Shawn Dorius, associate professor of sociology, is the co-principal investigator of a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded project to promote the creation of a data-savvy and community-aware workforce. The project aims to bridge the gap between data science applications and solving problems in rural America through agricultural, economic, social and behavioral sciences.
As part of the program, Dorius and his colleagues will administer a 10-week data science summer training program for undergraduate and graduate students at accredited Iowa colleges and universities. Working in teams, summer fellows will partner with rural Iowa communities to solve pressing local problems using the data science toolkit.