Making monsters - Where they came from, what they’ve taught me, and how you can make them, too
Invited talk for NCEAS Roundtable. Art can provide a welcoming entryway for learners to engage with sometimes intimidating coding skills. In the first half of this session, I will describe the rise of the R monsters (illustrated characters that I create to help make data science and stats concepts and tools more approachable), my experiences as NCEAS’ and RStudio’s Artist-in-Residence, and a few unexpected lessons I’ve learned from the monsters along the way. In the second half of the session, all attendees will be invited to join in an art lesson during which everyone will follow along to create a charismatic collection of monsters of your own.