February 10, 2021

Tuesdays & Thursdays, 4:00 to 5:20 PM 3 credits, graded 
Taught remotely via Zoom 
Email: cwmorin@uw.edu 
Course Description: Increases in computing power and growth in the availability of data have allowed scientists to expand their research, create effective data visualizations, and develop and run quantitative models. This course will introduce students to computer programming, data visualization, and modeling methods for conducting scientific research with a focus on environmental health. Because it is free, easy to learn, and one of the most popular scientific computing languages, this course will focus primarily on the Python language and its associated scientific libraries. It is important to note, however, that the concepts taught in this class can be applied to other languages and programs commonly used in science, such as Matlab and R. The course will be composed of 3 modules: 1) basic programming, 2) data manipulation and visualization, and 3) empirical and mechanistic modeling. The course does not assume students have prior programming experience or an advanced mathematical background, but they should have completed an introductory data analysis or statistics course such as BIOST 511, BIOST 517, PHI 512, or equivalent.
Learning Objectives Upon completion of this course, students should be able to: 
  • Develop and describe basic computer coding skills and concepts. 
  • Demonstrate an ability to import, manipulate, and export data. 
  • Create graphs, maps, and other figures to visualize data in an effective way.
  • Describe various modeling techniques, including their advantages and disadvantage.
  • Apply the knowledge and techniques introduced in the course to their own research