GitHub: Projects. 2024.
- NCEAS Learning Hub & Delta Stewardship Council. Open Science Synthesis: Logic Models and Synthesis Development. 2021.
- NCEAS Project Management Workshop for new synthesis working groups
- Commercial Project Management Options
- Asana. Task and project management. Free up to 10 members.
- Wrike. Tasks and project management. Capable for individuals. $10/person/month for teams.
- ClickUp. Capable free plan. Less intuitive to set up.
- Miro. Free for up to three projects. More focus on diagrams and brainstorming than ongoing project management.
- Easy Retro
Reproducibility
- Briney, K. Research Data Management Workbook. 2024.
- British Ecological Society (BES). Better Science Guides: Reproducible Code. 2024.
- The Carpentries. Data Analysis and Visualization in R for Ecologists: Before We Start. 2024.
- The Carpentries. Introduction to R for Geospatial Data: Project Management with RStudio. 2024.
- Csik, S. et al. UCSB Master of Environmental Data Science (MEDS) README Guidelines. 2024.
- Englehardt, C. et al. FAIR Teaching Handbook. 2024.
- Google. Style Guide. 2024.
- Jennings, L. et al. Applying the ‘CARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance’ to Ecology and Biodiversity Research. 2023. Nature Ecology & Evolution
- LTER Scientific Computing Team. Team Coding: 5 Essentials. 2024.
- Lowndes, J.S. et al. Documenting Things: Openly for Future Us. 2023. posit::conf(2023)
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Learning Hub. coreR: Reproducibility & Provenance. 2023.
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Learning Hub. coreR: FAIR and CARE Principles. 2023.
- Trisovic, A. et al. A Large-Scale Study on Research Code Quality and Execution. 2022. Scientific Data
- Trisovic, A. et al. A Large-Scale Study on Research Code Quality and Execution. 2022. Scientific Data
- Wickham, H. Advanced R: Style Guide. (1st ed.). 2019.
- Wickham, H. & Bryan, J. R Packages (2nd ed.). 2023.
- van Rossum, G. et al. PEP 8: Style Guide for Python Code. 2013. Python Enhancement Proposals
Reproducible Reports & Quarto
- Csik, S. Creating Your Personal Website Using Quarto. 2024.
- LTER Scientific Computing Team. Notebooks versus Scripts. 2025.
- The Markdown Guide: Basic Syntax.
- Mecum, B. Reproducible Papers with RMarkdown. 2019.
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Learning Hub. coreR: Literate Analysis with Quarto. 2023.
- Posit. Welcome to Quarto
Spatial Data
- The Carpentries. Introduction to Geospatial Raster and Vector Data with R. 2024.
- The Carpentries. Introduction to R for Geospatial Data. 2024.
- Clark, S.J., et al. Spatial and Image Data Using GeoPandas. 2023.
- Flower, J. Introduction to Rasters with
terra. 2024. - King, R. Spatial Data Visualization. 2024.
- NASA. AppEEARS Portal
Supporting Divergent, Emergent, and Convergent Thinking
- Bohm, D. On Dialogue. Routledge Classics. 2004.
- Cravens, A.E., et al., Science facilitation: navigating the intersection of intellectual and interpersonal expertise in scientific collaboration. 2022.
- Facilitator School. Facilitation Training Programs. 2026
- Gray, D. et al., Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers, and Changemakers. O’Reilly Media. 2010.
- Related website: Gamestorming
- International Association of Facilitators. IAF Endorsed™ Facilitation Training Programmes
- Kaner, S. Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making (Revised). 2014.
- Kappel, C. Collaboration: From groan zone to growth zone. Integration and Implementation Insights.. 2019.
- Lipmanowicz & McCandless. The Surprising Power of Liberating Structures: Simple Rules to Unleash a Culture of Innovation. Liberating Structures Press. 2014.
