Professors Nathalie Guebels, Andrea Cullinen and Geordie Armstrong have been collaborating to give students the opportunity to dive into data science early on at City College.
This all started for Guebels back in 2020 when she began working with UC Santa Barbara through the Central Coast Data Science Partnership. Guebels was on a National Science Foundation grant, allowing City College to create a new class.
“We were able to create the data science course,” Guebels said. “The class is cross-listed between math and computer science.”
With the creation of the data science class, Guebels knew she needed help both with launching and teaching.
Cullinen got word of the class through a press release from the school and was eager to work with others. She was excited for the teamwork required.
“Data science really requires lots of people to work together,” Cullinen said. “To have a computer scientist who is able to do the stats, then adding in a subject expert as well just makes it work.”
As the initial grant came to a close in 2022, conversations started on the need for another domain expert. Armstrong joined Guebels and Cullinen shortly after and the group collaborated on applying for other grants to continue their expansion.
In 2022, the three launched the data science major, marking a huge milestone for the group.
They received a micro-grant from 2024 to 2025 that allowed Guebels to go on sabbatical and gather data science examples in areas such as geography. The motivation behind this grant was to have the ability to expose as many students as possible to data science, regardless of their major.
“Most people don’t consider data science unless they had prior exposure,” Cullinen said. “That exposure throughout high school is extremely uneven.”
Armstrong and Cullinen both teach classes that don’t usually incorporate data science at a general education level, but that doesn’t mean they don’t think exposure to data science is important.
“A lot of students take my physical science courses,” Armstrong said. “It gives me a broad spectrum of students on campus that I can introduce to this and what it might entail.”
With exposure to students at the forefront of their goals, they have partnered with the Data Science Club at City College.
With their leftover grant funding, the Data Science Club held an event earlier this semester. Interested students came to hear about the experiences of current data science majors and those who have already transferred.
“It was a really good opportunity for SBCC students to see data science pathways,” Guebels said. “It was a great culmination of our grant.”
The Data Science Club has one more meeting this semester and is already planning events and activities involving local businesses, guest speaking and the data science department at City College.
While their grant may have ended, that doesn’t mean the professors won’t continue to collaborate. Their goal is to continue to bring events to campus and keep teaching students about data science in their respective classes.
“We aren’t sure about more grants yet. Applying takes a lot of work and time,” Guebels said. “Just because funding stops doesn’t mean collaboration stops.”
They are all hoping the City College and students continue to see the value in data science, especially since the major is growing in popularity and importance.
In their eyes, there is room for more growth as a department as well.
“What I’m hoping is that the college sees the growing value of data science,” Armstrong said. “That can lead to a [geography] and data science department that is interdisciplinary and combines the two.”
As their collaboration continues to grow and evolve, Guebels, Cullinen and Armstrong remain committed to giving all students a pathway into data science regardless of their major.
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