{"$schema": "https://c3voc.de/schedule/schema.json", "generator": {"name": "pretalx", "version": "2026.2.1", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au"}, "schedule": {"url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/schedule/", "version": "0.10", "base_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au", "conference": {"acronym": "wombat-2025", "title": "WOMBAT 2025", "start": "2025-09-29", "end": "2025-09-30", "daysCount": 2, "timeslot_duration": "00:05", "time_zone_name": "Australia/Melbourne", "colors": {"primary": "#d78802"}, "rooms": [{"name": "8.42", "slug": "3-842", "guid": "62b2fdc6-8e47-52a7-85f8-3a47495b420c", "description": null, "capacity": 20}, {"name": "8.43", "slug": "4-843", "guid": "839a9c45-8c8a-5e13-a2f0-589d8b908569", "description": null, "capacity": 20}, {"name": "8.44", "slug": "5-844", "guid": "113c86f6-4bab-57fe-bf75-690c5aa23433", "description": null, "capacity": 20}, {"name": "8.53", "slug": "6-853", "guid": "d47a094c-06ce-5e84-b41a-f01877c76483", "description": null, "capacity": 20}, {"name": "8.03", "slug": "2-803", "guid": "76244676-24e8-5593-8f5e-2ee149a62a11", "description": null, "capacity": 102}, {"name": "State of Grace", "slug": "7-state-of-grace", "guid": "5e6d34ad-d206-5dcd-9b39-76a11cd1b461", "description": null, "capacity": null}], "tracks": [], "days": [{"index": 1, "date": "2025-09-29", "day_start": "2025-09-29T04:00:00+10:00", "day_end": "2025-09-30T03:59:00+10:00", "rooms": {"8.42": [{"guid": "beec04e9-0db4-55ef-9fe9-a01ce357981f", "code": "VDYBYE", "id": 27, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-29T09:00:00+10:00", "start": "09:00", "end": "2025-09-29T12:30:00+10:00", "duration": "03:30", "room": "8.42", "slug": "wombat-2025-27-tidy-time-series-analysis-and-forecasting", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/VDYBYE/", "title": "Tidy time series analysis and forecasting", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Workshop", "language": "en", "abstract": "Organisations of all types collect vast amounts of time series data, and there is a growing need for time series analytics to understand how things change in our fast-moving world. This tutorial provides a practical introduction to time series analytics and forecasting using R, utilising the tidyverse and tidy time series tools to enable analysis across many time series. Attendees will learn about commonly seen time series patterns, and how to find them with specialised time series graphics created with ggplot2. Then we will use fable to capture these patterns with statistical time series models, and produce probabilistic forecasts. Finally, participants will gain insights into evaluating model performance, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of their forecasts. Through a combination of foundational concepts and practical demonstrations, this tutorial equips participants with the skills to extract meaningful insights from time series data for informed decision-making in various domains.\n\nLearning Outcomes:\n\n* How to use the tidyverse to wrangle and manipulate time series data.\n* Visualise data and identify common time series patterns.\n* Produce forecasts from a statistical model that captures dynamic time series patterns.\n* Evaluate the model\u2019s forecasting performance to select the best model.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "CZYR98", "name": "Mitchell O'Hara-Wild", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/CZYR98_2YcD2lK.jpg", "biography": "[Mitchell O\u2019Hara-Wild](https://mitchelloharawild.com/) (he/him) is a PhD candidate at Monash University, creating new techniques and tools for forecasting large collections of time series with Rob Hyndman and George Athanasopoulos. He is the lead developer of the tidy time-series forecasting tools fable and feasts, and has co-developed the widely used forecast package since 2015. He is an award-winning educator, and has taught applied forecasting at Monash University and various forecasting workshops around the world.", "public_name": "Mitchell O'Hara-Wild", "guid": "363e4ebf-62fb-5605-9c6c-483ed480d4f9", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/CZYR98/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/VDYBYE/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/VDYBYE/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "14c394c8-e21d-5af9-a326-fe075368035a", "code": "Q3BPJZ", "id": 25, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-29T13:30:00+10:00", "start": "13:30", "end": "2025-09-29T17:00:00+10:00", "duration": "03:30", "room": "8.42", "slug": "wombat-2025-25-reproducible-reporting-and-research-with-quarto", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/Q3BPJZ/", "title": "Reproducible Reporting and Research with Quarto", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Workshop", "language": "en", "abstract": "This hands-on workshop introduces researchers, students, and academics to **Quarto**, a powerful, open-source framework for creating reproducible academic documents and presentations. You'll learn how to write a report, a journal article using a ready-to-use template, and build polished, code-integrated slide decks for presentations. The workshop will also cover bibliography management, embedding code and figures, formatting tables and equations, and controlling output for various formats, such as HTML and PDF. By the end of the session, participants will be able to confidently use Quarto to produce reproducible manuscripts and dynamic, professional presentations.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "QWQ9BM", "name": "Jayani Lakshika", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/QWQ9BM_i0rsJWt.png", "biography": "Jayani Lakshika is a final-year PhD student in Statistics at Monash University. Her research focuses on developing interactive visual tools and statistical methodologies for selecting and evaluating non-linear dimension reduction layouts of high-dimensional data. She is the author of several R packages. Jayani is a member of R-Ladies Melbourne and is passionate about teaching, with extensive experience tutoring statistics and data science courses, and mentoring students in both Australia and Sri Lanka. In addition to her academic work, she brings industry experience as a data analyst.", "public_name": "Jayani Lakshika", "guid": "3d73605e-4f34-5c99-950f-b29565097ef3", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/QWQ9BM/"}, {"code": "HQBHJ7", "name": "Krisanat Anukarnsakulchularp", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/HQBHJ7_4i7YMn4.png", "biography": "Krisanat Anukarnsakulchularp is a first-year PhD student in Statistics at Monash University, where his research centers around network analysis, developing graph data structures to help better understand and explore the spatio-temporal multivariate network data. He is the author of the R package animbook, for visualizing changes in