Sreyoshi Das received the Community-Engaged Practice & Innovation Award for her work to better understand the effects of stream restoration projects on turbidity associated with storm events in the Ashokan Watershed. In partnership with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County (CCE) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Das has implemented a Master of Professional Studies (MPS) Capstone Project in Applied Statistics that supported a need for statistical analysis identified by the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program (AWSMP). Ulster County CCE has co-delivered the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program since 2006 and the USGS is a long-term research partner in the NYC Watershed. Das hopes to continue the collaboration with her community partners in the future.

Statistics and Data Science in Community-Engaged Learning

Data is key today. Businesses, organizations and individuals all have data that they need help analyzing for their own purposes. As a Faculty Fellow in Engaged Scholarship, Sreyoshi Das intends to bring the knowledge of community engagement to statistics and data science students and faculty.

Data science is field-agnostic. Faculty, students and partners can use knowledge and data analytics tools to benefit the broader public when they work on community-oriented projects. Das also thinks more community-oriented work is likely to make statistics and data science more accessible to students and the broader public.

“As a data scientist, I teach students empirical methods that could be applicable to any project to discover underlying patterns in data that could facilitate decision making. I believe there is great potential for faculty and students in SDS to collaborate and contribute meaningfully to projects promoting community engagement.” —Sreyoshi Das