Data Jam is an initiative of the Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Schoolyard program. The Luquillo LTER at the University of Puerto Rico has collected decades of data about the El Yunque rainforest ecosystem and made that data publicly available. The Data Jam program engages middle school and high school students in the process of asking their own questions about environmental phenomena in El Yunque and then in exploring, analyzing and summarizing the long-term data as evidence to investigate their scientific research questions. Successful Data Jam projects require that students engage in a variety of data practices that underlie the STEM field of data science. The Data Jam experience culminates with students presenting their research to their peers and Luquillo scientists at a students science symposium at the visitor center in El Yunque National Forest. The project is iteratively designing and studying a professional development model that engages teachers as apprentices to ecological scientists and provides the teachers with the support they need to engage their students in data-based ecological research. Teachers participate in a weeklong summer professional development program to improve their statistical education skills and prepare them to support students conducting their Data Jam projects. During the school year, teachers participate in Virtual Lab Meetings with up to four other peers and a scientific mentor.