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Courses & Workshops

I've been teaching for thirty years, in classrooms and libraries and around kitchen tables.

Upcoming classes are listed below.

If you're interested in a custom workshop for your team or your event, please get in touch.

Binoculars to Binomials

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May 1st - June 4th, class meetings 7pm E.T.

May 1st - June 4th, class meetings 9am E.T.

June 5th - July 10th, class meetings time TBD

Sept 11th - Oct 16th, class meetings time TBD

Birding and Data Viz, Together At Last!


I dreamt up Binoculars to Binomials as a hybrid site of learning. It's for coders who are interested in cultivating an observational practice, and for birders who want to dive into the rich pool of data that comes out of their hobby.  Explore the course outline and join the upcoming cohort by clicking one of the buttons below.

In this 5-week cohort course, you'll join a group of curious learners to explore the opportunities that lie between birdwatching and creative coding.
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Learn how to build a practice of noticing, understand the ways that observations become data, and explore creative pathways for telling bird-y stories with code.

• 5 weekly class meetings (90 mins)

• 5 pre-recorded lessons (70-90 mins)

• 5 code walkthroughs (60 mins)

• 10 optional work sessions (90 mins)

• 15 course-specific code examples
• generous 1-on-1 office hours

• online community platform with extra resources and discussion

We'll explore:

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  • How to access and use rich sources of birding data including the eBird API, XenoCanto, The Christmas Bird Count historical database, and more.

  • Ways to cultivate and enrich an observational practice (birding!), and how to apply the techniques from this practice to other parts of your life

  • Methods for creating dynamic data visualizations on the web (not just charts and graphs!), as well as more radical forms of data representation (sound, sculpture, performance, public engagement!)

  • Histories and practices of counting and tracking birds, from banding to satellite tracking and AI modeling

  • Methodologies for collecting our own bird-based data including observations of behavior and recording of nocturnal flight calls

Code examples are web-based, and written in JavaScript. Frontend code is largely in p5.js, backend is in Node.js.

- Teachers, students & librarians can use the code 'OVENBIRD' for 25% off.

- If you book with a friend, you can both use the code 'OFAFEATHER' for 15% off.

- Participants receive a certificate for completing the course 

Questions? Get in touch.

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