Posts written by Atakohu Middleton (125)

How did the statistical programming language R grow from a simple help-out for undergrad students to a global sensation? Associate Professor Ross Ihaka (right) of the University of Auckland tells the story in the latest issue of alumni magazine Ingenio.

And … here is some niceness from a fan who has read the story today. Thanks, Mike!

Auckland commuters know the frustration well: You’re waiting for a bus, and the electronic board shows it’s three minutes away. Ten minutes later, you’re still standing there, wondering what’s going on. Or the board may say a bus is 10 minutes away – but it suddenly turns up when you’re not paying attention.

Department of Statistics doctoral student Tom Elliott, pictured, also knows that irritation well – he was once a regular bus user – and his PhD research aims to come up with a model that leads to better predictions. Read the full story here.

Every summer, the Department of Statistics offers scholarships to a number of students so they can work with staff on real-world projects. Rickaan, right, is working on pōhutukawa regeneration at Tiritiri Mātangi with Professor Chris Triggs. Rickaan explains:

“Tiritiri Mātangi is an offshore island in the Hauraki Gulf which, since 1984, has been undergoing ecological restoration, led by Supporters of Tiritiri Mātangi. Due to the capacity for pōhutukawa trees to support the early growth of native ecosystems, they were planted extensively across the island at the outset of the project.

“However, the pōhutukawa survival rate was much better than expected, resulting in dense pōhutukawa-dominated forests with almost no regeneration of other plant species. So pōhutukawa stands were thinned to encourage the natural diversification of the plant and animal communities beneath.

“To gauge the success of this endeavour, monitoring of plant regeneration and changes in bird and insect populations has been underway since 2010. A significant amount of data has now been collected, which I will analyse during my research to explore the regeneration of plant, animal and insect communities in these transformed pōhutukawa forests.

“The science surrounding ecological restoration is a hot topic worldwide in the face of exceptional rates of deforestation and extinction. The Tiritiri Mātangi project has captured the interest of the international conservation movement due to its innovative scientific and public-inclusive practices. This project will thus inform both local and international science surrounding restoration ecology, as well as support this valuable eco-sanctuary.

“I graduated in early 2015 with a Bachelor of Science, specialising in Quantitative Ecology and Modelling. I have just completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Science in Biosecurity and Conservation, and will be undertaking Masters study this year exploring Quantitative Ecology.

“I was initially drawn to statistics as it is very useful, and ubiquitous in life sciences. However, during my studies I’ve gained a much greater interest in its inner workings, and have found applying my knowledge exceptionally rewarding.

“In my spare time this summer, I’m hoping to get involved with some conservation projects in the community and read some novels.”

Every summer, the Department of Statistics offers scholarships to a number of students so they can work with staff on real-world projects. Xiangjie, right, is working on vector generalized linear and additive models (VGAM) for R with Dr Thomas Lee. Xiangjie explains:

“I am trying to help Dr Yee to improve the functionality of the VGAM package. This includes writing some functions from scratch, improving the efficiency of the existing functions and testing functions. To do this, I will need to learn the underlying structure of R and write or translate some functions from other computing languages to C or R.

“I came to the University of Auckland to do my undergraduate Applied Mathematics and Operations Research in 2012.

“After I finished, I received offers to do both Applied Mathematics and Statistics. When I was trying to decide the topic of my Honours project, I realised that Statistics covers a very broad range of topics and that they are very closely related to each other – I could learn data analysis, computing or probability theory and stochastic processes. All of these topics are really useful in our daily lives. I was really fascinated by this, so I decided to study Statistics instead of Applied Mathematics. I am thinking about pursuing a masters degree or a PhD in Statistics this year.

“This summer, I am hoping to travel more in New Zealand. In fact I went camping recently with my high-school friends in Whangarei and the Bay of Islands region and I had a great time. Besides travelling, I’d like to spend some time relaxing at home, watching my favourite shows.”

Every summer, the Department of Statistics offers scholarships to a number of students so they can work with staff on real-world projects. Eva, right, is working on a sociolinguistic study with Dr Steffen Klaere. Eva, right,  explains:

“How often do you recognise the dialect of a neighbour and start classifying them into a certain category? Sociolinguistics studies patterns and structures in spoken language to identify some of the traits that enable us to do this kind of classification.

“Linguists have known for a long time that this involves recognising relevant signals in speech, and using those signals to differentiate some speakers and group others. Specific theories of language predict that some signals will cluster together, but there are remarkably few studies that seriously explore the patterns that might emerge across a number of signals.

“The study I am working on was carried out on Bequia Island in the Eastern Caribbean. The residents of three villages, Mount Pleasant, Paget Farm and Hamilton, say that they can identify which village people come from by their spoken language. The aim of this study was to detect signals in speech that tied the speaker to a location.

“One major result from this project was that the data are sometimes insufficient to answer the researchers’ questions satisfactorily. So we are tapping into the theory of experimental design to develop sampling protocols for sociolinguistic studies that permit researchers to answer their questions satisfactorily.

“I am 22 and come from Xanten in Germany. I studied Biomathematics at the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University in Greifswald, and have just finished my bachelor degree.

“What I like most about statistics is its connection with mathematical theory and its application to many different areas. You can work with people who aren’t necessarily statisticians.

“This is my first time in New Zealand, so with my time off I am looking forward to travelling around the country. During my holidays I will explore Northland and the Bay of Islands. After I have finished my project, I want to travel from Auckland to the far south and back again.”

