By Loren Wilkerson
Special to Rice News
This spring, 75 students from Lone Star College, San Jacinto Community College and Houston Community College met with Rice University faculty, staff and graduate students five times over three months to explore how data science can be used to solve real-world sustainability challenges. Students worked on problems related to the environment, human health and the energy transition in a program funded by Google and led by the Department of Computer Science, the Rice Sustainability Institute and the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. The program was directed by Risa Myers, Canek Phillips and Carrie Masiello.
Bridging data science and real-world impact
At each week’s event, the Rice team connected sustainability and data science to students’ everyday experiences. For example, César Uribe (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) taught students to model the impacts of removing a single species from food webs in an assignment designed to understand the optimum steps to preserve endangered species. Students used data science tools to identify which species were key to ecosystem stability and along the way learned concepts of data representation, visualization and analysis.
Julia Huggins, a postdoctoral research associate with Rice’s Technology, Culture and Society Initiative, gave a presentation on the environmental impacts of data centers and subsea internet cables, and Marmar Orooji (Department of Computer Science) used Houston’s historic ozone data to introduce students to methods of visualizing data to increase understanding and communicate concepts.
“This opportunity … challenged my previous assumptions about data science being strictly numerical,” said Roberto Rodriguez, a student at Lone Star. “Instead, I saw its capacity to support sustainable solutions and critical decision-making.”
The program included a six-hour “Sustainability Day” where students worked with Rice graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to explore real-world research projects. Postdoctoral research associate Jingjing Wu (Civil and Environmental Engineering) taught the students how Rice and the Houston Health Department detect rare viruses in wastewater to predict future disease outbreaks, and graduate students Bjorn Shockey (Systems, Synthetic and Physical Biology) and Eric Wuesthoff (Biosciences) ran workshops on sustainability in space and in rainforest reforestation.
“Every session repeatedly reinforced that good data analysis needs technical skill but also domain knowledge, communication and collaboration,” San Jacinto student Andres Jesus Trevino said. “For instance, while conducting wastewater surveillance, I realized how data scientists, public health practitioners and engineers need to collaborate to decode viral signals and guide community response.”
The impact was immediate; students saw in real time how data science can support the energy transition, foster community resilience and drive meaningful change.
“The program was hugely successful in introducing students from different backgrounds and interests to data science and sustainability,” said Wuesthoff, a doctoral candidate in ecology and evolutionary biology at Rice. “The directors will be able to build on their success in the next academic year.”
Celebrating the journey: April 25 poster session
This semester’s work culminated in a student poster session April 25 at Rice’s Duncan Hall, where students presented posters reflecting on their experiences. The energy in the room was one of pride, discovery and shared growth as students reflected not just on what they learned but how they evolved as thinkers and collaborators.
“This experience reshaped how I think about environmental data — not as abstract numbers but as a foundation for real-world decision-making,” said Lucas Rueda, a student at San Jacinto. “I now see data science as a tool I want to keep using in school, in research and possibly in a career that blends sustainability with data-driven solutions.”
For San Jacinto’s Caleb Trejo, the program went beyond learning: “It has made me rethink and possibly reshape my career path.”
Looking ahead
The Rice Sustainability Institute and the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing are committed to deepening these partnerships, ensuring that students from all backgrounds have access to technical and sustainability-focused education, research opportunities and career pathways. The REDA program also reflects Rice’s broader commitment to advancing data science across disciplines. Rice’s Department of Computer Science — ranked among the top programs in the nation — is a leader in interdisciplinary research and education.
The department offers students and collaborators a rigorous, inclusive and innovative environment focused on solving complex global challenges.
Plans are underway to continue the program, to scale its impact and to reach more students across the region.
“I started seeing that data isn’t just a tool — it’s a way of thinking,” Houston Community College’s Precious Shedrack said while reflecting on her experience and what lies ahead.