performance measures and demographic affiliations using animation. Krisanat is working at Monash University as a teaching associate for the Master of Business Analytics program.", "public_name": "Krisanat Anukarnsakulchularp", "guid": "ed4253ea-36dd-5736-8f31-07ded0f2f584", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/HQBHJ7/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/Q3BPJZ/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/Q3BPJZ/", "attachments": []}], "8.43": [{"guid": "eb6e3680-d846-5a1c-8f1c-3a18aa558279", "code": "LDTUU8", "id": 26, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-29T09:00:00+10:00", "start": "09:00", "end": "2025-09-29T12:30:00+10:00", "duration": "03:30", "room": "8.43", "slug": "wombat-2025-26-visualising-uncertainty", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/LDTUU8/", "title": "Visualising Uncertainty", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Workshop", "language": "en", "abstract": "From exploring variability in a dataset to communicating the distribution of estimates, uncertainty visualisation plays a role at every stage of data analysis. This tutorial provides an overview of uncertainty, examines how it is represented in R, and introduces a range of techniques for visualising it. The first session will introduce the concept of uncertainty and cover general visualisation approaches. The second session will focus on spatial data and the creative methods that emerge when uncertainty must be expressed using only a limited set of visual aesthetics. Wherever there are statistics and data, there is uncertainty, making the ability to visualise it effectively an essential skill for any statistician.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "G9PNUZ", "name": "Dianne Cook", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/G9PNUZ_C9YuSD6.jpg", "biography": "[Dianne Cook](https://www.dicook.org), a Professor of Statistics at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is a global leader in data visualisation. She has delivered over 100 invited talks internationally and published extensively on various aspects of data visualisation. Dr. Cook is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, an elected member of the International Statistical Institute, past editor of the Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics, and the R Journal. She has served as a Board Member of the R Foundation and is currently the co-chair of the Statistical Computing and Visualisation Section of the [Statistical Society of Australia](https://www.statsoc.org.au).", "public_name": "Dianne Cook", "guid": "4a10dfed-7994-5644-8330-c5ac014caf13", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/G9PNUZ/"}, {"code": "9BMJWP", "name": "Harriet Mason", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/9BMJWP_1VQl68B.jpg", "biography": "[Harriet Mason](https://harrietmason.netlify.app/) is a final year PhD student. She is researching how uncertainty can be effectively communicated through statistical graphics, particularly in contexts where misleading interpretations must be actively avoided. She is the author of several R packages, including `cassowaryr` and `ggdibbler`.", "public_name": "Harriet Mason", "guid": "7a15ff8e-3a81-5346-9fa6-73ba617d0f45", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/9BMJWP/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/LDTUU8/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/LDTUU8/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "9caeed91-1611-592f-99a3-b8d083bebed2", "code": "XY8EW8", "id": 23, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-29T13:30:00+10:00", "start": "13:30", "end": "2025-09-29T17:00:00+10:00", "duration": "03:30", "room": "8.43", "slug": "wombat-2025-23-building-better-figures-a-scientific-graphic-design-workshop", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/XY8EW8/", "title": "Building Better Figures: A Scientific Graphic Design Workshop", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Workshop", "language": "en", "abstract": "Clear, well-designed figures are essential for effectively communicating scientific ideas, but good design is often overlooked in academic training. This practical workshop, led by Dr Jess Hopf from Knowlegible Designs, introduces core graphic design principles and demonstrates how they can be applied to scientific figures to improve clarity, impact, and accessibility.\n\nThrough a mix of theory and hands-on application, we\u2019ll cover cognitive load, visual hierarchies, common communication pitfalls (like the curse of knowledge), and a step-by-step process for building and refining figures. Attendees are encouraged to bring a visual they\u2019re currently working on, as there will be opportunities to apply workshop concepts and receive feedback.\n\nYou don't need any prior design experience or specialist software. This workshop is suitable for researchers at any career stage who want to elevate the quality and communicative power of their visual materials.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "LGHXST", "name": "Jess Hopf", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/LGHXST_98xrALh.jpeg", "biography": "Dr Jess Hopf is an active conservation science researcher and founder of Knowlegible Designs, where she helps researchers translate complex science into clear, compelling visuals.", "public_name": "Jess Hopf", "guid": "1b819d5f-124e-5b3e-8b4e-e6842197e5d2", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/LGHXST/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/XY8EW8/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/XY8EW8/", "attachments": []}], "8.44": [{"guid": "a0b1104d-6582-5817-be04-f11ebdb3930a", "code": "PLVPUV", "id": 22, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-29T09:00:00+10:00", "start": "09:00", "end": "2025-09-29T12:30:00+10:00", "duration": "03:30", "room": "8.44", "slug": "wombat-2025-22-introduction-to-r-packages", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/PLVPUV/", "title": "Introduction to R packages", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Workshop", "language": "en", "abstract": "Do you have R code you want to share? You can transform your R code into a shareable tool by developing it into an R package. This course bridges the gap between writing isolated R functions and creating documented packages that can be easily distributed, and is designed for those who might be curious about R package development but haven't had the time or guidance to get started.\n\nYou'll learn the essential tools of the trade: `usethis` and `devtools` for package structure, `roxygen2` for documentation, `testthat` for testing, and Git/GitHub for sharing your work.\n\nWhether you're looking to organise your personal code collection or contribute to the broader R ecosystem, this course provides the foundation you need.\n\n**Prerequisites**:\n\n- Comfortable with some R fundamentals (data types, functions, reading data).