The great Canadian worm invasion (from approx Bayesian computation perspective)

Abstract:
After being brought in by pioneers for agricultural reasons, European earthworms have been taking North America by storm and are starting to change the Alberta Boreal forests. This talk uses an invasive species model to introduce the basic ideas behind estimating the rate of new worm introductions and how quickly they spread with the goal of predicting the future extent of the great Canadian worm invasion. To take on the earthworm invaders, we turn to Approximate Bayesian Computation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Approximate_Bayesian_computation)methods. Bayesian statistics are used to gather and update knowledge as new information becomes available owing to their success in prediction and estimating ongoing and evolving processes. Approximate Bayesian Computation is a step in the right direction when it's just not possible to actually do the right thing- in this case using the exact invasive species model is infeasible. These tools will be used within a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markov_chain_Monte_Carlo) framework.

About Dave Campbell:
Dave Campbell (http://people.stat.sfu.ca/~dac5/Dave_Campbell/Dave_Campbell.html) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at Simon Fraser University and Director of the Management and Systems Science Program. Dave's main research area is at the intersections of statistics with computer science, applied math, and numerical analysis. Dave has published papers on Bayesian algorithms, adaptive time-frequency estimation, and dealing with lack of identifiability. His students have gone on to faculty positions and worked in industry at video game companies and predicting behaviour in malls, chat rooms, and online sales.

Schedule

• 6:00PM Doors are open, feel free to mingle
• 6:30 Presentation start
• ~7:45 Off to a nearby restaurant for food, drinks, and breakout discussions

Getting There

By transit there a number of high frequency buses (check Google Maps or the Translink site for your particular case) that will get you there. For the drivers, there is a fair bit of street parking (free and pay) in the area, especially after 6.