The PACE Data Hackweek Launches a New Wave of Open Science: How We Did It (Twice), and Why

PACE Data Hackweeks bring together student, early-career, and senior scientists to work hands-on with data from NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission. During two past events, participants collaborated in small teams to explore scientific questions, develop reproducible workflows, and gain experience working with large, cloud-hosted datasets. Leveraging community-supported cloud infrastructure, the hackweeks lowered technical barriers and emphasized modern tools, open-source practices, and FAIR data principles. The events fostered interdisciplinary collaboration and led to tangible outcomes, including new analyses, shared code, and ongoing collaborations. Overall, the PACE Data Hackweeks demonstrate that mission-focused hackweeks are an effective way to build community capacity and support adaptation to evolving data and computing environments.