ASA Will Hold Climate Change Workshop in Colorado; Announces Travel Grants for Graduate Student Observers

Alexandria, VA (PRWEB) July 10, 2007 -- The American Statistical Association (ASA), the nation's preeminent professional statistical society, today announced it will sponsor a two-day climate change workshop featuring 20-25 leading statisticians and atmospheric scientists. The event, sponsored by the ASA's Science and Public Affairs Advisory Committee (SPA) and the ASA Section on Statistics and the Environment (ENVR), will take place October 26-27 at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. David Marker, SPA chair, and Mary Christman, ENVR chair, will facilitate the workshop.

The workshop is part of the ASA's initiative to delineate a statistical science perspective on understanding climate change and to develop a consensus statement on the areas of clear knowledge, as well as those areas in which great uncertainty remains. Funding for the workshop is provided by the ASA and the ENVR section, which also is providing funds for student travel. The ASA will publish its findings as a white paper at the end of 2007.

"Understanding climate change requires the combined skills of atmospheric scientists and statisticians," Marker said. "The former understand the physical relationships being investigated, while the latter know how to determine which hypotheses are strongly supported and which are still subject to uncertainty. By bringing together researchers from these two communities, we can identify where there is consensus and where future research needs to focus."

Travel grant applications

ENVR has announced it will provide travel funds for a few graduate students with an interest in statistical methodologies related to the study of climate change who would like to attend the workshop as observers. Priority will be given to student members of ENVR who are at an advanced stage of research. The deadline for applications is August 24, 2007.

Applications should include a curriculum vita, a recommendation letter from the student's advisor, and a statement of interest and research area of the applicant. Electronic applications are encouraged and should be sent to Christman. Applications also may be mailed to her at the Department of Statistics-IFAS, University of Florida, P.O. Box 110339, Gainesville, FL 32611-0339. For more information, contact Christman or Marker via e-mail.

About the American Statistical Association

The American Statistical Association (ASA), a scientific and educational society founded in Boston in 1839, is the second-oldest continuously operating professional society in the United States. For more than 160 years, ASA has been providing its 18,000 members serving in academia, government, and industry and the public with up-to-date, useful information about statistics. The ASA has a proud tradition of service to statisticians, quantitative scientists, and users of statistics across a wealth of academic areas and applications. For additional information about the American Statistical Association, please visit the association's web site at http://www.amstat.org or call 703.684.1221.

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