Hackers get butterflies at UTSA’s third annual Rowdy Datathon

Team One's "Pesticide Use to Butterfly Migration Analysis" project took first place in the advanced category.

OCTOBER 11, 2024 — For most people, the term “hacker” conjures up notions like the Mission Impossible theme, the glowing green “digital rain” from The Matrix and esoteric jargon like “mainframe.” Very few are likely to think of butterflies. And yet, the hundreds of students who gathered at the UTSA School of Data Science (SDS) from October 5 to 6 to compete in the third annual Rowdy Datathon had little else on their minds.

Hosted by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) at UTSA in partnership with the National Security Agency (NSA), the Rowdy Datathon is a weekend-long event where students, called “hackers,” collaborate all night on data science projects in order to learn new skills and make connections within the data science community. The event attracts participants from a wide range of universities in and outside of Texas.

This year’s challenge focused on the alarming decline of pollinator populations worldwide, with a specific emphasis on monarch butterflies. Juan Gutierrez, professor and chair of the UTSA mathematics department, designed the scenario. It asked students to take on the role of interns at a national laboratory, investigating the monarch population crisis. Each team analyzed datasets, interpreted its findings and proposed actionable solutions to reverse the downward trend of these crucial pollinators.

“The feedback from participants was extremely positive, and many have expressed interest in attending future events.”

“We saw a variety of languages, techniques, framework, and more used,” said Indra N. Garcia-Morales, a junior double major at UTSA in electrical and computer engineering and this year’s Datathon director. “Some teams scraped data from the web, used programming tools like Python, R, API Keys, and more to compile their projects. The Rowdy Datathon team was impressed with the immense scope of techniques used to manipulate and analyze the data.”

While hackers focused on finding innovative solutions for monarch butterflies, the Datathon offered a broader experience beyond coding and data analysis. Workshops helped participants develop new skills, and team-building activities provided a fun way to connect. A slime-making event, a fan favorite, allowed participants to unwind between hacking sessions.

“The slime event was actually one of the most popular ones,” said Natasha Blussick, co-director and a senior human resources management major. “It provided us an excellent opportunity to interact with participants and hear about their experiences throughout the weekend.”

Garcia-Morales agreed that the sense of community was a major highlight of the event.

“My favorite moment was walking around the building and engaging with all the participants. Late on Saturday night, I took some time to visit each team, hand out candy and ensure everyone was having a positive experience,” she said.

Of the 30 teams that submitted projects, six were selected as winners. The judges, who evaluated the teams based on creativity, technical execution and the potential impact of their solutions, awarded prizes ranging from $200 to $350. The winning teams spanned skill levels, with standouts in the beginner, intermediate and advanced tracks.

Rowdy Datathon winners Fall 2024

Beginner Track

1st Place: butterflyDatathon

Apollo P., Maya K., Sunwook K., and James H.

2nd Place: The Monarch Butterflies Crisis: A Graphical Assessment

Liam M., Arpan D., Isonzo

Intermediate Track

1st Place: Desktop Disciples

Nathan Z., Mei S., Teagan S., Paolo L.

2nd Place: Monarch Butterflies: Monitoring Migration & Population

Ben F., Joselyn C., Tyler S., Jonathan C.

Advanced Track

1st Place: Pesticide Use to Butterfly Migration Analysis

Isha S., and Monique S.

2nd Place: Caution to the Wind

Jordan M., Joseph K., Taylor W.

The Rowdy Datathon was also a learning experience for students in the ACM, the student organization that organized and hosted the event. Reflecting on the event, Garcia-Morales shared some key takeaways for the next iteration of the challenge.

“One of the things we learned is the need to stream our workshops for participants who want to attend without sacrificing hacking time. We also plan to extend the time for workshops to avoid scheduling conflicts and ensure that each session runs smoothly,” she said.

Overall, Garcia-Morales and her team considered the 2024 Rowdy Datathon a soaring success.

“The feedback from participants was extremely positive, and many have expressed interest in attending future events,” she said. “It was a pleasure collaborating with our main partner, the NSA, and we couldn’t have done it without the invaluable support from Dr. Gutierrez and our entire organizing team.”

— Christopher Reichert and Rosalinda Montero