WiDS Datathon Independent Study

This independent study offers students the opportunity to participate in the WiDS Datathon for 1-unit of credit. The WiDS Datathon is an annual and global event that encourages data scientists of all levels to discover and hone their data science skills while solving an interesting and critical social impact challenge. The 2023 Challenge, "Data Science for Subseasonal Forecast", centers on climate change and is in partnership with Climate Change AI (CCAI). Accurate long-term forecasts of temperature and precipitation is crucial for mitigating the effects of climate change (i.e. preparing for droughts and other wet weather extremes). Such forecasts can potentially impact many industries (e.g. agriculture, energy, disaster planning) in countries across the globe. Currently, purely physics-based models dominate short-term weather forecasting. But these models have a limited forecast horizon. The availability of meteorological data offers an opportunity for data scientists to improve subseasonal forecasts by blending physics-based forecasts with machine learning. To learn more, visit: https://www.widsconference.org/datathon.htmlStudents may participate in this independent study in teams of 1-4. To qualify for official participation in the datathon, at least half of each team must identify as women. To receive credit, the team will participate in the Datathon and write a report detailing their submission and reflecting on their experience. Interested students should register for the course, and sign up as a team using this form: https://forms.gle/LyX3yNU7dLnTCux1A. To find other students interested in forming a team, go here: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1UvutEFtYFeCkLkwnpU01R5V5WmJeMi4kVkaZYHxSiAY/edit?usp=sharing