4:00 pm ET
“Efficient Statistical Modeling for Particle Physics Using Computational Graphs in Python”
with Dr. Giordon StarkMeet Dr. Giordon Stark
My Bio Dr. Giordon Stark is a Deaf project scientist, experimental particle physicist involved with the ATLAS collaboration at the Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics, at UC Santa Cruz. He earned his PhD in Physics from University of Chicago in 2018, and a B.S in Physics from Caltech in 2012. Giordon's research focuses on looking for signs of physics Beyond the Standard Model with a particular interest in Electroweak Supersymmetry and hadronic final states. He is also passionate about boosted object reconstruction, jet substructure, pile-up mitigation techniques, designing robust hardware triggers, the intersection of particle physics & machine learning, and more! Through these efforts, Giordon has also made core contributions to improving the communication of physics results between the ATLAS Collaboration and particle physics theorists and phenomenologists. He also led a group of physicists within the experiment to combine and summarize the results of many BSM searches, providing key insights for the future of the successful ATLAS Beyond the Standard Model search program. These results will be made public later this year. When Giordon is not busy trying to prove the existence of new physics, he can be found in the kitchen proving sourdoughs, baking pavlovas, and anything else he can get his hands on.
Recent Events
#42 Why marimo lets me dream about Python notebooks again
Vincent Warmerdam — December 03, 2025
For well over a decade, Python notebooks revolutionized our field. They gave us so much creative freedom and dramatically lowered the entry barrier for newcomers. Yet despite all this ... it has been a decade! And the notebook is still in roughly the same form factor.
So what if we allow ourselves to rethink notebooks ... really rethink it! What features might we come up with? Can we make the notebook understand datasources? What about LLMs? Can we generate widgets on the fly? What if we make changes to Python itself?
This presentation will be a stream of demos that help paint a picture of what the future might hold. I will share my latest work in the anywidget/marimo ecosystem as well as some new hardware integrations.
The main theme that I will work towards: if you want better notebooks, reactive Python might very well be the future.
Watch on Youtube#41 From Code to PyPI: Streamlining Your Python Package Release with GitHub
Will Dean — October 29, 2025
Releasing a Python package to PyPI can be a complex process, but it doesn't have to be. This talk provides a comprehensive walkthrough of how to streamline your entire development and release workflow using the power of GitHub. We will cover best practices for ensuring code quality with pre-commit hooks, running automated tests across platforms, and using GitHub Actions to publish your package and deploy documentation. Learn how to leverage repository labels to generate clean, automatic release notes. Using the open-source frame-search library as a real-world example, you'll leave with a clear roadmap to create a smooth, repeatable, and professional release process for your own Python projects.
Watch on Youtube#40 Better docs, happier users: What we learned applying Diataxis to HoloViz libraries
Maxime Liquet — September 24, 2025
Clear documentation is crucial for the success of open-source libraries, but it’s often hard to get right. In this talk, I’ll share our experience applying the Diataxis documentation framework to improve two HoloViz ecosystem libraries, hvPlot and Panel. Attendees will come away with practical insights on applying Diataxis and strengthening documentation for their own projects.
Good documentation turns users into contributors — but achieving it requires more than good intentions. This talk shares the journey of applying the Diataxis framework to improve two open-source Python libraries from the HoloViz ecosystem: Panel and hvPlot.. We’ll start with a short introduction to Diataxis (its four documentation types: tutorials, how-to guides, explanations, and references), then briefly present the libraries we worked on and their documentation challenges.
The heart of the talk focuses on practical lessons learned: how we mapped existing content into the Diataxis structure, handled content gaps and redundancies, engaged with the user community, and evolved our approach over time. We’ll also discuss what we would do differently if we started again.
The goal is to give attendees a realistic, hands-on perspective on adopting Diataxis — including both its benefits and its challenges.
Watch on YoutubeAbout Us
At Don’t Use This Code, we want to create a unique opportunity to see Python succeed and thrive within the National Labs! We propose creating a new resource for scientists, researchers, and technical staff to support their use of Python and to build a strong, lasting community for Python users within the Department of Energy National Labs. Disclaimer: The Python Exchange is an independent group of Python enthusiasts who wish to see the use of Python and open-source computing thrive within the National Lab system. This group is not sponsored by or affiliated with the Department of Energy.