This schedule includes a week by week summary of in-class activities; pre-class and post-class responsibilities; due dates of exercises, quizzes, and projects.
WEEK 1
Week’s Topics:
Class meeting (Thursday, August 26 ):
- Course Overview
- Introductions
- Read aloud “On Exactitude in Science“
- Discuss computing as potentially coextensive with the natural world (and I enjoyed this Paris Review analysis).
- Discuss 1st, 2nd, 3rd order consequences of computing
- Optional Readings on Implications of Computing
- Representation of consequences as ecological footprints
- Optional Readings on Ecological Footprints
WEEK 2
Week’s Topics: Computational Sustainability
To Do before August 31 class:
- Read “Computational Sustainability: Computing for a Better World and a Sustainable Future” Communications of the ACM, September 2019, Vol. 62 No. 9, Pages 56-65
Class meeting (Tuesday, August 31 ):
- Discuss selected computational sustainability projects
To Do before September 2 class:
- Discussions of Readings (Piazza)
- Exercise: Post one other source and abstract on a computing application to sustainability (see directions at the top of the Google doc).
Class meeting (Thursday, September 2 ):
- Quiz QW2
- Student identified papers
WEEK 3
Week’s Topics: Machine Learning
To Do before September 7 class:
- Read “Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning” https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.05433 (pp. 1-33)
- Optionally Read the remainder of the report
- Optionally Read “Combining satellite imagery and machine learning to predict poverty“, Jean, N., Burke, M., Xie, M., Davis, M., Lobell, D. B., Ermon, S., Science 19 Aug 2016: Vol. 353, Issue 6301, pp. 790-794 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf7894 If you can not access from the Science site, for which we have an institutional affiliation, get the article here.
- Start Exercise on Machine Learning
Class meeting (Tuesday, September 7 ):
To Do before September 9 class:
- Complete Exercise on Machine Learning Post solution to Brightspace
- Exercise: Post at least one other source and abstract on a machine learning application to sustainability
Class meeting (Thursday, September 9 ):
- Quiz QW3
- Dr. Jesse Spencer-Smith, head of Vanderbilt’s Data Science Institute to talk with class
WEEK 4
Week’s Topics: Agent-Based Modeling
To Do before September 14 class:
- Readings on Agent-Based Modeling for Sustainability (2 hours)
- Start Agent Based Modeling Exercise (1 hour)
Class meeting (Tuesday, September 14 ):
- Discuss readings and ABM exercise
To Do before September 16 class:
- Complete Exercise on Agent-Based Modeling Post solution to Brightspace (2 hours)
- Exercise: Post at least one other source and abstract on a agent-based modeling application to sustainability
Class meeting (Thursday, September 16 ):
- Quiz QW4
- Preview of next week on Social Computing, and ‘serious games’
WEEK 5
Week’s Topics: Social Computing
To Do before September 21 class:
Class meeting (Tuesday, September 21 ):
- Consulting on project ideas by Zoom (https://vanderbilt.zoom.us/j/92337215902 )
To Do before September 23 class:
- Complete Exercises on Sustainability Games Post solution to Brightspace (1.5 hour)
Post at least one other source and abstract on non-game sustainability applications of social computing (1 hour)
Class meeting (Thursday, September 23 ):
Quiz QW5(postponed until next Thursday)- Professor Jennifer Bradham, Wofford College; Doctoral student Kristy Ferraro, Yale University; Professor Maria (Malu) Jorge, Vanderbilt University; to discuss ABM models in their ecology research
WEEK 6
Week’s Topics: Machine Learning
To Do before September 28 class:
- Finish reading “Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning” https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.05433 (pp. 34+)
- Read “Combining satellite imagery and machine learning to predict poverty“, Jean, N., Burke, M., Xie, M., Davis, M., Lobell, D. B., Ermon, S., Science 19 Aug 2016: Vol. 353, Issue 6301, pp. 790-794 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf7894 If you can not access from the Science site, for which we have an institutional affiliation, get the article here.
