• About
• Program
• Poster abstracts
• Speakers
• Study Blog
• Contacts

Ecologists and statisticians have much to gain from working together, and this conference was designed to provide precisely such an opportunity. This conference was a follow-up to the 2013 meeting, and was designed as a collaborative forum for researchers with interests in ecology, statistics, or both. World leaders from ecology and statistics were paired up to present their own perspectives on five topical issues, and round-table discussions will workshop opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration on these topics. The conference will start with an optional "Skills-Building Day", a series of computer-based tutorials run across topics spanning the interests of conference speakers. It also featured a contributed poster evening session where participants can turn the topic of conversation to their own research.

Sessions were organised around six special topics, with a pair of speakers on each topic:

• Model-based analysis of metagenomics data in ecology (Douglas Yu, Otso Ovaskainen)
• Occupancy modelling with imperfect detection (Darryl MacKenzie, Alan Welsh)
• Analysing counts along stream networks (Bruce Chessman, Jay ver Hoef)
• Capture-recapture using modern technology (Paul Sunnucks, Rachel Fewster)
• Estimating biodiversity turnover (Melodie McGeoch, Cang Hui)
• A fighting framework fight: game theory vs. machine learning for strategic behaviour during animal combat (Michael Kasumovic, Daniel Falster)

Before the conference kicked off we offered a two-day short course for ecologists "Intro to regression modelling on R", December 6-7 at UNSW. For more advanced analysts, Noel Cressie offered "Spatio-Temporal Statistical Modelling" down the road at Circular Quay, the day before the conference (December 7).

Visit the Study Blog for a suggested reading list and weekly discussion forums on feature articles by our invited speakers.