The Environmental Data Science Innovation and Impact Lab (ESIIL) hosted its third annual Innovation Summit this September, bringing together over 100 researchers, data analysts, environmental professionals, and thought leaders to tackle questions around environmental tipping points and transformations. The Summit featured ESIIL’s flexible and interactive “unconference” format, which encourages collaboration and innovation. Participants self-organized into groups around topics that sparked their interest, co-creating innovative approaches through spontaneous interaction and cross-disciplinary teamwork. Over two and a half days, this dynamic process resulted in the formation of twelve working groups.

In preparation for the event, participants joined a virtual “Science Jam” to brainstorm research questions, datasets, and potential products. The ESIIL team then crafted the in-person agenda around the most promising ideas that emerged. To ensure all attendees were ready to dive into data-driven exploration, ESIIL also offered two virtual technical training sessions on big data and cyberinfrastructure providing participants with access to cutting-edge analytical tools for exploring environmental tipping points.

Equipped with technical skills, inspiring ideas, and potential collaborations, attendees gathered at CU Boulder for two and a half days of intentional innovation. Summit goals included exploring big data to understand environmental tipping points, promoting ethical open-science practices, championing responsible AI use, and strengthening collaboration across disciplines and career stages.

The Summit opened with a blessing from Phil Two Eagle, long-time ESIIL collaborator and member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, who reminded participants of their interconnectedness with one another and the Earth. Jennifer Balch then delivered a call to action, emphasizing the importance of diverse perspectives in advancing solutions to complex environmental challenges, especially in times of uncertainty.

ESIIL’s facilitation team, Divergent Science (back for a second year with ESIIL), facilitated the group formation process, guiding participants through structured exercises that helped them refine ideas, connect around shared interests, and define their desired outcomes. Once teams formed, they received the tools they needed to get to work: a collaborative workspace, access to shared GitHub repositories, CyVerse resources, and on-call troubleshooting support from the ESIIL team.

Over the course of the Summit, teams evolved their projects from defining hypotheses on Day 1, to diving into data analysis using ESIIL’s OASIS data library on Day 2, to preparing final presentations on Day 3. Topics included:

• How the order, duration, frequency, and intensity of disturbances influence forest regime shifts
• Mapping thresholds that distinguish abrupt ecosystem changes from gradual transitions
• Understanding how interacting stressors reshape aquatic food-webs and affect ecosystem stability
• Identifying linked disturbances and effective management interventions
• Improving data interoperability and harmonization across environmental datasets

All project materials and team repositories are available here: ESIIL Innovation Summit 2025 Group Repos.

The Summit concluded with group presentations and concrete commitments to ongoing collaboration. Many teams plan to submit manuscripts to ESIIL’s special issue in Environmental Data Science on “Solution-Based Data Science for Environmental Challenges,” while others will apply for ESIIL working group funding to continue their efforts over the next two years.

Each year, ESIIL’s Innovation Summit helps grow a global community of environmental data scientists equipped with the skills and tools to leverage big data for real-world environmental solutions. This cutting-edge work takes “all hands on deck” and collaborating across diverse perspectives, disciplines, and areas of expertise requires skills that must be taught, shared, and practiced. The ESIIL Innovation Summit strives to actively cultivate these skills and provide a space where intentional innovation can flourish.