20^th Annual KSU Conference on

Applied Statistics in Agriculture

The Department of Statistics at Kansas State University will host the twentieth annual KSU Conference on Applied Statistics in Agriculture, April 27-29, 2008, at the Manhattan Clarion Hotel, Manhattan, Kansas.  The purpose of the conference is to provide a forum to discuss statistical issues, problems and solutions that have been motivated by agricultural concerns.

The keynote speaker is Dr. Thomas M. Loughin.  Dr. Loughin grew up in the Philadelphia area, did his undergraduate work at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Master’s work at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.  In 1993 he earned a Ph.D. in Statistics from Iowa State University under the direction of Dr. Ken Koehler, writing a dissertation on the topic of bootstrap applications to proportional hazards models. 
 

In the fall of 1993, he joined the faculty in the Department of Statistics at Kansas State University in a position jointly supported by the College of Arts & Sciences and K-State Research & Extension.  In that position he taught a variety of courses at all levels with a focus on applications.  He consulted widely, primarily with agricultural scientists and students, and served on a large number of graduate committees.  He earned a campus-wide reputation as an outstanding statistician, consultant and researcher. 
 

In 2006, Tom accepted a faculty position with Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., Canada.  A long-time and energetic supporter of the Conference on Applied Statistics, as well as a frequent speaker, Tom will return in 2008 to deliver the keynote address and lead the conference workshop, "Methods and Models for Categorical Data in Agriculture".  Tom describes the workshop as follows:
 

Modeling categorical (qualitative or binary) data has become easier in recent years with increasing availability of statistical modeling software.  A wide range of model structures, both simple and complex, can be fit using SAS, R, and other software packages.  This workshop will discuss development, fitting, and interpretation for a variety of models that are commonly used for categorical data.  The focus will be on practical issues rather than on theoretical ones. 

Specific model foundations covered will include logistic and related models for binary data, and loglinear models for count data.  Model features will include single and multiple explanatory variables, continuous and categorical explanatories, interactions, and special model structures such as random effects.  SAS programs and output will be used to demonstrate all analysis.

This announcement is a call for papers from the statistical and agricultural communities.  The conference is open to talks or poster sessions by scientists, not necessarily statisticians, with an emphasis on applied statistical issues related to agriculture.  Presentations made jointly by a statistician and a researcher in the agriculture sciences would be of special interest.  Abstracts should be submitted to: Ag Conference, Department of Statistics, 101 Dickens Hall, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS  66506-0802 or electronically through http://www.k-state.edu/stats/agstat.conference/ under the call for papers tab no later than January 15, 2008.
 

Each contributed paper presentation will be allowed approximately 25 minutes.  A refereed proceedings containing acceptable publications will be published after the conference.
 

A conference announcement and registration form will be distributed in February 2008.  To be added to our mailing list, please send an e-mail to Lee Palmer conference coordinator.

Support for graduate students who wish to attend the conference is available.  Preference is given to graduate students who plan to stay for the entire conference and who present a paper or poster.

Updated:  March 13, 2008 lp