Cloud Foundations Course

Cloud Foundations is a self-paced introductory course designed to build the practical skills needed to work effectively in GeoLab.

Through six interactive tutorials, participants explore when cloud computing is appropriate for a scientific workflow; work with JupyterLab notebooks, terminals, and kernels; manage computing and storage resources; inspect software environments and dependencies; use Git to obtain and update shared materials; and troubleshoot common problems.

The course emphasizes making informed decisions about cloud resources, software, storage, and workflow behavior rather than simply following setup instructions. Hands-on activities give participants experience working directly in GeoLab while building skills that can be applied across scientific computing workflows.

The revised course provides the foundation for new seismic and geodetic instructional notebooks focused on accessing, exploring, and analyzing EarthScope data.

Audience: Undergraduate students and above, including graduate students, early-career researchers, educators, and researchers preparing to use GeoLab for scientific computing or EarthScope technical courses.

• Evaluate when cloud computing is appropriate and select GeoLab environments and resources to match workflow needs.
• Use JupyterLab notebooks, terminals, and kernels to execute and manage scientific workflows.
• Manage GeoLab computing and storage resources, including persistence and retention.
• Inspect and manage software environments and document dependencies for repeatable or shared workflows.
• Use Git to obtain and update shared repositories while preserving local work.
• Diagnose common GeoLab problems using errors, warnings, resource indicators, and workflow behavior.

Cloud Foundations is asynchronous and self-paced, with no scheduled class meetings. The six tutorials combine instructional material, questions, and hands-on activities in GeoLab. Participants can work through the course independently and return to the materials as needed.

Participants need a computer with an internet connection. No prior cloud computing experience is required. Basic familiarity with Python or scientific computing workflows is helpful.

Each tutorial combines instructional content with embedded questions and hands-on activities. Participants apply course concepts by interpreting workflow behavior, selecting appropriate resources and storage, inspecting their computing environment, working with Git, and diagnosing common GeoLab problems.

Cloud Foundations is a self-paced course developed and maintained by EarthScope staff.