Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Forking as a worldview: How Openscapes uses the open source concept of reuse-extend-credit to support researchers and shift culture in science
Data management and analysis, large-scale computation and modeling, and hardware and software infrastructure profoundly affect the research capabilities of all AGU disciplines. The AGU Informatics section has established the Leptoukh Lecture to recognize advances in these fields and their contributions to Earth and space science. Named in honor of the late Dr. Greg Leptoukh, a pioneer in satellite data quality and provenance, the Leptoukh Lecture aims to identify and support achievements in the computational and data sciences. This is a virtual reprise of the Leptoukh Lecture given by Julia Stewart Lowndes at the AGU25. The abstract for the presentation is as follows:
Forking is a term from software development that means taking something that works and is made available, and adapting it to your own use. There is a generosity to forking, for building something to be available beyond its original purpose. And there is a momentum to forking, for first looking around to see what has been done elsewhere that can make challenges seem less big and lonely. The Greg Leptoukh Lecture “aims to raise awareness of computational and data advances that enable scientific discoveries and to foster continued contributions in informatics and data science.” Openscapes has been recognized for developing lasting, positive change in how researchers, teams, and organizations operate. We are an open source approach and a movement – a mechanism for shifting culture – that can rapidly identify problems and bring people together to solve them. Co-creating with and as contributors in the open source science community, establishing “forking as a worldview” helps grow leaders who tackle seemingly insurmountable challenges, support each other, and reuse what works in new places aligned with their goals. This talk will focus on the open source infrastructure that is often invisible that supports this work: the Openscapes Flywheel, our planning, communication, and impact tool; storytelling frameworks like “better science in less time”, “crossing the chasm” that grassroots and leadership can get fired up about and retell; and administrative systems that we design to reflect our values and aim to build sustainable careers in open science.
Forking as a worldview: How Openscapes uses the open source concept of reuse-extend-credit to support researchers and shift culture in science
Data management and analysis, large-scale computation and modeling, and hardware and software infrastructure profoundly affect the research capabilities of all AGU disciplines. The AGU Informatics section has established the Leptoukh Lecture to recognize advances in these fields and their contributions to Earth and space science. Named in honor of the late Dr. Greg Leptoukh, a pioneer in satellite data quality and provenance, the Leptoukh Lecture aims to identify and support achievements in the computational and data sciences. This is a virtual reprise of the Leptoukh Lecture given by Julia Stewart Lowndes at the AGU25. The abstract for the presentation is as follows:
Forking is a term from software development that means taking something that works and is made available, and adapting it to your own use. There is a generosity to forking, for building something to be available beyond its original purpose. And there is a momentum to forking, for first looking around to see what has been done elsewhere that can make challenges seem less big and lonely. The Greg Leptoukh Lecture “aims to raise awareness of computational and data advances that enable scientific discoveries and to foster continued contributions in informatics and data science.” Openscapes has been recognized for developing lasting, positive change in how researchers, teams, and organizations operate. We are an open source approach and a movement – a mechanism for shifting culture – that can rapidly identify problems and bring people together to solve them. Co-creating with and as contributors in the open source science community, establishing “forking as a worldview” helps grow leaders who tackle seemingly insurmountable challenges, support each other, and reuse what works in new places aligned with their goals. This talk will focus on the open source infrastructure that is often invisible that supports this work: the Openscapes Flywheel, our planning, communication, and impact tool; storytelling frameworks like “better science in less time”, “crossing the chasm” that grassroots and leadership can get fired up about and retell; and administrative systems that we design to reflect our values and aim to build sustainable careers in open science.
