Workshop on Statistical Ecology and Related Topics — Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore, Dec 8 – 11, 2016

There are many exciting research opportunities in theoretical and applied ecology for statisticians. As a result the field of Statistical Ecology has grown explosively over the last two decades. Yet the uptake of these research problems within India has been very limited. Given the increasing human-induced pressures on India’s wildlife and biodiversity, there is a pressing need for auditing India’s biodiversity by developing sound methods involving construction of innovative statistical models, designing effective sampling strategies as well as advancing statistical theory.

With this motivation in mind, a workshop on Statistical Ecology with focus on likelihood and Bayesian methods is being organized, featuring sessions from some of the leading ecologists, statisticians and conservationists.

Students and researchers interested in quantitative ecology as well as in statistics are encouraged to apply.

The topics (tentative) covered are listed below.

1. Overview of statistical modeling in ecology (Robert Dorazio, USGS and Arjun Gopalaswamy, Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore and University of Oxford)
2. Statistical computing (Arnab Chakraborty, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata)
3. Population dynamics of tiger ecology (Ullas Karanth, Wildlife Conservation Society, New York)
4. Spatial models (Sudipto Banerjee, Biostatistics, UCLA)
5. Role of statistics in answering questions in evolutionary ecology (Nils Stenseth, University of Oslo)

How to Apply:

Application in the following format is to be sent to ecoconf16@isibang.ac.in. Applications from students should be supported by a letter of reference. Last date for receiving applications is October 16, 2016.

Prerequisites:

Participants must be comfortable with the discussion on statistical methods and concepts in any one of the following basic texts:

1. Statistical Inference by G. Casella and R. Berger
2. Ecological Data and Models in R by B. Bolkar
3. Mathematical Statistics and Data Analysis by J. Rice
4. Analysis and Management of Animal Populations by B. Williams, J. Nichols and M. Conroy

Travel Support:

Participants are encouraged to arrange travel support on their own. However, limited funding is available towards travel support of participants.

Local Hospitality:

Accommodation and food will be arranged for participants from the evening of 7th December to afternoon of 11th December, 2016.

Organizers:

Mohan Delampady, Arjun Gopalaswamy, Ullas Karanth and V.R. Padmawar