Reproducibility in Practice: Using R to Bridge Teams
Regular talk, 11:20 AM - 12:20 PM
Environmental projects often involve multiple teams: GIS specialists prepare spatial data, subject matter experts interpret results, and graphics professionals produce report-ready visuals. While effective, analysis can be difficult to reproduce or distributed across individuals, making updates and consistency challenging over time.
This talk shares how introducing reproducible R workflows strengthened collaboration within an urban forestry consulting practice. Rather than replacing GIS or design tools, R became a structured analytical layer that complements existing workflows. Using R packages for spatial processing, data wrangling, and visualization, we developed repeatable pipelines for canopy analysis, tree inventory processing, and climate-related assessments.
The result has been improved transparency, reduced duplication, and greater consistency across projects. Updates that once required manual recreation can now be rerun by adjusting parameters, allowing teams to focus more on interpretation and design.
Through a project example, this session demonstrates how reproducible R workflows can centralize analytical logic while supporting established GIS and design processes, and reflects on the practical realities of integrating R into existing consulting environments.
 | Pronouns: she/herPasadena, CA, USA |