Elliott C. Shuppy University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Library and Information Studies Developing an Ecology-specific Research Data Management Workshop Acknowledgments: Thanks to Erin Carrillo, Brianna Marshall, and Ryan Schryver of University of Wisconsin-Madison Research Data Services References: Borer, E.T., Seabloom, E.W., Jones, M.B., & Schildhauer, M. (2009). Some simple guidelines for effective data management. Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 90: 2, 205-214. Michener, W. K. (2000). Ecological data: design, management, and processing. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Key Campus Unit Stakeholders • Research Data Services (RDS): Interdisciplinary organization committed to advancing research data management practice on the UW-Madison campus. • University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Limnology (CFL): Research center dedicated to the study of fresh-water ecosystems and ecology programs, houses graduate students from zoology, ecology, and engineering. Problem: Research Data Literacy Graduate students from the University of Wisconsin Center for Limnology were awarded a grant funding from Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) to host a research data management education workshop for graduate colleagues. Although data are used frequently by the graduate student group, sound data management practices and a thorough understanding of the importance of data stewardship are still challenges. Implication Facilitation Organization Conception  Proposal Initial development of the workshop was proposed to RDS by graduate student leaders from CFL in late spring 2014. RDS subsequently identified four of its own members to lead and plan the workshop.  Focus on ecology Data management practices in limnology share a considerable number of similarities with ecology. The planning stage of the workshop focused on collecting information about discipline and data workflow characteristics of ecology from published resources, conversations about the importance of teaching certain topics, and the graduate students’ own personal beliefs and values associated with data management which were collected by survey prior to the proposal.  Needs One meeting with CFL graduate student leaders allowed RDS leads to gather support and input about attendee needs. Subsequent regular emails were sent to CFL leaders and audience members to gather more information about data management barriers and challenges.  Objectives RDS leads identified three objectives for the audience: 1) Increase awareness about RDS services 2) Expand data management proficiency with module content 3) Build understanding of complete data management workflow  Module topics and organization Based on models of ecological data workflows, topics selected and organized into a two-day workshop format. Day One (10am-4pm): Intro to RDS, spreadsheets, metadata, storage, file organization, and sharing Day Two (10am-12:30pm): Preservation and data management plans Hands-on work time was initially built into each module  Instructor selection The planning team chose several instructors from departments affiliated with Research Data Services who are likely to train future researchers on campus. Also chosen were instructors from ecology-associated departments who are likely to influence data management education for ecologists.  Realized module workflow Due to instructor schedules, and content overlap workshop modules were reorganized thusly: Day One (10am-2pm), November 10, 2014: Intro to RDS, spreadsheets, file organization & collaboration, and time allotted at end for collaborative work time Day Two (9am-12:30pm), November 11, 2014: Storage & preservation, data management plans, scholar presentation on ecology data management research  Activities Since hands-on activities were not practical for modules on the second day, time was allotted at the end of Day One to allow audience members to work with each other and instructors to garner feedback about data ma