From the Section Chair: This year's ESA symposium, planning next year's one,
and teaching statistics.
As I indicated in the last section newsletter, sponsoring and organizing
symposia is one of the major activities of the Statistical Ecology section. At
this year's ESA Knoxville meeting, the section is sponsoring a symposium on
"Incorporating spatial information into ecological studies". It will be held
Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 9, from 1-5 pm. The first half of the symposium
focuses on sampling, the second half on experimental design and analysis. The
speakers and their titles are:
Bruce Milne, The necessity for sampling at multiple scales.
Tom Edwards, Gretchen Moisem, and Richard Cutler, Use of cluster sampling to
assess map uncertainty in remotely-sensed vegetation maps: incorporation of a
cost function.
John Porter and James Dooley, Spatial sampling designs for detecting animal
movements.
Richard Schmoyer, Nonparametric tests for spatial autocorrelation in
regression.
Pierre Dutilleul, Modified correlation analysis with autocorrelated and
heteroscedastic sample data.
Philip Dixon, Using nearest-neighbor designs and analyses in ecological
experiments.
Now that the organization for this year's symposium is finished, it is time to
start thinking about next year's one. It is easier to organize a symposium if
there is ample lead time. Last newsletter, I asked for suggestions for
symposium topics. Marie-Josee Fortin suggested permutation and randomization
tests, Aaron Ellison suggested Bayesian statistics, and John Endler suggested
causal modeling/path analysis. In addition to these, at last year's business
meeting there were other suggested topics: nonlinear dynamics in time series,
unbalanced mixed model methods, and generalized linear models (GLiM). The
enclosed ballot asks you to vote for up to three of these topics. After we
receive the ballots, I will ask the person suggesting the symposium (or an
appropriate designee) to prepare a tentative list of speakers and topics that
we can discuss at the section business meeting.
The section business meeting is a mixer/business meeting scheduled on Tuesday
from 5 to 7 pm, right after the symposium. The main items of business, as of
now, are a discussion of next year's symposium, introduction of the new
secretary, and a discussion of current activities of the ESA council.
Finally, I want to raise an issue that might prompt considerable discussion:
are graduate students (and perhaps others) receiving a good statistical
education? If not, what might be done to improve graduate training in
statistics for non-majors?
I am raising this issue because of some recent experiences in PhD admission to
candidacy exams. I serve on a number of graduate students' committees, where I
usually represent statistics or quantitative ecology. Students seem to have a
good knowledge of techniques (e.g. I need to fit a line, so I'll use
regression), but seem to lack a real understanding of statistical basics (e.g.
concepts of sampling distributions, the meaning of confidence intervals, and
confusion between "non-significant" and "no difference"). I realize that there
is considerable debate among statisticians and philosophers on the logical
structure of statistical inference, but I believe that understanding the basics
provides a structure to all statistical methods.
This understanding may be too much to expect from graduate students in
ecology, this may just represent current teaching at one school, or this may be
one example of a widespread problem. So, I would appreciate any and all
feedback, especially if anyone knows of a successful program. What makes it
successful? The textbook? The teacher? The examples?
I can be reached by email at dixon@srel.edu, or by regular mail at Savannah
River Ecology Lab., Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802.
Philip Dixon
Section Chair
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
1. 1994 Business meeting
The annual business meeting of the Statistical Ecology Section of ESA
will be held in conjunction with the AIBS annual meeting in Knoxville,
Tennessee, August 7-11. The mixer and meeting will be held Tuesday evening
immediately following the section's symposium on "Incorporating spatial
information into ecological experiments". Please try to attend the meeting!
We need your input.
2. Activities during the 1994 AIBS annual meeting
This year's meeting is rich with activities of interest to statistical
ecologists. Besides the aforementioned Tuesday afternoon symposium, there will
be a contributed papers session featuring three student papers supported by
$200 section travel awards. Beyond these, the ASPT is sponsoring a symposium
on "Maximum likelihood inference in plant systematics and population ecology",
organized by Paul Lewis, and the BSA is sponsoring one on "Comparative
diversity and dynamics of depressional wetlands" which, though it may not be
specifically focused on statistical methods, is bound to be a good rigorous
symposium, since its organizer is again our own (very busy) Philip Dixon.
3. Election of Section Secretary
The two year term of current section secretary Don Edwards will expire
as of the ESA annual meeting August 1994. According to the bylaws, candidates
are to be nominated by the executive committee (the current chair, vice-chair,
and secretary). The committee has found one willing candidate, Sam Scheiner of
Northern Illinois University. Additional names could have been placed on the
ballot by petition of ten or more members; a call for these nominations was
included in the Fall newsletter. No other nominations were received. In order
to ensure that the section members' voices be heard, a write-in blank is
provided on the ballot along with Professor Scheiner's name. Biographical data
for him is given below.
Biographical sketch: Samuel M. Scheiner
Dr. Scheiner is an associate professor in the Department of Biological
Sciences at Northern Illinois University. His research activities include the
analysis of plant diversity at landscape and global scales, the development of
measures of diversity (especially pattern diversity), plant population biology,
and the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Recently he co-edited with Jessica
Gurevitch a book on experimental design and analysis for ecologists. His most
recent section activity has been the development of a recommended addition to
the Instructions for Authors for the ESA journals on the use and reporting of
statistics. He has also served on the Buell/Braun award committee at the past
several meetings.
Items of interest to Statistical Ecologists
1. Report on the conference on Statistics in Ecology and Environmental
Monitoring, Dunedin, New Zealand 13-17 December 1993.
