Distinguished Lecture Series

Distinguished Lecture Series

The IBS Distinguished Lecture Series is an ongoing series featuring early career professionals working in the field (within 10 years of PhD completion). 

The primary purpose of the Distinguished Lecture Series is to reach out and encourage young people globally through inspiring lectures from younger experienced individuals in the Biostatistical field. Speakers are identified by fellow IBS Members. The IBS Education Committee administers the program. 

IBS members may register for each Distinguished Lecture Series webinar free of charge, and also view previous webinar sessions. To see previously-recorded Distinguished Lecture Series sessions, visit the Video Sessions page.

Only logged-in IBS members can register

  • Sign in using your IBS member credentials. 
  • Once logged in, a "Register Now" button will appear on this page.
  • Click the button, then choose R.S.V.P. to confirm your registration.

If you need help with your username/password, contact us at ibs@biometricsociety.org.

Next Lecture: 4 June 2025

Event Information

  • Date: 4 June
  • Time: 7:00 a.m. EDT | 11:00 a.m. UTC | 9:00 p.m. AEST
  • Title: "Making sense of species and their interactions in ecosystems using Diversity-Interactions modelling"
  • Presenter: Caroline Brophy, BSc, PhD, FTCD, Professor in Statistics at Trinity College Dublin and Head of the Discipline of Statistics and Information, School of Computer Science and Statistics. 

Abstract

Ecosystems are ubiquitous, from bacterial to plant to marine life, and they play important roles in providing goods and services to humans and in regulating natural processes. While many ecosystems are naturally occurring, some can be constructed or managed. In controlled cases, decisions can be made about how to manipulate the biodiversity of species to achieve various outcomes (ecosystem functions) for the ecosystem as a whole. Modelling the biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF) relationship can provide knowledge to underpin the design of optimal ecosystems. For example, in agriculture, combining select species with complementary traits in crop systems may promote production, reduce weed invasion and increase resource use efficiency. In this talk, I will introduce the history of modelling the BEF relationship and show recent developments using Diversity-Interactions models for disentangling the effects of individual species and species interactions in ecosystems. This will include methods for dealing with data complexities that may arise such as having many species, multiple outcomes, and data collected over space and time.

Biography

Caroline Brophy is a Professor in Statistics at Trinity College Dublin and is the Head of the Discipline of Statistics and Information within the School of Computer Science and Statistics. As part of her research, she develops innovative statistical models for application in ecology, agriculture and environmental science. Her recent work has been focused on improving the sustainability of agricultural production systems via large-scale experiments.

The IBS Distinguished Lecture Series is open to all IBS members worldwide (not limited to English-speaking natives).

Future Sessions

Do you have suggestions for an upcoming session? Let us know!
Please email your recommendations to the IBO staff. The IBS Education Committee will carefully review all submissions, contact potential speakers to confirm their availability, and announce the selected presenters on the IBS website. We appreciate your input!

For more information about the Distinguished Lecture Series contact:

Peter Doherty, IBO, Staff Liaison

Purpose & Plan

The purpose is to feature emerging scholars who are leaders in their field that represent wide interest among members. 

The IBS Education Committee selects presenters whose research and work in the field highlight an interesting application or a new methodology or development in biometrics, biostatistics or biomathematics. 

Audience

The series is open to all IBS members worldwide (not limited to English-speaking natives). 

Venue

Sessions are presented online using Zoom webinar services and will include both audio and video content.

Instructions for access are made available to all confirmed participants.

Registration Fees

IBS Member – Free

Non-member – N/A

At this time, the Distinguished Lecture Series is only available to IBS members. We plan to evaluate our policy from time to time and may consider access by non-members in the future. 

If you would like to join the IBS, please click here to identify the local affiliated biometric society in your region. If a local Region cannot be found, please contact the International Biometric Office to join the IBS directly.

If you are having issues accessing member-only content please contact the International Biometric Office (IBO).