PANGAEA Community Workshop 25/05 - "Finding and retrieving data from PANGAEA"

8 May 2025, 10:30 → 9 May 2025, 12:30 Europe/Berlin

online

PANGAEA Training Team (PANGAEA Data Publisher)

PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science¹ is pleased to announce the next edition of our "PANGAEA Community Workshop" series.

This series provides user-oriented training on the services offered by PANGAEA, with a focus on modern research data management practices, following the principles of FAIR², sustainable publication and long-term archiving of scientific data. Participants will also gain a deep understanding about how to discover and integrate relevant data into their research workflows.

In focus this time: Finding and retrieving data from PANGAEA

What: Embark on a comprehensive, 2-day, 4-hour journey to master the art of discovering and leveraging PANGAEA's vast repository of published Earth & Environment and Biodiversity research datasets. Through a carefully crafted blend of theoretical foundations and hands-on exercises, participants will gain a deep understanding of how to systematically find, utilize, and integrate relevant datasets into their own work and unlock new insights. Including (but not limited to) Python-based workflows, leveraging the power of virtual research environments like Jupyter notebooks to streamline data analysis.

When: 08 and 09 May 2025, both 10:30 am - 12:30 am CEST (UTC+2) (breaks included)
Where: Online (via Zoom - the link will be distributed before the event)

Please Note: The event will be held in English and via the video conferencing tool Zoom. Theoretical units are planned to be recorded for those not able to participate.

_{¹ Felden, J., Möller, L., Schindler, U. et al. PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science. Sci Data 10, 347 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02269-x}

_{² Wilkinson M, et al. The FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data  management and stewardship. Sci Data 3, 160018 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.18}

Thursday 8 May

10:30 → 12:30 Find data on PANGAEA

After a brief introduction to PANGAEA and its role as one of the key open data repositories for Earth system and Environmental sciences, the participants embark on a guided expedition of scientific research and enquiry to discover useful search functionalities and develop effective search strategies. By the end of this first day of the workshop, you'll be equipped with the skills to navigate PANGAEA with confidence, enabling you to uncover the data necessary to drive your own research forward. Join us for an engaging and enlightening exploration of PANGAEA's search capabilities!

10:30 Welcome

Speaker: Lars Moeller (PANGAEA Data Publisher)

10:35 Brief introduction to PANGAEA

Speaker: Lars Moeller (PANGAEA Data Publisher)

10:45 PANGAEA search challenge

In this interactive exercise, we want to take the participants on an exciting journey into the world of data published on PANGAEA. In small groups, we will explore the basic principles and diverse possibilities of data research on PANGAEA in search of answers to exciting earth and environmental science questions of our time.

11:30 Coffee/Bio break

11:40 Search exercise reflections and discussion

In this session, we'll compile the outcomes of the group exercise and engage in a collective discussion to share insights, challenges, and discoveries, fostering a deeper understanding of effective data search strategies.

12:00 Advanced search approaches

In this talk, Kathrin will present advanced search methods on PANGAEA, helping you achieve more effective and targeted results, thereby concluding the excursion into the PANGAEA search capabilities.

Speaker: Kathrin Riemann-Campe

12:20 Q&A Block and Outro

Here we have some room for a few final questions and discussions.

Friday 9 May

10:30 → 12:30 Access and retrieve data from PANGAEA

10:30 Intro PANGAEA programmable interfaces

Kicking off Day 2 of the workshop, this session explores PANGAEA’s innovative approaches to programmatic data and metadata access, aligned with the FAIR principles. The presentation highlights machine-actionable interfaces that leverage HTTP interactions and Signposting standards, enabling seamless integration of PANGAEA’s structured metadata (in diverse formats) and data matrices into external workflows. Attendees will also learn how to navigate access to restricted datasets (e.g., under embargo) via browser-based authentication, ensuring secure yet flexible data sharing for authorized users. Bridging Day 1’s focus on data discovery, this talk emphasizes practical tools for efficient, automated, and web standard compliant data reuse—empowering researchers and institutions to maximize the value of shared research outputs. Not the easiest meal on the menu, but one of the keys to understanding how to interact with PANGAEA data.

Speaker: Mr Uwe Schindler (PANGAEA Data Publisher)

10:50 Q&A Block 1

Your questions are welcome and addressed with care here.

10:55 Scripted data access - Introducing pangaear

Continuing the workshop’s exploration of FAIR-driven data workflows, this dual session introduces user-friendly tools for integrating PANGAEA into modern data science pipelines. For researchers less familiar with technical concepts like HTTP content negotiation or Signposting, PANGAEA’s dedicated Python module (pangaeapy) and the third-party R package pangaear (developed by OpenSci) offer simplified, code-based solutions.

The series of sessions begins with an overview of common analytical tasks—from data retrieval to preprocessing—demonstrating how pangaear streamlines R-based workflows. …

Speaker: Daniela Ransby (AWI)

11:05 Scripted data access - Introducing pangaeapy

The focus then shifts to PANGAEA’s native Python module, pangaeapy, which is introduced in more detail during this session

Speaker: Daniela Ransby (AWI)

11:20 Q&A Block 2

Your questions are, again, very welcome and have room for a good answer.

11:25 Coffee/Bio break

11:35 Scripted data access - Pangaeapy practical

And finally, our speaker dives deeper into pangaeapy's advanced functionalities, showcasing its versatility in automating complex data transformations, enhancing reproducibility, and unlocking PANGAEA’s full potential within Python ecosystems.

By bridging technical barriers with open-source tools, this session empowers researchers to harness PANGAEA’s rich datasets efficiently, fostering FAIR-aligned, cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Speaker: Kathrin Riemann-Campe

12:20 Q&A Block 3 and Outro