Seminar Series: Noel Cressie

Speaker: Noel Cressie, School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics, Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, Australia

Title: Spatial-Statistical Downscaling with Uncertainty Quantification in Biodiversity Modeling

Abstract: Accurate downscaling with uncertainty quantification and its propagation to biodiversity studies are crucial for accurate, valid inferences and predictions. We propose a two-stage protocol that propagates downscaling uncertainty to generalized linear models (GLMs) commonly used for biodiversity modeling. Simulation studies show that our two-stage protocol provides accurate downscaling uncertainty when compared to existing methods. An application is given to incorporating downscaling uncertainty in predicting moss occurrence in East Antarctica. This talk presents joint research with Dr. Xiaotian Zheng and Associate Professor Andrew Zammit-Mangion of the University of Wollongong; and Dr David Clarke and Professor Melodie McGeoch of Monash University.

Short Bio: Noel Cressie is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and Director of its Centre for Environmental Informatics, which is an interdisciplinary group doing research in spatiotemporal statistics, satellite remote sensing, and broader fields of environmental science; he is also Adjunct Professor at the University of Missouri and Affiliate at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the USA. He is an author and co-author of four books, three of them on spatial and spatio-temporal statistics, and of more than 300 peer-reviewed publications. His recent research involves hunting for atmospheric-carbon-dioxide sources around the world and focusing on Antarctica’s environmental future. Noel is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, of the Royal Society of New South Wales, and of a number of other learned societies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noel_Cressie