\n- Experience writing basic R scripts.\n- No prior experience with package development required.\n\n**Learning Outcomes**: By the end of this course, you will be able to:  \n \n- Create the basic structure of an R package.\n- Manage dependencies with `usethis` and `devtools`.\n- Create documentation with `roxygen2`.\n- Write and run unit tests with `testthat` to verify package functionality.\n- Use Git and GitHub to put your R package online.\n- Understand next steps for advanced package development, including:\n- Automatically run tests with continuous integration via GitHub Actions.\n- Make your R package easily installable with the [R Universe](https://r-universe.dev/search).\n- Create professional package websites using `pkgdown`.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "FLUHHT", "name": "Nicholas Tierney", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/FLUHHT_FJdojaL.jpeg", "biography": "Dr. Nicholas (Nick) Tierney is a [Research Software Engineer](https://researchsoftware.org/), and freelance consultant with a PhD in Statistics who specialises in data analytics, R package development, and teaching. He wrote his first R package in 2015, [neato](https://github.com/njtierney/neato), after being inspired by Dr. Hilary Parker's blog post [\"writing an R package from scratch\"](https://hilaryparker.com/2014/04/29/writing-an-r-package-from-scratch/).\n\nHis academic work has produced several widely-used packages (see [his github](http://github.com/njtierney)). During his research fellowship at Monash University with [Professor Dianne Cook](https://www.dicook.org/),  he developed tools for exploratory data analysis including [visdat](https://docs.ropensci.org/visdat/), [naniar](https://naniar.njtierney.com/), and [brolgar](https://brolgar.njtierney.com/) . He then went on to work with [Professor Nick Golding](https://www.thekids.org.au/contact-us/our-people/g/nick-golding/) at [The Kids Research Institute Australia](https://www.thekids.org.au/), working as a research software engineer to translate research methods into R packages. Specifically, [conmat](http://github.com/idem-lab/conmat) a tool used in pandemic modelling, and he maintained Nick Golding's [greta](https://greta-stats.org/)  R package for statistical modelling using Google's [tensorflow](https://www.tensorflow.org/).\n\nBeyond coding, Nick actively writes about R related projects at his blog, [\"credibly curious\"](https://www.njtierney.com/). When not coding, Nick enjoys outdoor adventures and hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail in 2023, documenting his journey at [njt.micro.blog](https://njt.micro.blog/).", "public_name": "Nicholas Tierney", "guid": "26107d02-542c-5687-96fa-bd529534edd2", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/FLUHHT/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/PLVPUV/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/PLVPUV/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "b9dd14ff-0d5a-5f23-86b1-ddf014adf359", "code": "KCZEMB", "id": 24, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-29T13:30:00+10:00", "start": "13:30", "end": "2025-09-29T17:00:00+10:00", "duration": "03:30", "room": "8.44", "slug": "wombat-2025-24-getting-started-with-c-for-faster-statistical-modelling-in-r", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/KCZEMB/", "title": "Getting Started with C++ for Faster Statistical Modelling in R", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Workshop", "language": "en", "abstract": "Code written in C++ runs significantly faster than code written in R, which provides the basis for many leading R packages. Such a design enables users to leverage the best of both worlds: the computational speed delivered by algorithms written in C++ and the convenience of data analysis using R. Fortunately, recent developments have simplified programming in C++ for R applications by automating many processes. \n\nIn this session, Tomasz will guide attendees through the basics of this approach, working in RStudio, ensuring object compatibility, using basic algorithmic structures and functional programming, and extending R packages with C++ code. A sequence of hands-on exercises with applications to every statistical modeller toolset, including linear algebra, maximum likelihood estimation, and Gibbs sampling, supports all this.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "ZCKHDL", "name": "Tomasz Wo\u017aniak", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/ZCKHDL_wIRsn8m.jpeg", "biography": "Tomasz Wo\u017aniak is a Bayesian econometrician developing new econometric methods for applied macroeconomic research. He has been a specialised R user for seventeen years, and has recently joined The R Journal as an Associate Editor. He is the author of several R packages, available at https://bsvars.org/, that combine blazingly fast algorithms written in C++ with the convenience of data analysis in R. He works as a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne, where he has an extensive research, teaching, and engagement portfolio. He is also an external collaborator at the International Labour Organization, where he develops a new forecasting system and an R package.", "public_name": "Tomasz Wo\u017aniak", "guid": "bd19aed9-ec5c-5d8a-be22-bfcc6aa4162f", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/ZCKHDL/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/KCZEMB/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/KCZEMB/", "attachments": []}], "8.53": [{"guid": "7251174b-cc56-5060-a5cf-1113b388dab1", "code": "9X7BMV", "id": 29, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-29T09:00:00+10:00", "start": "09:00", "end": "2025-09-29T12:30:00+10:00", "duration": "03:30", "room": "8.53", "slug": "wombat-2025-29-introduction-to-regression-analysis-in-r", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/9X7BMV/", "title": "Introduction to Regression Analysis in R", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Workshop", "language": "en", "abstract": "Regression analysis is one of the most widely used and powerful quantitative analysis methods used across almost every sector. This workshop provides a comprehensive introduction to commonly used regression models, including the theory behind these models, their application in R, validation techniques, and the interpretation of results. The course begins with an introduction to linear regression models, before advancing to the more flexible family of generalised linear models.\n\n\nTopics covered as part of this course include:\n\n* Linear regression: concepts, assumptions, application, and interpretations\n* Diagnostics and validation of linear regression models\n* Generalised linear models: beyond continuous outcomes\n* Poisson regression: how to model counts and rates, and how this differs from linear regression\n* Best practices in communicating results of regression analysis\n\nParticipants will leave with a solid grounding (or refresher) in how to correctly perform hands-on regression modelling tasks in R for a variety of problems.