American Statistical Association (ASA) Section on Statistics and the Environment (ENVR) Last Modified: 2002-Mar-30 Send comments, corrections, additions to: ENVR Web Editor or ENVR Webmaster

Note from the chair: There are a lot of exciting programs andinteresting research in environmental statistics. One example is theenvironmental statistics program in place at North Carolina StateUniversity. This article describes the undergraduate program and someof their successes. We hope to have more on other programs in future articles.

How could a win-win-win strategy be used to train young people inenvironmental statistics, simultaneously analyze environmental data forFederal, State and local agencies and increase the number ofundergraduate students going on for advanced degrees in statistics ? Twocourses have been developed to train undergraduate students inenvironmental statistics and provide them with a consulting experience.I am a Visiting Senior Scientist in the Department of Statistics atNorth Carolina State University and have developed these courses. Forover 34 years, I have worked on the analysis of environmental data andused important results to make national air pollution policy decisions.I have been active in the ASA and served as chair of the EnvironmentalSection. During my career, I have tried on numerous occasions toincrease the analysis of environmental data. Many efforts were made toencourage the hiring of statisticians and data analysts to analyzeenvironmental data, but these efforts were met with limited success.The government continues to collect data, which deserve a goodstatistical analysis. The environmental courses developed at NC StateUniversity are intended to make a dent in this problem and reinvigoratethe relationship between universities and colleges and environmental agencies.

The courses at NC State on environmental statistics have excitedundergraduate students about research and continuing their education instatistics. The courses are entitled: Environmental StatisticsPracticum and Special Topics in Environmental Statistics. This trainingcomes in support of a National Science Foundation VIGRE (VerticalIntegration of Graduate Research and Education) Grant, which is designedto train graduate and undergraduate students in interdisciplinary areas,such as environmental statistics. One of VIGRE's main objectives is tobuild a problem solving training program that introduces research at anearly stage of a student's academic program. These environmentalstatistics courses have accomplished just that - "We are trainingtomorrow's problem solvers." These courses also provide verticalintegration opportunities for VIGRE graduate and post-doctoraltrainees. In addition, these courses have provided opportunities andthe training for the undergraduate students to participate and presentin the Environmental Workshop organized by Dr. Montserrat Fuentes andthe Environmental Tea/Lunch Time organized by Dr. Marcia Gumpertz in ourdepartment. A special thank you goes to Dr. Bill Swallow, the directorof the undergraduate statistics program, who provided enormous supportin helping make these courses, a reality.

The objectives of the environmental statistics courses are:

1. to provide a consulting opportunity for the students with Federal, State orlocal agencies;
2. focus on the application of the student's technicalskills to a real problem;
3. have the students gain consultingexperience; and
4. develop their oral and written communication skills.

1. the Southern Oxidant Study at North CarolinaState University (NCSU);
2. the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's(USEPA) National Exposure Research Laboratory;
3. the USEPA's Office ofAir Quality Planning and Standards;
4. the North Carolina Department ofEnvironment and Natural Resources (NCDENR);
5. the Forsyth CountyEnvironmental Affairs Department;
6. the U. S. Department of State;
7. the USEPA's Office of Environmental Information in Washington, DCand
8. Environment Canada.

In addition to briefing their clients andproviding the client's with final reports, they have presented papers atseven professional meetings and three university-sponsored undergraduateresearch symposia. The meetings they participated in are:

1. The Southern Oxidant Study Data Analysis Workshop, Research TrianglePark, NC, March 9, 2000;
2. NCSU Undergraduate Research Symposium, McKimmon Center, Raleigh, NC,April 27, 2000;
3. USEPA Technical Workshop on PM 2.5 Monitoring, Quality Assurance,and Data Analysis, Cary, NC, May 22-25, 2000;
4. Future Directions in Air Quality Research, Ecological, Atmospheric,Regulatory/Policy and Educational Issues, Research Triangle Park, NCFebruary 12, 2001;
5. NCSU Undergraduate Research Symposium, McKimmon Center, Raleigh,NC, April 19, 2001;
6. NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources Data AnalysisColloquium, Raleigh, NC, May 23, 2001;
7. Second Annual NC State University Minority Graduate Education (MGE)Summer Research Program Poster Session, July 23, 2001;
8. Mathfest 2001, sponsored by the Mathematical Association of Americaand Pi Mu Epsilon, Madison, Wisconsin, August 2-3, 2001;
9. Sigma Xi Student Research Symposium, Raleigh, North Carolina onNovember 10, 2001; and
10. NCSU Undergraduate Research Symposium, McKimmon Center, Raleigh,NC, April 18, 2002.

In addition to these ten meetings, four student projects were deemed tobe good enough to submit papers for the Student Paper Award sponsored bythe Environmental Section of ASA (ENVR). At least one of the paperswill hopefully be presented at the Joint Statistical Meetings in NewYork City, in August 2002. Based upon our experience, we believe thatthe ASA should do more to encourage undergraduate students toparticipate in ASA meetings. A more pro-active ASA effort could helpincrease the number of U.S. undergraduate students interested in goingon to study statistics in graduate school.

After three years, six students have started graduate programs instatistics, three students are currently applying to graduate school,three students are employed at the Research Triangle Institute and sixstudents have worked part-time at the USEPA, as statisticians. Twomore students are being considered for summer employment at the USEPAnow.

These courses have been a win-win-win situation for everyone. Thestudents win because they gain experience in doing research, consulting,writing reports, giving briefings, presenting papers, etc. Many go onto graduate programs in statistics and others go to work asenvironmental statisticians. The universities gain because morestudents are pursuing graduate study, the faculty develops new contactswith environmental agencies, and their students are placed in rewardingcareers. The clients gain because their data are analyzed, they canmake more informed environmental policy decisions, and they can hire thestudents for permanent or part time work. The program at NC State hasbeen successful in getting the students excited about research. Intotal, the students have given 42 professional presentations and havewritten almost as many papers and reports. This program also helped thedepartment establish co-operative agreements with USEPA.

We believe that we can pair universities/colleges (StatisticsDepartments and Math Departments with statistics courses) andenvironmental agencies across the United States and make this programwork. Everybody gains! Along with my colleague, Dr. Kimberly Weems -a NSF VIGRE post-doctoral fellow, we are proposing to work with Dr.Nagambal Shah and Dr. Monica Stephens of Spelman College to reproducethis program at Spelman College. Spelman College will work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4 Office in Atlanta, GA andthe Georgia Department of Natural Resources. This collaborative effortwill demonstrate that our approach is portable to other universities andcolleges with an undergraduate statistics program and at those without,as long as there are some courses in statistics and a statistician withan interest in environmental statistics.

Both Dr. Weems and I are interested in working with faculty inuniversities and colleges across the United States, who would like topursue this program. Inquiries should be directed to: