Скачать или смотреть Impacting Science, Technology, and Society for Over 80 Years | Iowa State Statistics

Statistics underlies all scientific developments, and with the increasing power and importance of AI and machine learning in areas as diverse as agriculture and forensics, the work of statisticians is driving the technology of the future and helping solve the problems society faces. At Iowa State University’s Department of Statistics the close ties between statisticians and scientists in application areas has been an essential focus for decades.

Iowa State’s Statistics Laboratory was founded in 1953, with a focus on connecting state of the art statistical methods with applied research in other departments on campus. Within ISU Statistics researchers are solving real world problems, and in turn, the challenges of application and industry are inspiring new approaches to statistics – making for a thriving department, and with over 100 funded graduate students, an excellent place to learn and build a career.

One important collaboration, and one that’s especially important to the economy of Iowa, is with ISU’s Plant Sciences Institute. Iowa is one of the biggest growers of corn and soy in the USA, and as such conducting research into how improve plant resilience for better yield is essential. At the Institute, different types of plant are grown and huge amounts of data are taken – on everything from nitrogen uptake to humidity. Images are also gathered by drones to understand in detail how plants are growing. All this data needs to be linked together and interpreted by statisticians to understand how genotype and the environment interact.

On a bigger scale, the department is also working with the Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology. They work on the Natural Resources Inventory to gather satellite images across the country in order to understand how land is or can be used. With this large and detailed data set, statisticians are essential in classifying images using machine learning, as well adjusting for visual noise like cloud cover to ensure consistently useable data.

The Department is also working closely with Forensic Scientists at ISU. Beyond the use of DNA, forensic data is almost always a question of probability – how likely was it that a specific gun fired a bullet, whether a set of footprints or handwriting belong to a certain person. ISU Statisticians are working to ascertain probabilities in all these areas, creating software for forensics teams to use. Work also includes collaborations with the FBI – for example tracing source materials on improvised explosive devices.

These collaborations are key to the research, but also to training – and students get the benefit of these interactions. Long standing collaborations with industry allow for students to be matched with large companies like Corteva and After. One recent placement involved a student working in sports analytics with the New York Yankees. To bring on board more students, ISU are also launching a fully online Masters program in statistics in 2025.

While faculty at ISU Statistics build on all these and more collaborations, graduates of the department also making an impact around the world. With success stories in the pharmaceutical and tech industries, and past students working at Disney, Los Alamos National Lab, the Buffalo Bills NFL team, ISU is bringing essential skills to the workforce in statistics, and making a real impact on society with the work they do.