- Related website: Liberating Structures: Including and Unleashing Everyone
Team Science Practices
- Abbasi, A., & Jaafari, A. Research impact and scholars’ geographical diversity. 2013. Journal of Informetrics
- Bates, A.E. et al., Overcome Imposter Syndrome: Contribute to Working Groups and Build Strong Networks. 2024. Biological Conservation
- Delta Stewardship Council. Open Science Synthesis: Thinking Preferences. 2021.
- Deutsch, L. et al., Leading Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research: Lessons from Applying Theories of Change to a Strategic Research Program. 2021. Environmental Science & Policy
- Farrell, K.J. et al., Training Macrosystems Scientists Requires Both Interpersonal and Technical Skills. 2021. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment
- Fiore S.M. et al., Interdisciplinarity as Teamwork: How the Science of Teams Can Inform Team Science. 2008. Small Group Research
- Folger, J.P., et al., Working Through Conflict: Strategies for Relationships, Groups, and Organizations (8th ed.). 2017. Routledge
- Gaynor, K.M., et al., Ten Simple Rules to Cultivate Belonging in Collaborative Data Science Research Teams. 2022. PLoS Computational Biology
- Graffius, S.M. Leverage the Phases of Team Development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — to Help Your Teams be Happier and More Productive: 2023 Update. 2023
- Hampton, S.E. & Parker, J.N. Collaboration and Productivity in Scientific Synthesis. 2011. BioScience
- Hong, L., & Page, S. E. Individual selection criteria for optimal team composition. 2024. Theory and Decision
- Lahr, H. How to effectively engage teams in interdisciplinary collaborations. 2024
- Lee, Y. et al., Creativity in scientific teams: Unpacking novelty and impact. 2015. Research Policy
- Lotrecchiano, G.R., et al., Individual and team competencies in translational teams. 2021. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science
- Lowman, H. et al., Collaborative consortia can boost postdoctoral workforce development. 2024. PNAS
- Liberatore, A. Developing a Successful Team: Concepts and Strategies to Navigate Change and Conflict Together. 2024.
- Milliken, F.J. & Martins, L.L. Searching for Common Threads: Understanding the Multiple Effects of Diversity in Organizational Groups. 1996. The Academy of Management Review
- Peterson, D.M. et al., Team Science: A Syllabus for Success on Big Projects. 2023. Ecology and Evolution
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. The Science and Practice of Team Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Learning Hub & Delta Stewardship Council. Open Science Synthesis: Team Science for Synthesis. 2023.
- National Research Council. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science. Committee on the Science of Team Science, N.J. Cooke and M.L. Hilton, Editors. Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2015. Enhancing the Effectiveness of Team Science. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/19007.
- Nederveen P.A., et al., Cultural Diversity and Team Performance: The Role of Team Member Goal Orientation. 2013. Academy of Management Journal
- Stokols, D. et al., The Ecology of Team Science: Understanding Contextual Influences on Transdisciplinary Collaboration. 2008. American Journal of Preventive Medicine
- Tuckman, B.W., & Jensen, M.A.C. Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited. 1977. Group and Organizational Studies
- Tuckman, B.W. Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. 1965. Psychological Bulletin
- van Knippenberg, D. et al., Work Group Diversity and Group Performance: An Integrative Model and Research Agenda. 2004. Journal of Applied Psychology
- Woolley, A.W. et al., Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups. 2010. Science
- Yang, Y. et al., Gender-diverse teams produce more novel and higher-impact scientific ideas. 2022. PNAS
Version Control
- Bryan J. et al. Happy Git and GitHub for the useR. 2024.
- GitHub. Git Cheat Sheet. 2023.
- National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) Learning Hub. coreR: Intro to Git and GitHub. 2023.
- Pereira Braga, P.H. et al. Not Just for Programmers: How GitHub can Accelerate Collaborative and Reproducible Research in Ecology and Evolution. 2023. Methods in Ecology and Evolution