ENVIRONMETRICS AUSTRALIA
Statistical Solutions to Environmental Problems

News & Updates

Adelaide Coastal Waters Study - South Australia's illegitimate child. December 15, 2016

It's almost a decade since the completion of the Adelaide Coastal Waters Study. Project Director, Prof. David Fox shares some insights into how the study and the final report were managed.

Vale Brian White 21 October, 2016

One of the country's best mathematics educators recently passed away.

Time to shut down tabloid journals and Academic Doping 19 August, 2016

The academic and research communities are being swamped under a tsunami of junk journal invitations promising rapid publication in their "prestigious" publications.

Ten Simple Rules June 21, 2016

Statistics may be everywhere, but they aren't always understood, calculated, or communicated effectively. After a suggestion from the ASA, a group of leading statisticians penned "Ten Simple Rules for Effective Statistical Practice"  to help researchers avoid pitfalls of misrepresenting data or formulating hypotheses based on faulty statistical reasoning.

Joe Gani on CSIRO June 10, 2016

Professor Joe Gani was a distinguished mathematical statistician and was Chief of CSIRO's Division of Mathematics and Statistics between 1974 and 1981. In a 2008 interview he reflected upon his CSIRO years. What's extraordinary is how very little has changed with respect to CSIRO's penchant for change! As we've long been advocating - it's time this endless, unproductive cycle of deconstruction and reconstruction ceased (or at least had a longer return period). If you think all the current rhetoric about CSIRO needing to become more relevant, more commercially focused and 'customer' driven is new, reflect for a moment on Professor Gani's experience more than 40 years ago.

Climate Science on the Skids May 30 2016

CSIRO CEO, Dr. Larry Marshall makes another extraordinary claim.

New paper published May 25, 2016

Professors David Fox (Environmetrics Australia / University of Melbourne) and Wayne Landis (Western Washington University) respond to renewed calls to retain the NOEC in ecotoxicology.

Larry Marshall - Same dog, different leg action April 11, 2016

Although CSIRO has a new CEO in Larry Marshall, the 'innovation' rhetoric and restructuring is not. You'd think that with the passage of 10 years, the organisation (indeed any organisation) would be reaping the benifits of structural change. Regrettably, CSIRO never got off the slash and burn treadmill.

CSIRO suffers the bends after Deep Dive April 08, 2016

CSIRO in the spot-light again - for all the wrong reasons (again)

Hey Larry - it's not either / or February 12, 2016

CSIRO's boss, Larry Marshall takes the axe to climate research

Statisticians and (eco)Toxicologists Unite! January 5, 2016

As debates about the legitimacy of NOECs and NOELs continue unabated, we believe it's well and truly time to establish a sub-discipline of Statistical (eco)toxicology.

Revised ANZECC Guidelines officially released! 22 December, 2015

It's been a long process, but the Revised ANZECC Water Quality Guidelines for Toxicants has been officially released.

22-12-2015

SETAC Australasia - Nelson NZ 27 August, 2015

"Toxicant guideline values for the protection of aquatic ecosystems -  an improved derivation method and overview of priority toxicants." Rick van Dam, Graeme Batley, Michael Warne Jenny Stauber, David Fox, Chris Hickey,  John Chapman

Is data scientist sexiest job of the century? 19 April, 2015

A few years ago, The Harvard Business Review hailed the burgeoning role of data scientist  "The sexiest job of the 21st century" . With big data technology driving the change, how does the new role stack up?

Social 'Science' - Science No More! 18 March, 2015

This is not a bad dream - the journal Basic and Applied Social Psychology has banned the use of statistical inference!

CSIRO and the Gutting of Wisdom 21 December, 2014

Read Bridie Smith's story about the impact of funding cuts to the CSIRO.

Hello 2015. Goodby Linkedin January 2, 2015

Have you stopped to think about the actual value YOU derive from having a Linkedin account?

Statistical Janitorial Services December 31, 2014

We've written about BIG data before and while some reckon it's sexy, you better roll up your sleeves because you'll invariably need to do a lot of 'janitorial' (a.k.a. shit) work first!

The problems of very small n December 4, 2014

Professors Murray Aitkin and David Fox are invited speakers at the Australian Applied Statistics Conference (AASC) 2014.

