Amanda Ford

From the 22-26 September, I attended a course run by Highland Statistics in Banff, Canada. The course was given by Dr. Alain Zuur and Dr. Elena Ieno; the two key authors of a range of books focused on statistical analyses for ecological data using the program R, including ‘A Beginners Guide to R’, ‘A Beginners Guide to GAM with R’, and ‘A Beginners Guide to GLM and GLMM with R’.

This course focused on Generalised Linear Models (GLM) and Generalised Linear Mixed Effect Models (GLMM), using both Frequentist (traditional) and Bayesian approaches. Bayesian inference is based on an alternative understanding of probability which many have argued is more intuitive and meaningful than the classical long-run-averages interpretation, and this approach is becoming increasingly popular and feasible due to new software developments. The course covered the basics of Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), which is a simulation method that has opened the doors of Bayesian statistics.

I attended this specific course as a large component of my PhD will be focused on a large-scale socio-ecological data-set collected in the South Pacific. With this data-set I aim to explore the drivers of spatial and temporal variations in ecological parameters of coral reefs. The course was an ideal preparation for this as throughout the week we worked through many different types of data-sets, using the very ‘hands-on’ approach which Highland Statistics employs.

Alain and Elena have a unique way of teaching challenging statistics to participants from a range of backgrounds. I highly recommend their courses for other students, as they range from introductions to data exploration and working with R, to complex methods targeting all different distributions of data. I would like to thank GLOMAR for allowing me this opportunity and I look forward to applying what I have learnt into my PhD research.