Talk by Graduate Student, Allison Theobold (Dept of Mathematical Sciences, MSU)

2/25/2019  Wilson Hall 1-144  4:10-5:00pm

Abstract:  Computational ability is increasingly required to apply statistics to modern environmental science problems, but graduate students typically lack these integral skills. Consequently, many of these environmental science graduate degree programs expect students to acquire these skills in an applied statistics course. However, it is apparent that these students are not being prepared with the data manipulation, data visualization, and data analysis computing skills required for the implementation of statistics in environmental science research.

 In this presentation I will provide an overview of the series of statistical computing workshops offered this year through partnership with the Montana State Library. I will discuss how the content of these workshops has been informed by interviews with both faculty members and graduate students in the environmental sciences. We will discuss methods that can be used to dissect the complexities of graduate students' research code, to isolate the computational skills necessary for data-intensive research.