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "N3WKQK", "name": "Dean Marchiori", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/N3WKQK_mGGYgAm.png", "biography": "Dean Marchiori is a statistician and founder of Wave Data Labs, an independent data science consulting practice. His areas of specialisation are in time series modelling & anomaly detection, geospatial analytics, unsupervised machine learning and the R programming language. He is currently co-chair of the Statistical Society of Australia\u2019s section for statistical computing and visualisation and chair of the SSA working group for data science accreditation. Dean obtained his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with University Medal from Charles Sturt University. He also holds a Master of Applied Statistics from Macquarie University where he was awarded the Julian Leslie Prize and served as a sessional teaching academic in the School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. Dean holds the Accredited Statistician (AStat) qualification from the Statistical Society of Australia and was named one of the top 10 analytics professionals in Australia by the Institute of Analytics Professionals of Australia (IAPA).", "public_name": "Dean Marchiori", "guid": "4949d296-02f9-568c-89aa-ffab7dd6db9d", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/N3WKQK/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/9X7BMV/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/9X7BMV/", "attachments": []}]}}, {"index": 2, "date": "2025-09-30", "day_start": "2025-09-30T04:00:00+10:00", "day_end": "2025-10-01T03:59:00+10:00", "rooms": {"8.03": [{"guid": "7ed767fe-5a07-52fb-bf97-b5e29acc535c", "code": "JDA7Q9", "id": 36, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T08:45:00+10:00", "start": "08:45", "end": "2025-09-30T09:00:00+10:00", "duration": "00:15", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-36-welcome", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/JDA7Q9/", "title": "Welcome", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "Welcome to WOMBAT! An overview of the day, safety information, and housekeeping.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "CZYR98", "name": "Mitchell O'Hara-Wild", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/CZYR98_2YcD2lK.jpg", "biography": "[Mitchell O\u2019Hara-Wild](https://mitchelloharawild.com/) (he/him) is a PhD candidate at Monash University, creating new techniques and tools for forecasting large collections of time series with Rob Hyndman and George Athanasopoulos. He is the lead developer of the tidy time-series forecasting tools fable and feasts, and has co-developed the widely used forecast package since 2015. He is an award-winning educator, and has taught applied forecasting at Monash University and various forecasting workshops around the world.", "public_name": "Mitchell O'Hara-Wild", "guid": "363e4ebf-62fb-5605-9c6c-483ed480d4f9", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/CZYR98/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/JDA7Q9/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/JDA7Q9/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "84c3c401-7c06-5fe9-9501-2ca3a028e255", "code": "MBAGKH", "id": 30, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T09:00:00+10:00", "start": "09:00", "end": "2025-09-30T10:00:00+10:00", "duration": "01:00", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-30-designing-for-decision-making-how-to-build-effective-data-visualisations", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/MBAGKH/", "title": "Designing for decision-making: How to build effective data visualisations", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Keynote", "language": "en", "abstract": "Data visualisation can be a very efficient method of identifying patterns in data and communicating findings to broad audiences. Good data visualisation requires appreciation and careful consideration of the technical aspects of data presentation. But it also involves a creative element. Authorial choices are made about the \u201cstory\u201d we want to tell, and design decisions are driven by the need to convey that story most effectively to our audience. Software systems use default settings for most graphical elements. However, each visualisation has its own story to tell, and so we must actively consider and choose settings for the visualisation we are building. In this talk, Nicola will showcase why you should visualise data, present some guidelines for making more effective charts, before discussing examples of good and not so good charts.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "QYGAW3", "name": "Nicola Rennie", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/QYGAW3_P1qrP6C.jpg", "biography": "Nicola Rennie is a data visualisation specialist, working at the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom. She has a background in statistics and data science, who is interested in understanding how to effectively communicate quantitative information in an accessible way. She advocates for using open source tools, and has experience in D3, Svelte, R, and Python. Nicola co-authored the Royal Statistical Society\u2019s Best Practices for Data Visualisation guidance and is a member of the Editorial Board of Significance magazine, particularly focused on data visualisation. Nicola is a committee member and secretary of the Royal Statistical Society (RSS) Teaching Statistics Section Group, and is also one of the RSS\u2019s 2024-2025 William Guy Lecturers who has recorded and delivered talks aimed at 11-16 year olds on the topic of using data and statistics to shape decision making in medicine and healthcare. She has also previously been a committee member of the R-Ladies Global Team and the R-Ladies Lancaster chapter organiser.", "public_name": "Nicola Rennie", "guid": "ed50d5db-1519-56eb-9ed8-dd490cf736bd", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/QYGAW3/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/MBAGKH/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/MBAGKH/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "e2ab8f0f-fefc-586d-ba8d-00bfd4768165", "code": "AN9GFB", "id": 31, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T10:30:00+10:00", "start": "10:30", "end": "2025-09-30T11:00:00+10:00", "duration": "00:30", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-31-closing-the-scrollytelling-gap-with-closeread", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/AN9GFB/", "title": "Closing the scrollytelling gap with Closeread", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "Scrollytelling is an innovative way to tell data-driven stories, but it often demands sophisticated data visualisation engineering skills and budgets beyond individual researchers and small newsrooms. [Closeread](https://closeread.dev/) makes scrollytelling accessible and easy for researchers and analysts using their existing Quarto authoring skills.