Workshop: Merging Statistical Theory and Analyses at the Interface of Microbial and Macrobial Ecology

University Of Florida, Gainesville FL

Investigators

Abstract

Recent progress has made it possible to make predictions about the complex effects of species interactions and to analyze complex data from nature. The problem is that the connections between the predictions and the results of complex data analysis are not always clear. This workshop will bring together statisticians with theoreticians and empirical scientists who use process-to-pattern links in their research approaches. The goal is to improve the integration of these areas of research to better understand how they might affect both microbial and ‘macrobial’ organisms. The broader impacts of the project are to train early career scientists such as graduate students, post-docs, and assistant professors and to provide tools that can help develop better management of natural resources in a changing world. The first workshop will identify promising approaches to link theory, statistical, and empirical analysis. During this workshop participants will also discuss how to best address possible challenges. A second virtual workshop, open to the broader science community, will further expand and enrich the initial findings. In the short term, the project is aimed at producing a review of current findings and promising future directions. In the longer term the project envisions to solidify and enhance the methodologies that can drive future research in community ecology and eco-evolutionary dynamics. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.