International Statistical Ecology Conference

ISEC 2024 happened in Swansea (Wales – UK), organised by the Centre for Biomathematics at Swansea University,  and was an absolute success ! A total of 302 attendants from around the world took part of the conference and contributed to its success.

Exciting science: ISEC 2024 covered a wide range of topics related to statistical ecology (spatial modelling, population dynamics, conservation…). The programme included 184 talks across 8 sessions and 65 posters during 4 poster sessions, allowing participants, including many students and early-career researchers, to showcase their work.

 Interesting discussions were also held in several round tables and workshops during the conference. ISEC is a friendly and inclusive interdisciplinary conference that brings together statisticians and ecologists – so discussions had a special place here. Over 100 participants took part at 7 pre-conference workshops, learn about state of the art methods, covering NIMBLE, RTMB, Joint SDMs via HMSC, pointed SDMs, HMMs, nonlinear HMMs and GAMs, runMCMC. During the conference, lunch-time roundtable discussions ranged from the future of SDMs to how to teach statistics in ecology.

There were 5 plenary talk presented by Dr Marie Auger-Méthé (University of British Columbia), Prof John Fieberg (University of Minnesota), Prof Rachel McCrea (Lancaster University), Dr Matthew Schofield (University of Otago) and Prof Elise Zipkin (Michigan State University).

 Social activities: Thanks to the great ISEC community, the social activities at ISEC 2024 were a resounding success. Following the ISEC tradition of a social afternoon midway through the conference, four different half-day excursions were offered to discover the surroundings of Swansea. You could enjoy the sun and fresh Welsh air on a hike on the Gower Peninsula, with great birdwatching and a dip in the sea; discover the traditional whiskey distillery of Penderyn; visit Oystermouth Castle, Mumbles pier and lighthouse and the village of Mumbles; or learn new skills with a surfing lesson at Caswell Bay in the Gower. Additional spontaneous activities during the conference included outdoor sports (running or Ultimate Fresbee), walks along the beach front, and bird watching in the adjacent Crymlyn Burrows Nature reserve.

Finally, ISEC 2024 organised a wonderful gala dinner at Brangwyn Hall, where most of the participants danced on stage – great fun!