Description
Ten years ago, the first set of git commits was submitted to a new R software package repository "dataRetrieval" with the goal to provide an easy way for R users to retrieve U.S Geological Survey (USGS) water data. At that time, the perception within the USGS was the use of R was exclusive to an elite group of "very serious scientists." Fast forward, we now find many newer USGS hires having a solid grasp of the language from the start along with the use of R in a wide variety of applications.
In this talk, I'll discuss my experiences maintaining the dataRetrieval package, how it's shaped my career, impacted USGS R usage, and why data providers should consider sponsoring their own R packages wrapping their data API services.