On Saturday, February 18, 2017, I participated in a hackathon at MIT put on by Data Rescue Boston. The goal of the hackathon was to work to scrape data from government sites that might be potentially at risk of deletion under the current Trump administration, and to store it in a safe, open online space. Specifically, I worked with folks on scraping data from an EPA webpage. It was a great opportunity to practice my BeautifulSoup skills. I got to work with some talented developers and make a few new LinkedIn connections in the process.

The event was unique in that it wasn’t limited to engineers and data scientists. The Data Rescue initiative extends to individuals who are simply passionate about data’s role in scientific research, as well as those who are fearful that science is being undermined by the Trump administration. In a period in our politics where a lot of groups are taking a stand and protesting, I felt this event was a way to do that in a hands on, practical fashion.

There are regular meetings for the Boston chapter every Thursday evening at MIT. I hope to continue my participation in this group. It feels like a great opportunity to continue practicing web scraping as well as work with like-minded individuals.