index.qmd

---
title: "Intro to Shiny - Building reactive apps and dashboards"
subtitle: "Master of Environmental Data Science (MEDS)"
description: "Winter 2025"
---

```{r}
#| eval: true 
#| echo: false
#| fig-align: "center"
#| out-width: "30%" 
#| fig-alt: "A blue hexagon with the word 'Shiny' written in cursive lettering across the center"
knitr::include_graphics("images/shiny-hex.png")
```

## Course Description

The [`{shiny}` package](https://shiny.posit.co/) provides a framework that allows R users to build interactive web applications and dashboards, and has become a popular tool for sharing data analyses and data-derived outputs with broad audiences. In this short course, students will gain the foundational skills for building and deploying Shiny apps. This includes:

- understanding the fundamentals of reactivity 
- applying best practices, organizational approaches, and workflows for developing shiny apps
- customizing application user interfaces (UIs) to enhance usability and design
- deploying apps online via Posit’s free hosting service [shinyapps.io](https://www.shinyapps.io/)
- and more!

***Please note:** We are unlikely to cover all material included on this website in our 2-day short course. We will prioritize the skills necessary for getting started on building your first Shiny applications. You are welcome to reference and learn from any materials that we do not have time to cover together in class.*

## Teaching Team

<br>

::: {.grid}
::: {.g-col-12 .g-col-md-12}

::: {.center-text .body-text-l}
**Instructor**
:::

```{r}
#| eval: true 
#| echo: false
#| fig-align: "center"
#| out-width: "25%" 
knitr::include_graphics("images/sam.png")
```

::: {.center-text}
[**Sam Shanny-Csik**]{.teal-text}  
**Email:** [scsik@ucsb.edu](mailto::scsik@ucsb.edu)  
**Learn more:** [samanthacsik.github.io](https://samanthacsik.github.io/)  
:::

:::
:::

## Acknowledgements

Building this short course would not have been possible without the incredibly talented members of the R / Shiny / data science community who so willingly share tutorials, examples, and code for others (like myself!) to learn from. Attribution will be included on any slides / materials where content is adapted from other educators.