Living is a Risky Business with Prof Jennifer Visser-Rogers on Monday 2 September at Wagner Hall. Doors open 7:15, talk starts 8:00pm.
We are bombarded with numbers and statistics in the media on a daily basis and are expected to use these to make decisions about our day-to-day lives. But what do these numbers really mean? Real life involves risks. From cycling without a helmet, visiting a country with contagious diseases, to living near the water. Sometimes your perception of risk is distorted, making you think that some things are more – or less – risky than is actually the case. And sometimes things happen just by chance, right? As a statistician, it is my job to decide whether any differences I see in data are likely to be just by chance, or whether they are 'statistically significant'. But how much evidence do you need before you can say that what you see is significant and how do you untangle causality from chance?
Jen Visser-Rogers has used statistics to answer all sorts of questions about topics such as climate change and medicine. In this talk she’ll be taking you through some of the most important concepts in statistics as she looks at extreme weather events, pharmaceutical drug trials, risk, and more.
Professor Jennifer Visser-Rogers is an experienced statistical consultant and a popular science communicator and presenter. With a Ph.D. from the University of Warwick and a B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Lancaster University, she has a broad portfolio of achievement, particularly in the development of clinical trial methodologies. She has an interest in the development and application of novel statistical methodologies, particularly in clinical trials. Jen can also regularly be found giving conference presentations and talking all things statistics in schools, theatres and pubs. She can often be heard on the Radio or seen on TV screens. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Jen carried out numerous interviews, was ITV's resident COVID-19 statistician, and was a member of the Royal Statistical Society COVID-19 Task Force.
Jen was named one of the Twenty Women in Data and Tech by Women in Data® for 2024. She was also the 2020 winner of the annual HealthWatch Award for her work in improving the understanding of statistics through the media. A highly active member of the Royal Statistical Society, she was the Society's Vice President for External Affairs (2017-2020), and most recently was Chair of the Society's Long Term Strategy Group. In addition to her involvement with the Royal Statistical Society, Jennifer was the President of the British Science Association Mathematical Sciences Section for 2018, and was the London Mathematical Society Popular Lecturer for 2018. She is currently Vice Chair of the Florence Nightingale Museum and President Elect of the British and Irish Region of the International Biometrics Society.
This talk has been arranged in collaboration with the Royal Statistical Society whose annual conference is taking place in Brighton during the first week of September.
NB This event takes place on a Monday.