Statistical Design & Analysis
“Statistics is the grammar of science.”
~Karl Pearson
In a noisy world that is full of uncertainties applying scientific rigor to the design, collection, analysis and interpretation of data – statistical design and analysis – is central to credible decision making. Failure to do so can lead to monitoring programs that generate data that are not useful, inefficient data collection (i.e., wasted money), and erroneous analyses and interpretations that lead to conflict and delay decision making.
We take the complicated and make is simple, find patterns amidst noisy and uncertainty data, develop tools that illustrate patterns in information, and improve the efficiency of science by focusing on areas of greatest uncertainty. Our statistical experience is complemented by our ability to communicate complex ideas and relationships to a diversity of audiences and a deep appreciation for the role of statistical design in decision making. Whether designing a monitoring program, analyzing data or evaluating the consequences of alternative management actions, we help to quantify and reduce uncertainty, clarify cause and effect, improve monitoring designs, evaluate intervention effectiveness and ultimately close the learning loop.
Our services in this space include:
- experimental design to understand cause and effect and tease apart the effects of human actions from environmental processes
- monitoring/sampling to efficiently and rigorously assess key indicators at the appropriate spatial and temporal scale to answer the questions of interest
- data analysis to quantify relationships between human actions and the environment and to estimate important characteristics of ecological and social systems
- simulation modelling to assess alternative sampling strategies and predict how aquatic and terrestrial systems and species will respond to alternative management actions
- data visualization to condense and convey data relationship in easy to interpret ways to facilitate decision-making and accelerate learning
Key projects showcasing these services include:
- Klamath Basin Integrated Fisheries Restoration and Monitoring Plan System (monitoring/sampling design)
- Adaptive Management on the Missouri River for pallid sturgeon, piping plovers and least terns (experimental design, monitoring/sampling design; data analysis)
- Innovations in Catch Estimation for salmon in the Pacific Region of Canada (experimental design, monitoring/sampling design; data analysis)
- Transforming commercial salmon fisheries through better monitoring and reporting in the Pacific Region of Canada (monitoring/sampling design; data analysis)
- Roberts Bank Terminal Expansion (simulation modelling; data visualization)
- Development of a high-resolution stream temperature model for British Columbia’s Nicola River watershed (data analysis; simulation modelling; data visualization)
- Recovering Atnarko Sockeye Salmon (simulation modelling; data analysis; data visualization)
- Yukon River Salmon Restoration (monitoring/sampling design)
- Understanding tradeoffs and building capacity in Alaskan salmon fishing communities (simulation modelling; data analysis; data visualization)
- Redeveloping the Coastal First Nations Regional Monitoring System (monitoring/sampling design)
- Developing an Adaptive Management Plan for California’s Dry Creek (experimental design, monitoring/sampling design; data analysis)
- Trinity River Restoration Plan (design of experiment, monitoring design, data analysis, simulation modeling
- Pacific Salmon Snapshots (data analysis, data visualization)
- CEMA (monitoring design)
- Cohen Commission (data analysis )