Welcome to the 2025 NMFS Champions Program for NOAA Fisheries (National Marine Fisheries Service, NMFS)! This is the website for the three NOAA Fisheries Cohorts running concurrently in Fall 2025 with research teams and individuals from across NMFS Centers and Offices. To learn more about what to expect (the purpose, outcomes, and process of our Cohort) and to browse the open lesson materials, please see the Champions Program Lesson Series.
Cohorts A, B, C will meet via Zoom five times over two months for 1.5 hours each. Agendas are accessible to Cohort participants in our Cohort Google Drive Folders; they are an archive of our live google-doc'ing. Template versions of our agendas.
Cohort A - Dates: Nov 18, Dec 2, 16, Jan 6, 20 Times: 1:00 - 2:30 pm PT - CohortFolder
Cohort B - Dates: Nov 19, Dec 3, 17, Jan 7, 21 Times: 10:00 - 11:30 am PT - CohortFolder
Cohort C - Dates: Nov 19, Dec 3, 17, Jan 7, 21 Times: 1:00 - 2:30 pm PT - CohortFolder
| Cohort Call Topics | Lesson Series Chapters | Seaside Chat Topics |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Openscapes mindset | mindset, better science for future us, NOAA Fisheries infrastructure & support | Pathway trailhead |
| 2. Team culture and (meta)data strategies for future us | team culture, data strategies | Documenting your data; create ORCID account; create Zenodo Sandbox account |
| 3. Zenodo Clinic: Archive your first or second data set | data strategies | Data archiving & preservation |
| 4. Open communities; coding strategies and cloud workflows* | open communities, coding strategies | Pathways preparation |
| 5. Pathways share and next steps | pathways |
Molly Stevens (SEFSC, Mentor), Alex Norelli (SEFSC, 2025 Champion), and Jon Peake (NMFS Open Science) also developed and hosted a Google Workstations Clinic and documented NOAA Fisheries Cloud Computing Setup.
Coworking sessions are where get our own work done at the same time together. Sometimes, this means quiet work with check-ins to break up focused work and get feedback, and sometimes this involves asking questions and screensharing to learn and problem solve. We will make breakout rooms so people working on related themes can meet and learn from each other.
- Dates: Tuesdays, Nov 25, Dec 9, Jan 13.
- Times: 12:00 - 1:30 PT
- Location: remotely, via Zoom
Julie Lowndes (@jules32), Openscapes
Stefanie Butland (@stefaniebutland), Openscapes
Andy Teucher (@ateucher), Openscapes
Eli Holmes (@eeholmes), NMFS Open Science\
Jon Peake (@jonpeake), NMFS Open Science
Rachael Blake (@reblake), Intertiday Agency\
Kate Wing (@katewing), Intertiday Agency
Participants in Fall 2025 Cohorts include teams and individuals from all 6 NOAA Fisheries Centers - Pacific Islands, Southwest, Southeast, Northwest, Northeast, Alaska - along with the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), Office of Science and Technology (OST), National Ocean Service (NOS), Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS), Southeast Regional Office (SERO), West Coast Region (WCR), Pacific Islands Regional Office (PIRO), and Office of Protected Resources (OPR).
- Our path to better science in less time using open data science tools (Lowndes et al. 2017) - This describes a marine science team’s transition to open collaborative teamwork. It was the original inspiration for creating the Champions Program and heavily influences the Core Lessons. We’ll ask that everyone participating reads it before our first Cohort Call.
- Supercharge your research: a ten-week plan for open data science (Lowndes et al. 2019) - This was co-authored with the inaugural Champions Cohort, capturing the most valuable take-aways for marine and environmental science early career faculty.
- Shifting institutional culture to develop climate solutions with Open Science (Lowndes et al. 2024) - This was co-authored by Openscapes mentors across organizations – including NASA Earthdata, NOAA Fisheries, EPA, California Water Boards, Pathways to Open Science, Fred Hutch Cancer Center.