\n\n\u200bIn this talk, James discusses some of the factors that motivated Closeread's design, the first scrollytelling contest with Posit, and new features on the horizon, including scrolling video support and better integration with R and Python tools.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "Y3TULP", "name": "James Goldie", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/Y3TULP_D7o6Ucl.jpg", "biography": "James is a Data Engineer with CounterCurrent, a UNSW startup that is helping the shipping industry decarbonise with better routes through the ocean. James has spent the last five years helping to make graphics and data vis tools more open, working as a data journalist at 360info and a knowledge broker with the Monash Climate Change Communication Research Hub and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. James has a PhD from UNSW Sydney looking at the health impacts of future heatwaves.", "public_name": "James Goldie", "guid": "638d9053-bd00-52ff-a803-12615b2e4eeb", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/Y3TULP/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/AN9GFB/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/AN9GFB/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "385c522c-637a-5e0e-a3f6-f07e291adc67", "code": "79GEP8", "id": 38, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T11:00:00+10:00", "start": "11:00", "end": "2025-09-30T11:30:00+10:00", "duration": "00:30", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-38-rethinking-data-science-education-in-the-age-of-genai", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/79GEP8/", "title": "Rethinking data science education in the age of genAI", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "Generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, haven\u2019t necessarily created new challenges in data science education. Rather, the availability and rapidly growing capabilities of these tools have exposed weaknesses in learning design and assessment that educators have been ignoring for a while. \n\nIn this talk, I will draw on my experience in teaching psychology students about computational reproducibility and the value of R-based data workflows. I will argue for the need to rethink what learning to learn looks like and talk about how we might reframe assessment as the process of gathering evidence that learning has occurred. \n\nThere is no avoiding the fact that students now need to learn how to learn alongside Generative AI. Data science educators can help them by designing learning experiences that build self-regulated learning skills and normalise what real learning feels like.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "PRGEJ3", "name": "Jenny Richmond", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/PRGEJ3_FJJHXPA.png", "biography": "Jenny Richmond is a developmental psychologist by training and has been teaching people how to code in R since 2018. She is one of the co-founders of R-Ladies Sydney and developed #RYouWithMe, a set of learning modules \u201cfor beginners, by beginners\u201d, which that have helped more than 40000 new learners get started with data wrangling, visualization, and reproducible reporting in R. She is particularly interested in the role of self-regulation, emotion, and metacognition in student learning, success and wellbeing.", "public_name": "Jenny Richmond", "guid": "361eaac3-60c6-5c9c-accd-f5bc15af2960", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/PRGEJ3/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/79GEP8/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/79GEP8/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "0d75af80-1d74-5920-93c9-bc25648b08b1", "code": "L8QMTF", "id": 42, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T11:30:00+10:00", "start": "11:30", "end": "2025-09-30T12:00:00+10:00", "duration": "00:30", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-42-when-laziness-leads-to-innovation-making-things-you-didn-t-know-you-needed", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/L8QMTF/", "title": "When laziness leads to innovation: making things you didn't know you needed", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "Nothing gives me greater joy than building little tools to make my life easier \u2014 even if they take ten times longer to make than they\u2019ll ever save. In this talk I\u2019ll share a few of these creations and the mindset behind them: the `teleport` GitHub Action, _Comment Viewer_ Positron extension, _Unilur_ Quarto filter for generating assignment solutions, and a sneak peek at a gamified teaching tool for ggplot2. Along the way, I\u2019ll argue that sometimes it\u2019s not the smartest hire you need, but the laziest one \u2014 a sentiment probably attributed to Bill Gates (though I\u2019ve never bothered to check).", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "7HGSUA", "name": "Michael Lydeamore", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/7HGSUA_AIcNqAF.jpeg", "biography": "Dr Michael Lydeamore is a Senior Lecturer in Business Analytics at Monash University. A statistician and infectious disease modeller, Michael develops and applies methods ranging from regression and machine learning to large-scale mathematical modelling. Their research spans COVID-19 dynamics, antimicrobial resistance in hospitals, and quantitative approaches to health policy. They are an active advocate for open-source and reproducible research, sharing tools, code, and datasets with the wider analytics community, including VSCode extensions, Quarto templates, R packages, and GitHub actions.", "public_name": "Michael Lydeamore", "guid": "855228b2-c233-5b23-b2ad-a0e62ab44524", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/7HGSUA/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/L8QMTF/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/L8QMTF/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "83a829bc-d2e5-5ea7-9c21-eac5e4235b81", "code": "SAPKKB", "id": 40, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T13:00:00+10:00", "start": "13:00", "end": "2025-09-30T13:20:00+10:00", "duration": "00:20", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-40-tidy-analysis-of-preferential-votes-with-prefio", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/SAPKKB/", "title": "Tidy analysis of preferential votes with prefio", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "Preferential datasets usually represent rankings for an individual voter across multiple columns or rows in a rectangular format. This can make working with these datasets cumbersome and unintuitive.