BIG data is watching you November 6, 2014

Ron Sandland recently wrote about the new phenomenon of 'big data' - weighing up the benefits and concerns. Terry Speed reflected on the same issue in a talk earlier this year in Gothenburg, Sweeden noting that this is nothing new to statisticians. So what's all the fuss about? Here's another take on the 'big data' bandwagon.

New Method for Water Quality Guideline Calculations Sep 15, 2014

The ANZECC (2000) Guidelines are currently being reviewed.

The Explosive Growth of R Sept 3, 2014

Have no doubts - R reigns supreme!!

R - the Wikepedia of statistical software? August 20, 2014

The R computing environment is feature-rich, incredibly powerful, and best of all - free! But to what extent can we trust user-contributed packages?

Let there be light! May 22, 2014

New Industry Standard for managing seagrasses during dredging projects.

Statistical Accreditation May 20, 2014

Make sure you're dealing with someone who knows their stuff!

Job losses at CSIRO bigger than expected May 15, 2014

Confirmed in a message yesterday from CSIRO Chief Executive, Megan Clark:

Australian Science takes a hit May 15, 2014

Joe Hockey's budget has not been kind to science

Information-gap decision theory creates a gap in ecological applications and then fills it May 14, 2014

You may not of heard of Info Gap Decision Theory (IGDT) but don't worry, not many people have.

Probability Weighted Indicies for Improved Ecosystem Report Card Scoring May 09, 2014

A new way for calculating an environmental index is described in an upcoming paper "Probability Weighted Indices for improved ecosystem report card scoring" has been published in Environmetrics. Click here.

New Report on Ecosystem Report Cards April 4, 2014

'Report Cards' and their associated scoring techniques are widely used to convey a measure of overall ecosystem health to a wide audience. However, as with most things, developing, testing and validating these metrics is not straightforward.

Revision of Australian Water Quality Guidelines March 27, 2014

The long-awaited review of the ANZECC/ARMCANZ (2000) Water Quality Guidelines is now well under way!

Turbidity Monitoring clouded by dubious science February 17, 2014

Regulators and industry around the country are using a potentially flawed method to set environmental limits on water column turbidity.

Breaking down the team barrier 21 January, 2014

New research suggests that team effectiveness may actually benefit from tension and hostility.

Mathematics of Planet Earth May 30, 2013

Local and international experts come together to discuss how mathematical and related scientific disciplines can be utilised to better understand the world around us.

Canadian Environmental Science and Regulation under threat 12 April 2013

The Canadian Federal Government is making drastic reductions in the reach and capabilities of its environmental science departments.  Read Peter Wells's Marine Pollution Bulletin article.

High Impact 15 March 2013

The peer-reviewed journal "Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management" (IEAM) lists Fox (2012) as one of its most accessed articles in 2012.

New Predictive Capability for Dredging projects 29 November 2012

Environmetrics Australia has developed a unique water column turbidity and benthic light forecasting system.

In a recent review, Hothorn (2014) concluded "still today remarkable contradictions for statistics in toxicology exist". Compared to the illustrious early beginnings when problems in (eco)toxicology piqued the interest of great statistical minds such as Fisher, Bliss, and Berkson, the present ecotoxicological landscape is statistically depauperate. Like some disappearing Elvis -  statistics has left the ecotox. building.

Of course, it's not all bad. There are groups of highly talented and highly-credentialed quantitative biologists, ecologists, ecotoxicologists, chemists and even statisticians scattered around the globe who are working on complex issues, developing new tools and generally advancing ecotoxicological practice. But there is a certain stasis that prevents the discipline from shrugging off outdated, inferior, and at times, utterly bankrupt practices. If Hothorn (2014) is to be believed, part of the reason is due to publication bias - "the unwillingness of editors of toxicological papers to accept statistical publications". It is a claim supported by Fox and Landis who have called for improving the disciplinary interactions through the creation of statistical ecotoxicology as a recognized sub-discipline of ecotoxicology. Whether or not this suggestion gains any traction remains to be seen. In the meantime, we continue to counter the entrenched views that seek to maintain the status quo by elevating awareness, highlighting difficulties and providing signposts for future engagement.