Every summer, the Department of Statistics offers scholarships to a number of students so they can work with staff on real-world projects. David, right, is working on the New Zealand General Social Survey 2014 with Professor Thomas Lumley and Associate Professor Brian McArdle of Statistics, and  Senior Research Fellow Roy Lay-Yee and Professor Peter Davis from COMPASS, the Centre of Methods and Policy Application in the Social Sciences. David explains:

“My project involves exploring the social network data collected by the New Zealand General Social Survey 2014, which measures well-being and is the country’s biggest social survey outside the five-yearly census. I am essentially profiling each respondent’s social network, and then I’ll investigate the relationships between a person’s social network and their well-being.

“Measurements of well-being include socio-economic status, emotional and physical health, and overall life satisfaction. I intend to explore whether there is a link between social networks and well-being. I’ll then identify what kinds of people make a social network successful and how they influence a respondent’s well-being.

“I have just completed a conjoint Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Science, majoring in composition and statistics respectively.  When I started my conjoint, I wasn’t too sure why statistics appealed to me. But I know now – statistics appeals to me because of its analytical nature to solving both theoretical and real-life problems.

“This summer, I’m planning to hang out with my friends and family. I’m planning to work on a small music project as well.”

Every summer, the Department of Statistics offers scholarships to a number of students so they can work with staff on real-world projects. Oliver, right, is working on visualising conservation data with Associate Professor Rachel Fewster. Oliver explains:

“This summer project is called Maps, graphs, and data analysis for community conservation projects, and builds on my Honours project from the past year. It involves developing interactive applications that automate the display of catch data from various conservation projects around New Zealand.

“The aim of this project is to allow volunteers to engage with their data in more depth than ever before. After a day in the field, a conservation volunteer is able to go online and use these applications to produce maps or graphics to view their day’s work. The graphics illustrate exactly how a volunteer’s work is impacting their local environment and will ideally keep them motivated to continue with what they are doing.

“I graduated from the University of Otago in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science majoring in Statistics and minoring in Psychology, before completing an Honours degree in Statistics at the University of Auckland in 2015. In 2016, I plan on pursuing a Master of Science in statistics, completing this degree as a research masters.

“I enjoy statistics due to its numerous applications. Nowadays, data exists in almost every facet of life, and wherever there is data, we can use statistics to try and gain a deeper understanding of what is really going on around us.

“In my spare time this summer, I will, hopefully, be able to watch the Black Caps as they continue with their summer of cricket.”

Every summer, the Department of Statistics offers scholarships to a number of students so they can work with staff on real-world projects. Hubert, right, is working on ways to graphically represent community conservation efforts with Associate Professor Rachel Fewster. Hubert explains:

“Conservation efforts are needed to protect the natural flora and fauna of our beautiful country. This exciting project involves preparing and analysing data collected from volunteers involved in conservation efforts against pests such as rats.

“The data is analysed and uploaded to a website called CatchIT, which is an interactive website that allows the bait and trap information to be presented in graphic form to volunteers, which provides feedback on their pest-control efforts. The data comes to life on the screen, and this engages current and future volunteers in tracking the success of their pest-control projects.

“I am in the final year of my Bachelor of Science majoring in Statistics and Biological Science, having previously finished a Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons). Statistics has a wide applicability to a wide range of disciplines, and appeals to me because I am passionate about the simple process of getting the most from raw data. It is a very rewarding process knowing that you can make the data more appealing and important to the end user.

“This summer, besides doing this studentship, I’ll be enjoying the sunshine, and relaxing on the beach with family and friends.”

Every summer, the Department of Statistics offers scholarships to a number of students so they can work with staff on real-world projects. Alexander, right, is exploring New Zealand mortality data with Senior Research Fellow Andrew Sporle. Alexander explains:

“The goal is to construct an online data visualiser that will enable the user to analyse and visualise complex population data by simply pointing and clicking from a selection of menus.  This involves collating health and population data and creating software that automatically does the complex statistical calculations based on the user’s selections, but in a way that ensures the confidentiality of the information. This project is part of a larger project on preventable Māori mortality funded by the Health Research Council.

“Our health infrastructure in New Zealand has some of the best and most comprehensive datasets available in the world and, it will be very useful to streamline the analysis process so that users without advanced statistical training can see and understand what is going on. In the longer term, this approach could also be applied to other health and social data, making data more accessible and useful.

“I have recently finished my undergraduate degree in science, majoring in statistics and computer science. I am looking to progress in medical statistics for my honours degree.

“Statistics appeals to me because I am passionate about figuring out ways to develop and enhance understanding between cause and effect, and use that to make improvements – whether small or large, intricate or structural – to whatever situation I find myself in.

“Over summer, I hope to fit in some travel, try to get to the beach, and go tramping; Great Barrier Island will be the first port of call.”

Every summer, the Department of Statistics offers scholarships to a number of students so they can work with staff on real-world projects. Christopher, right, is working with Associate Professor David Scott on All Blacks-related data. Christopher explains:

“My project is aimed at predicting the career lengths of current and future All Blacks based on data from all of the past All Blacks. This project will be useful as it will aid the planning within the All Blacks camp.

“This coming year, I will be studying a research-based MSc in Statistics. My thesis is in the area of quantitative fisheries science and will involve translating ADMB code into STAN code.

“Statistics appeals to me because of its diversity. For example, one day you could be analysing fisheries data, and the next, data relating to the All Blacks.

“In my spare time I enjoying walks along the beach, sailing and cycling around the waterfront with my wife.”