\n\nThis talk will introduce `prefio`, an R package that lets you work with preferences in a tidy way without spanning multiple rows or columns, while providing convenient operations for manipulating preferential data.\n\nThere will be an interactive component to the talk, so get ready to cast some votes!", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "ZKF7NV", "name": "Floyd Everest", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/ZKF7NV_MmdVwVJ.jpg", "biography": "Floyd Everest is a PhD candidate in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at Monash. His research focuses on auditing instant-runoff voting elections. This led him to develop the R package 'prefio' for intuitive data manipulation when working with preferential voting datasets.", "public_name": "Floyd Everest", "guid": "b636edf2-7ab8-5fb7-9fab-d1726e70dfb4", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/ZKF7NV/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/SAPKKB/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/SAPKKB/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "f9685352-51d4-58b2-8491-ef6b11fc3088", "code": "YXKDVV", "id": 39, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T13:20:00+10:00", "start": "13:20", "end": "2025-09-30T13:40:00+10:00", "duration": "00:20", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-39-visualising-uncertainty-with-ggdibbler", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/YXKDVV/", "title": "Visualising Uncertainty with ggdibbler", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "Adding uncertainty representation in a data visualisation can help in decision-making. There is an existing wealth of software designed to visualise uncertainty as a distribution or probability. These visualisations are excellent for helping understand the uncertainty in our data, but they may not be effective at incorporating uncertainty to prevent false conclusions. Successfully preventing false conclusions requires us to communicate the estimate and its error as a single \u201cvalidity of signal\u201d variable, and doing so proves to be difficult with current methods. In this talk, we introduce ggdibbler, a ggplot extension that makes it easier to visualise uncertainty in plots for the purposes of preventing these \u201cfalse signals\u201d. We illustrate how ggdibbler can be seamlessly integrated into existing visualisation workflows and highlight the effect of these changes by showing the alternative visualisations ggdibbler produces for a choropleth map.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "9BMJWP", "name": "Harriet Mason", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/9BMJWP_1VQl68B.jpg", "biography": "[Harriet Mason](https://harrietmason.netlify.app/) is a final year PhD student. She is researching how uncertainty can be effectively communicated through statistical graphics, particularly in contexts where misleading interpretations must be actively avoided. She is the author of several R packages, including `cassowaryr` and `ggdibbler`.", "public_name": "Harriet Mason", "guid": "7a15ff8e-3a81-5346-9fa6-73ba617d0f45", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/9BMJWP/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/YXKDVV/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/YXKDVV/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "ba249e9e-3536-58af-8cdd-c76f6a630926", "code": "G9CLV3", "id": 32, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T13:40:00+10:00", "start": "13:40", "end": "2025-09-30T14:30:00+10:00", "duration": "00:50", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-32-in-conversation-rob-hyndman-nick-tierney-on-research-software-hosted-by-cynthia-huang", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/G9CLV3/", "title": "In conversation: Rob Hyndman & Nick Tierney on Research Software, hosted by Cynthia Huang", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "Research software engineering, open source software, reproducibility research -- what do these terms really mean, and what's special about creating 'statistical software' and R packages? In this conversation with Professor Rob Hyndman, and Dr. Nick Tierney, we attempt to demystify and highlight many ways that software design and open source packages can contribute to the development, dissemination and accessibility of data-driven analysis.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "FLUHHT", "name": "Nicholas Tierney", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/FLUHHT_FJdojaL.jpeg", "biography": "Dr. Nicholas (Nick) Tierney is a [Research Software Engineer](https://researchsoftware.org/), and freelance consultant with a PhD in Statistics who specialises in data analytics, R package development, and teaching. He wrote his first R package in 2015, [neato](https://github.com/njtierney/neato), after being inspired by Dr. Hilary Parker's blog post [\"writing an R package from scratch\"](https://hilaryparker.com/2014/04/29/writing-an-r-package-from-scratch/).\n\nHis academic work has produced several widely-used packages (see [his github](http://github.com/njtierney)). During his research fellowship at Monash University with [Professor Dianne Cook](https://www.dicook.org/),  he developed tools for exploratory data analysis including [visdat](https://docs.ropensci.org/visdat/), [naniar](https://naniar.njtierney.com/), and [brolgar](https://brolgar.njtierney.com/) . He then went on to work with [Professor Nick Golding](https://www.thekids.org.au/contact-us/our-people/g/nick-golding/) at [The Kids Research Institute Australia](https://www.thekids.org.au/), working as a research software engineer to translate research methods into R packages. Specifically, [conmat](http://github.com/idem-lab/conmat) a tool used in pandemic modelling, and he maintained Nick Golding's [greta](https://greta-stats.org/)  R package for statistical modelling using Google's [tensorflow](https://www.tensorflow.org/).