February 21, 2024

Thank you, Badger community, for a successful Love Data Week!

Our Love Data Week events wrapped up with our Data Viz Championship Showcase and the crowning of the first-ever BTAA Data Viz Champions.

Many unique data visualizations were submitted in the student and faculty/staff categories. Over 1400 votes were cast!

11 institutions competed in the student category that featured a LEGO data set. The winner was Elise Lee-Robbins, a student at the University of Michigan.

In the faculty/staff category, 12 institutions used existing vizzes that highlighted the Institution or one of its projects. The winner was Penn State's Laura Guertin.

Congratulations to the Winners of the BTAA Data Viz Championship

Faculty/Staff Winner: Laura Guertin, Penn State

Dr. Laura Guertin, a Distinguished Professor of Earth Sciences, sailed on an oceanographic research vessel for two months as their Onboard Outreach Officer. While onboard, she conducted live Zoom sessions with students in grades K-16 and community groups, walking around the ship with an iPad to show the research laboratories, newly collected core material, and more. Blue Skies and Cloud cover, a quilt, is a thank you to a class of curious kindergarten students and their teacher. Learn more about the quilt, the research it represents, and the young scientists Dr. Guertin inspired at a website dedicated to quilts she created.

Student Winner: Elsie Lee-Robins, University of Michigan

Elsie, a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Information, wanted her visualization to use physical LEGOs. Her vision came to life in LEGO Themes: From Generic to Franchise. Elsie's analysis uncovered that LEGO has moved away from generic themes such as "Universal Building Sets" and "Town" and towards specific and franchised themes, like "Star Wars" and collectible minifigures of popular characters like Harry Potter. Check out Elsie’s website for additional visualizations and background on her analysis.

Data, Academic Planning & Institutional Research (DAPIR)

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN–MADISON

Bascom Hall, 500 Lincoln Drive | Madison, WI 53706

dapir@provost.wisc.edu