The History of the Section on Statistics and the Environment

• Activity Number: 483
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 6, 2014 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: Committee on ASA Archives and Historical Materials
• Author(s): Alix I. Gitelman*+ and Kathryn Irvine
• Companies: Oregon State University and U.S. Geological Survey
• Keywords: Environmental statistics ; ecological statistics ; history

Abstract

The formation of a Section on Statistics and the Environment (ENVR) was approved by ASA in 1988, and the Section officially began in 1990 with J.C. Bailer as its first chair. ENVR currently has over 600 members with representation from academia, government and industry. Over the years ENVR has been active at JSM with invited and topic contributed sessions, and it has also sponsored sessions at both ENAR and WNAR (Eastern/Western North American Region of the International Biometric Society) meetings. ENVR has been sponsoring biennial workshops since 2000 on topics of interest to a broad range of statisticians working on problems related to environmental or ecological science. The Section has conducted a student paper competition since 1993, and it has presented awards for distinguished achievement since 1993. A young investigator award was added later. This poster recounts the history of ENVR, highlighting its many contributions within the Statistics community and beyond.