New role for Ruth King: Deputy Director of the National Centre for Statistical Ecology

Ruth King has taken up the role of Deputy Director of the National Centre for Statistical Ecology (NCSE). The NCSE is a multi-institutional research centre which aims to "develop, apply and communicate innovative statistical methods for collecting and analysing ecological data, thereby improving the understanding and management of wild population and their environment". It was established in 2005 and the current consortium unites research excellence across the Universities of Edinburgh, Kent, St Andrews, Bath, Bristol, Essex, Exeter, Glasgow and Sheffield, together with the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland (BioSS), the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust and Marine Scotland. The centre also has a considerable number of international members spanning the globe and initiated the world-leading biennial International Statistical Ecology Conference, the next of which will be hosted in Sydney in June 2020. Ruth commenced this exciting role on 1st April, and together with the new Director Dr Rachel McCrea form the University of Kent, looks forward to driving new NCSE initiatives. They have secured funding, jointly with the previous co-Directors of the NCSE Professors Steve Buckland and Byron Morgan; and Dr Ken Newman (Principal Research in Statistical Methodology at BioSS and Reader at the University of Edinburgh) to host an International Centre for Mathematical Sciences (ICMS) workshop in Edinburgh in June 2019 on thetopic of "Addressing Statistical Challenges of Modern Technological Challenges". This meeting will identify and discuss future research directions and associate thematic areas to ensure that the centre and the UK remains at the forefront of internationally leading statistical ecology research.