SIRS Department Advances Research with GIS and Data Science Training Workshops

Dehner de Leon

The IRRI Sustainable Impact through Rice-Based Systems (SIRS) Department recently concluded its back-to-back training sessions for staff on using Quantum Geographic Information System (QGIS) and R programming. Organized by the Data Enablement and Stewardship for Knowledge Exchange (DESK) committee, the learning activities were designed with interactive segments and enlisted more than 30 participants.

The basic QGIS training, held last October 10-11, 2024 and in collaboration with the Landscapes unit, focused on equipping ten staff members with essential geospatial data management and visualization skills. During the session, participants gained hands-on experience using the software to analyze and map real-world data, such as farm surveys and climate information. The staff then showcased their new skills through map presentations as key outputs for the training, highlighting the diverse applications of GIS within the department.

 SIRS staff participate in hands-on exercises during the GIS training

Earlier, on October 1-2, 2024, the Data Science and R workshop also brought together over 20 SIRS staff members. Experts Bert Lenaerts, Data Scientist and Postdoctoral Fellow at IRRI, and Hari Sankar Nayak, Postdoctoral Associate at Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, led sessions on data management, preprocessing, quantitative analysis, and visualizations using R programming. As part of the training’s practical exercises, the staff also worked with their own datasets to leverage the opportunity to upskill, deepen their insights, and apply the lessons in their respective fields of practice.

These capacity building efforts underscore the DESK Committee’s goal of fostering strong knowledge sharing systems within IRRI. By equipping staff with critical GIS and data science skills, the SIRS department looks forward to driving research excellence in the unit with a better-equipped and data-driven workforce across its projects.

IRRI data scientist Bert Lenaerts coaches SIRS staff during the data science workshop.

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