The aim of this conference was to bring together those interested in the
statistical aspects of ecology and environmental monitoring. An interesting
mix of ecologists and statisticians came, mostly from New Zealand, Australia,
and the United States. The range of talks presented can be illustrated by
those presented by the invited speakers:
Mark Boyce (University of Wisconsin). Population viability analysis
exemplified by models for the northern spotted owl.
Richard Cormack (University of St. Andrews). 1. Statistical thoughts on the UK
Environmental Change Network. 2. Unification of mark-recapture analyses by
loglinear modeling.
Roger Green (University of Western Ontario). Aspects of power analysis in
environmental monitoring.
Lyman McDonald (Western Ecosystems Technology, Wyoming). Testing for
bioequivalence in field studies: has a disturbed site been adequately
reclaimed?
Tony Underwood (University of Sydney). What environmental scientists (and
statisticians) need to know to receive (and give) better statistical advice.
A limited edition of the proceedings (approximately 300 pages) will be
published in July 1994 by Otago University Press. The cost will be NZ$80
including surface postage. Visa and Mastercard can be accepted (give your card
number and expiration date when ordering). A full list of the papers to be
included in the proceedings is available on request. To order a copy, please
write: SEEM Conference proceedings, Centre for Applications of Statistics and
Mathematics, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Bryan F.J. Manly
Upcoming Meetings
1994
June 21. Workshop: analyzing population data: what's new and what's needed?
Missoula, MT. In conjunction with the American Ornithologists' Union, Cooper
Ornithological Society, and Wilson Ornithological Society. Contact Nadav Nur,
Point Reyes Bird Observatory, 4990 Shoreline Highway, Stinson Beach, CA 94970.
(415)868-1221.
July 25-29. SIAM Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA. Themes for the meeting
include environmental and geophysical modeling. For information, contact the
SIAM Conference department at (215)382-9800; email: meetings@siam.org
Aug. 7-11. Ecological Society of America annual meeting, Knoxville,
Tennessee. Joint with AIBS. See discussion, this issue, for activities.
Aug. 8-12. 17th International Biometric conference (IBC94), Hamilton, Ontario,
Canada. Sponsored by the International Biometric Society. To be held at
McMaster University. For further information, contact: IBC94 local organizing
committee, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McMaster University,
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4K1. Telephone: (416)529-7070, ext. 3423; FAX:
(416)522-0935; e-mail: ibc94@mcmail.cis.mcmaster.ca
Aug. 10-19. Third Latin-American Meeting on Mathematical Ecology, Buenos
Aires, Argentina. Contact Fernando Momo, Universidad Nacional de
Lujan-Ecologia, C.C. 221, (6700); email: ecologia@unlu01.edu.ar
Aug. 12-15 Fifth International Conference on Statistical Methods for the
Environmental Sciences, Burlington, Ontario, Canada, Sponsored by the
International Environmetric Society. The time and location make it convenient
to attend in conjunction with IBC94 and/or the Joint Statistical Meetings.
Information from Dr. A.H. El-Shaarawi, National Water Research Institute, P.O.
Box 5050, Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6, Canada. Telephone: (904)846-5467;
email: u101@cs.cciw.ca
Aug. 14-18. Joint Statistical Meetings, Toronto, Canada. Co-sponsored by ASA,
ENAR, and WNAR. Information from ASA, 1429 Duke St., Alexandria, Va
22314-3402; (703) 684-1221; FAX (703) 684-2037.
Aug. 20-24. Silver Jubilee of Statistical Ecology, in conjunction with the
Sixth International Congress of Ecology, in Manchester, UK. A Silver Jubilee
of Statistical Ecology is planned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the
First International Symposium on Statistical Ecology held in Yale in 1969. For
information, contact G.P.Patil, Department of Statistics, Penn State
University, University Park, PA 16802. Telephone: (814)865-9442; FAX:
(814)863-7114; e-mail: GPP@PSUVM.bitnet.
Oct. 6-8. Workshop on Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis, Augsberg, Germany.
Contact Antony Unwin, Chair of Computer Oriented Statistics and Data Analysis,
Mathematics Institute, University of Augsberg, 86135 Augsberg, Germany. Phone:
+49 (821)598-2218, FAX: +49 (821)598-2200. email: unwin@uni-augsberg.de
Nov. 16-18. 15th Franco-Belgian Meeting of Statisticians: Wavelets and
Statistics. Grenoble, France. Wavelets are finding increasing application in
time series and random fields and image analysis. Contact Prof. Anestis
Antoniadis, RFBS, IMAG-LMC, Equipe de Statistique, Universite Joseph Fourier,
B.P.53, 38041 Grenoble Cedex 09, France. Phone: (33)76514306. FAX:
(33)76631263. email: antonia@imag.fr
1995
July 31-Aug. 3. Ecological Society of America, 80th Annual Meeting,
Snowbird, Utah. Theme: the Transdisciplinary Nature of Ecology.
Aug. 13-17. Joint Statistical Meetings, Orlando, Florida. To be held at the
Walt Disney World Dolphin and Swan hotels. Sponsored by ASA, ENAR, and WNAR.
Information from ASA, 1429 Duke St., Alexandria, Va 22314-3402; (703)
684-1221.
Dec. 6-10. Sixth International Conference on Statistical Methods for the
Environmental Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan, Malaysia. Sponsored by the
International Environmetric Society. Information from Dr. A.H. El-Shaarawi,
National Water Research Institute, P.O. Box 5050, Burlington, Ontario L7R 4A6,
Canada. Telephone: (904)846-5467; email: u101@cs.cciw.ca