American Statistical Association (ASA) Section on Statistics and the Environment (ENVR) Last Modified: 2000-Nov-04 Send comments, corrections, additions to: ENVR Web Editor or ENVR Webmaster

It simply amazes me how rapidly this year has passed during which I had the honorof serving as your chairman. Now it is time for the torch to be passed into the capable hands ofLinda Young. I have thoroughly enjoyed my year, and hope that some of the changes and innovationswe made have been useful and enjoyable. I realize that these were not extensive and revolutionarychanges. In fact, I think about the story of Jason Kidd, a professional basketball star currentlywith the Phoenix Suns. Jason was drafted out of the University of California in 1994 by the DallasMavericks. Now the Mavericks had not been doing very well, and at the press conference surroundingJason’s signing, Jason made the statement that he wanted to "turn this team around 360degrees." Happily for Jason, and even more happily for the Dallas Mavericks, he was a lotbetter at playing basketball than he was at mathematics. Now, with all due modesty, I am a muchbetter mathematician than Jason Kidd. However I have to hand it to the kid (couldn’t resistthe pun) when it comes to initiating change. The Mavericks in the first season with Jason Kidd wona remarkable 23 more games than they had in the previous year. I only wish we had such a markedimprovement!

We did have some very definite successes in 2000. I look with great pride at the Workshop onHierarchical Models in Environmental Statistics under the leadership of Noel Cressie. Thisworkshop was not only a successful workshop from the educational and professional point of view,but it was also a financial success. This section provided some of the funding which is a majorcommitment from a relatively small section. We are delighted that this conference turned a profit,of which the section received its share. It is exactly this type of win-win situation which makessection chairs smile. I am quite grateful to Noel and his colleagues for this success.

The Joint Statistical Meetings in Indianapolis also proved an impressive success. Whilepre-meeting concerns included worries about the attendance in Indianapolis, compared with other"bigger draw" cities, the concerns were unfounded. This section sponsored eight sessionsand cosponsored five others. All the sessions had significant contributions. The businessmeeting/mixer for the section was successful, and we had the privilege of awarding threeoutstanding practitioners with the section’s Distinguished Achievement Award. We also awardedthe Student Paper Award based on an excellent project. We had more candidate papers this year thanin the past, thanks (I assume) in part to the generosity of the National Center for Statistics andthe Environment at the University of Washington. The Center is supplementing our prize money withtheir funds to assure that the victorious student will have sufficient travel funds to attend themeetings. We are pleased that the Center financial supplement will also be available for 2001.

I had the opportunity this year to write an article for the forthcoming Encyclopedia ofEnvironmetrics concerning this section. Many of you will be surprised to know that the sectiononly came into existence about ten years ago. In that short time we have developed an effectivewebsite, we have diligently provided a column of section news in this slot in AMSTAT News as longas anyone can remember, and we issue an annual newsletter. As a mark of the success of thenewsletter, this year there were enough excellent articles that we didn’t even need the usual"filler" provided by the section chair. So, since you didn’t hear from me there,you hear it now! We also have a student award, distinguished achievement awards, an educationcurriculum, and a variety of activities of mutual support with other sections. Most importantly wehave a cadre of very dedicated people. In fact I had the privilege to serve with some outstandingindividuals which makes this a very enjoyable position.

One small innovation (and innovation may be too strong a word) was initiated this year. I havetried to lead off each of our monthly AMSTAT News articles with a few paragraphs entitled"View from the Chair". This was an attempt to put some cohesion and continuity in theseries of articles which cover a wide spectrum of topics. I hope you found that helpful, or atleast amusing. I also have to thank our publications chair, Philip Dixon for constantly remindingme that it was the last day of the month, and the newsletter article was due. Having just read thedelightful book by Eastaway and Wyndham entitled, "Why Do Buses Come in Threes?", Ithink that Philip’s constant reminders have made me revise a certain basic set ofprobabilities. I am now convinced that any randomly selected day of the month has a probability of0.8 of being the 29^th, 30^th or 31^st. Thank you Philip!

Did everything get done? No, not at all. I had hoped we would have even more interaction withother sections and I had also hoped that we would significantly increase our membership especiallyamong younger statisticians. While we made some inroads along these lines, I wanted more! As theoutgoing chair, I do remain on the executive board for another year and will still try to attainthese goals. Thanks for making this such a fun year. My very best wishes to you for the holidaysand the new year.

At the JSM meetings in Atlanta, the ENVR section will again arrange to have roundtableluncheons. Roundtable luncheons offer a relaxed way to discuss current issues with your peers. The roundtable luncheons are currently being organized. Benefits of leading a roundtable luncheoninclude a free lunch. If you have an interesting topic and would like to chair a luncheon, pleasecontact Jay Ver Hoef at ffjmv@uaf.edu. Deadline for submission is 10 January.