Statistics: Beyond Simple Models of (Marine) Species on the Move

Presenter: Alexa Fredston, Assistant Professor, Ocean Sciences, UC Santa Cruz

Description: Why are species found where they are and not elsewhere? What makes them move? Research in the Fredston Lab focuses on the fundamental drivers of species’ geographic ranges, and the causes and consequences of climate-related shifts. This talk will cover evidence for temperature driving the distribution and abundance of marine fishes across spatial and temporal scales; a range of projects aimed at disentangling multiple drivers of species’ ranges, with various methods and species; and methods and theory for understanding species on the move.

About the speaker: Alexa Fredston is a quantitative marine ecologist who uses a range of statistical and theoretical methods and all the ocean data she can find to (hopefully) advance foundational ecology, biodiversity conservation, and human well-being. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ocean Sciences at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Fredston earned her PhD from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with a B.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. You can learn more about her work at www.alexafredston.com.

This seminar is hosted by Professor Yunyi Shen.