\n\nBeyond coding, Nick actively writes about R related projects at his blog, [\"credibly curious\"](https://www.njtierney.com/). When not coding, Nick enjoys outdoor adventures and hiked the entire Pacific Crest Trail in 2023, documenting his journey at [njt.micro.blog](https://njt.micro.blog/).", "public_name": "Nicholas Tierney", "guid": "26107d02-542c-5687-96fa-bd529534edd2", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/FLUHHT/"}, {"code": "D7JA8C", "name": "Cynthia Huang", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/D7JA8C_Z8ygNTF.jpeg", "biography": "Cynthia Huang is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at Monash University. She completed her undergraduate and honours degrees in Economics at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on principles and tools for complex data preparation in the social sciences.", "public_name": "Cynthia Huang", "guid": "f015e669-6d1a-5b83-8af6-2ab75ad19125", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/D7JA8C/"}, {"code": "9RABY7", "name": "Rob Hyndman", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/9RABY7_Wl7Ou4z.png", "biography": "**Rob J Hyndman** FAA FASSA is a Professor of Statistics in the [Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics](http://business.monash.edu/econometrics-and-business-statistics) at [Monash University](https://www.monash.edu), and an elected Fellow of both the [Australian Academy of Science](https://www.science.org.au/profile/rob-hyndman) and the [Academy of Social Sciences in Australia](https://socialsciences.org.au/academy-fellow/?sId=0032v00003JxrvjAAB). He is the author of over 200 research papers and 5 books in statistical science. In 2007, he received the [Moran medal](https://www.science.org.au/past-winners/2007-awardees#moran) from the Australian Academy of Science for his contributions to statistical research, especially in the area of statistical forecasting. In 2021, he received the [Pitman medal](https://www.statsoc.org.au/Pitman-Medal-Recipients) from the Statistical Society of Australia. For over 30 years, Rob has maintained an active consulting practice, assisting hundreds of companies and organizations around the world. He has won awards for his research, teaching, consulting and graduate supervision.", "public_name": "Rob Hyndman", "guid": "51e9773f-20cc-5927-8820-3a88f8deef58", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/9RABY7/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/G9CLV3/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/G9CLV3/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "9b20067d-a703-5a55-9da3-0ba5392b10a0", "code": "YTKMW3", "id": 33, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T15:00:00+10:00", "start": "15:00", "end": "2025-09-30T15:30:00+10:00", "duration": "00:30", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-33-piloting-peer-code-review-in-a-research-consortium-community-of-practice", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/YTKMW3/", "title": "Piloting peer code review in a research consortium community of practice", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "Code for research is more flexible than point-and-click statistical softwares, but can be more error-prone. These errors may be conceptual (e.g., implementing the wrong function for a given task), programmatic (e.g., indexing the wrong column of a data frame), or syntactic (e.g., the incorrect spelling of a statement or function). Although peer review is part of the scientific process, it rarely (though increasingly) involves review of research code. Part of the difficulty with implementing formal peer review of code is the time, expertise, and supportive environment required to successfully execute it. Particularly for more involved analyses, review of code requires significant time to understand the context, questions, data, methods, and aims. It can also be very difficult to identify people with the appropriate skills in both the given code language and the methods to effectively review the code. Lastly, despite peer review itself being a common and integral part of the research process, people are still less prepared to open up their code itself for review and so a constructive, supportive, peer space is necessary. We present a pilot program for peer code review conducted within a research consortium setting, which may represent a useful model to overcoming these challenges. The Australia-Aotearoa Consortium for Epidemic Forecasting & Analytics (ACEFA) aims to support timely and effective responses to epidemic diseases in Australia and New Zealand through real-time data analytics, modelling, and forecasting. One of our main activities this winter is reporting short-term forecasts for daily case counts of several respiratory pathogens, for each Australian state and territory and for New Zealand, to government health committees and stakeholders. We have multiple forecasts from models developed and maintained by one or more research academics in our consortium. In parallel with a review period for the methods in these models, we are also planning to conduct peer code review of models with the following aims in mind:\n\n1. To confirm that each model implements the documented methods;\n2. To identify potential improvements in each model's implementation;\n3. To share expertise about good coding practices; and\n4. To increase exposure to, and familiarity with, code review as a means to support computational research.\n\nWe will conduct pre- and post- evaluation surveys to evaluate how well we address each aim, and to provide evidence for iterative improvements for future rounds of code review. We will present this initiative as a component of our community of practice, and hope to initiate a discussion with participants about its merits and dissemination of the model.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "GJSC9S", "name": "Saras Windecker", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/GJSC9S_ycWEdyi.jpg", "biography": "Dr Saras Windecker is a Senior Research Officer at The Kids Research Institute Australia working in infectious disease modelling and software development. Dr Windecker is a member of the Australia-Aotearoa Consortium for Epidemic Forecasting & Analytics (ACEFA), which aims to support timely and effective responses to epidemic diseases in Australia and New Zealand. She is actively involved in the open research community and interested in promoting reproducible research practices.", "public_name": "Saras Windecker", "guid": "51366c59-c816-5c75-b85f-7a97de96a254", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/GJSC9S/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/YTKMW3/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/YTKMW3/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "626ee570-28ee-5f7f-8772-6b8790c4ea9e", "code": "ZHFDRZ", "id": 34, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T15:30:00+10:00", "start": "15:30", "end": "2025-09-30T16:00:00+10:00", "duration": "00:30", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-34-building-a-new-data-team-balancing-quick-wins-and-long-term-investments", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/ZHFDRZ/", "title": "Building a new data team \u2013 balancing quick wins and long term investments", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "Every new data team faces the same dilemma: stakeholders expect immediate results while the team knows that achieving long-term impact needs investment in its capabilities. Should they build that reporting dashboard everyone's asking for, or spend three months building a new dataset that could inform future priorities? If they choose the quick win, the team risks being pigeonholed into a reporting team, unable to focus on longer-term projects, with more and more regular products requiring maintenance. Focus on building capacity, and the team might lose organisational support before they can prove their value, limiting their impact before they could even get going.