Class meeting (Tuesday, September 28 ):
To Do before September 30 class:
Class meeting (Thursday, September 30):
- Quiz QW5 and Quiz QW6
- Discuss project ideas
WEEK 7
Week’s Topics: Geographic Information Systems
To Do before October 5 class:
- Read on Geographic Information Systems
- Read GIS Resources
Class meeting (Tuesday, October 5 ):
QGIS and example GIS topics (e.g., hierarchical watersheds, peccaries)
To Do before October 7 class:
- Exercise: Post at least one GIS project that you found
Class meeting (Thursday, October 7):
- Quiz QW7
- Professor Steve Wernke and Natalie Robbins, Anthropology, Vanderbilt
WEEK 8
Week’s Topics: Drinking Water
To Do before October 12 class:
- Contemplate post-break projects
Class meeting (Tuesday, October 12 ):
- Professor Yolanda MacDonald and colleagues for further discussion on GIS in context of drinking water justice
To Do before October 14 class:
Class meeting (Thursday, October 14): (Fall Break, no class)
WEEK 9
Week’s Topics: Projects and Extreme Weather
To Do before October 19 class:
- Contemplate a natural place and computing’s relevance to it. This is optional, but signup if want to give a bullet presentation
Class meeting (Tuesday, October 19 ):
- Personal natural and computing narratives using signup list
- Discussion of (team) Projects
- Submit team preferences, if any, for project (to Brightspace, as an “assignment”); if you have already started working with a team, say so
To Do before October 21 class:
- Read ” Weathering Environmental Change Through Advances in AI” by Amy McGovern, A. Bostrom, I. Ebert-Uphoff, R. He, C. Thorncroft, P. Tissot, S. Boukabara, J. Demuth, D. J. Gagne II, J. Hickey and J. K. Williams https://eos.org/opinions/weathering-environmental-change-through-advances-in-ai
Class meeting (Thursday, October 21):
- Quiz QW9 (on reading)
- Professor Amy McGovern on machine learning and high impact weather
To Do after October 21 class:
- Teams announced; meet with teams
WEEK 10
Week’s Topics: Projects
To Do before October 26 class:
- Submit take-home quiz for weeks 5-7
Class meeting (Tuesday, October 26 ):
- Project consultations
To Do before October 28 class:
- Project consultations
Class meeting (Thursday, October 28):
Quiz QW10- Project consultations
To Do after October 28 class:
- Each team submits 1-page project specification by Friday, October 29 at 11:59 pm (See bottom of Project page for more details)
WEEK 11
Week’s Topics: Robotics
To Do before November 2 class:
- Readings on Robotics
- Work on projects
Class meeting (Tuesday, November 2 ):
- Robotics
- AI Planning and Uncertainty (recording)
- Work on Projects
To Do before November 4 class:
Class meeting (Thursday, November 4):
- Quiz QW11 (on Robotics)
- The Wikipedia project
WEEK 12
Week’s Topics: Earth and Ocean Modeling
To Do before November 9 class:
Class meeting (Tuesday, November 9 ):
- Earth and ocean modeling
To Do before November 11 class:
Class meeting (Thursday, November 11):
- Quiz QW12 (on modeling)
- Intermediate Project Presentations
WEEK 13
Week’s Topics: Projects and other
To Do before November 16 class:
Class meeting (Tuesday, November 16):
To Do before November 18 class:
Class meeting (Thursday, November 18):
- Quiz QW13
- Intermediate Project Presentations
To Do after November 18 class:
- (Optional) Submit individual Wikipedia edits to Brightspace for review (by Friday, November 19 at 11:59pm)
November 20 – November 28: Thanksgiving Break
WEEK 14
Week’s Topics: Projects
To Do before November 30 class:
Class meeting (Tuesday, November 30):
- In class group work
To Do before December 2 class:
Class meeting (Thursday, December 2):
Quiz QW14- In class group work
WEEK 15
Week’s Topics: Projects
To Do before December 7 class:
Class meeting (Tuesday, December 7):
- Live (trial run) presentations
To Do before December 9 class:
Class meeting (Thursday, December 9):
Quiz w15- Live (trial run) presentations
To Do after December 9 class:
- Submit final video presentations to Brightspace (by Friday, December 10 at 11:59pm)
Final Exam
Tuesday, December 14 at 9:00 AM (https://registrar.vanderbilt.edu/documents/Fall_2021_exam_schedule.pdf )