\n\nDrawing on experience from working in the Central Analytics Hub at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet during the pandemic and working to help address capability gaps to better inform migration policy reform, this talk will explore the practical realities of navigating these tensions. I'll share stories from both experiences\u2014from delivering urgent daily briefings while building the necessary capability to pivot to changing priorities, to establishing credibility while building the infrastructure needed to inform pressing policy priorities.\n\nThis talk will offer honest reflections on the messy reality of building data teams in government, providing practical insights for anyone wrestling with similar challenges.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "SZNM8P", "name": "Tyler Reysenbach", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/SZNM8P_ye4lfSk.png", "biography": "Tyler Reysenbach is a policy adviser and researcher focused on the intersection of data analysis and policy implementation.\n\nShe began her career at the Productivity Commission working on evaluation frameworks for programs affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked at the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet as a data analyst, producing briefings on vaccination rollout and border policies for the Prime Minister.\n\nAs a Research Associate at the Grattan Institute, Tyler led data analysis for the migration policy team, using datasets including PLIDA to examine visa pathways and migrant outcomes. This research informed multiple recommendations that were incorporated into the Australian Government's Migration Strategy.\n\nTyler then moved to the Office of the Minister for Home Affairs as an Adviser, leading implementation of the Migration Strategy and managing policy development across innovation visas, the points-test, and working holiday maker visas.\n\nShe holds First Class Honours in Economics from the University of Western Australia.", "public_name": "Tyler Reysenbach", "guid": "b3bebb88-35f4-581a-a2e0-cbf7bf7654eb", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/SZNM8P/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/ZHFDRZ/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/ZHFDRZ/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "90aac7d3-2a07-5576-aefe-c1ce9033c0e0", "code": "W3K3VM", "id": 41, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T16:00:00+10:00", "start": "16:00", "end": "2025-09-30T16:30:00+10:00", "duration": "00:30", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-41-designing-data-infrastructure-where-people-come-first", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/W3K3VM/", "title": "Designing data infrastructure where people come first", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "The Mayi Kuwayu Study is a longitudinal survey and the largest national study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, health and wellbeing. I joined the study team last year and have been redeveloping the data pipeline to be more transparent, reproducible, and easier to maintain. My original plan was to incorporate best practices, such as using `targets` and `renv` for ensuring reproducibility and `pointblank` and `testthat` for validation and testing, as well as writing nice code.\n\nIt was a good plan, but it didn't fully consider the people in the study team. Being able to run code from start to finish without error might be reproducible in a technical sense, but is someone actually reproducing it if they don't understand what the code is doing? Code is only reproducible so long as it's maintainable. Since I'm the only experienced R-user (for now), each additional package I use is a package someone else has to understand and runs the risk of making the code less reproducible.\n\nIn this session I'll be talking about:\n-   the Mayi Kuwayu Study and team context\n-   development of the data pipeline\n-   the role people played in design decisions\n-   using the development as an opportunity to upskill my team", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "ANX3EW", "name": "Ben Harrap", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/ANX3EW_o3bpwTY.jpg", "biography": "Dr Benjamin Harrap (they/them) is a biostatistician by training and has worked with data from all manner of contexts and sources, from clinical trials and observational studies to census and linked administrative data.\n\nThey currently work at Yardhura Walani (Ngunnawal for a strong, powerful and healthy energy and place) on Mayi Kuwayu: The National Study of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing, providing data management, survey design, and statistical expertise. Recently, Ben\u2019s been using R and Quarto to rework the study\u2019s data management pipeline into something beautiful and functional, and has used this as an opportunity to upskill colleagues interested in learning R.\n\nWhen Ben\u2019s not thinking about data, which is rare, you can find them posting silly things on Bluesky, cooking up something in the kitchen, or playing whatever games are on their toddler\u2019s agenda.", "public_name": "Ben Harrap", "guid": "d3d125a2-840a-5c48-8178-0c4ce45de281", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/ANX3EW/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/W3K3VM/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/W3K3VM/", "attachments": []}, {"guid": "097a269c-c49c-54c2-b5ee-9b3c92ff689f", "code": "B8MJBL", "id": 35, "logo": null, "date": "2025-09-30T16:30:00+10:00", "start": "16:30", "end": "2025-09-30T17:00:00+10:00", "duration": "00:30", "room": "8.03", "slug": "wombat-2025-35-closing-discussion", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/B8MJBL/", "title": "Closing discussion", "subtitle": "", "track": null, "type": "Talk", "language": "en", "abstract": "A summary of the day, with some information on other events and organisations in the local data analysis space.", "description": "", "recording_license": "", "do_not_record": false, "persons": [{"code": "D7JA8C", "name": "Cynthia Huang", "avatar": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/media/avatars/D7JA8C_Z8ygNTF.jpeg", "biography": "Cynthia Huang is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics at Monash University. She completed her undergraduate and honours degrees in Economics at the University of Melbourne. Her research focuses on principles and tools for complex data preparation in the social sciences.", "public_name": "Cynthia Huang", "guid": "f015e669-6d1a-5b83-8af6-2ab75ad19125", "url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/speaker/D7JA8C/"}], "links": [], "feedback_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/B8MJBL/feedback/", "origin_url": "https://conf.nectric.com.au/wombat-2025/talk/B8MJBL/", "attachments": []}]}}]}}}