Announcing the August joint meeting of the WA Branch of the Statistical Society of Australia (SSA) and the Australasian Region of the International Biometric Society (IBS-AR).

Members and guests are invited to hear from Emeritus Professor Adrian Baddeley as he speaks on spatial point patterns.

Date: Tuesday, 12 August 2025.
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Location: Blakers Lecture Theatre, The University of Western Australia.
Dinner (7:30 PM): Steves, 30 The Avenue, Nedlands.

Presentation

Failing to Connect The Dots: 

The strange history of statistical methods for point patterns

Emeritus Professor Adrian Baddeley, Curtin University.

A spatial point pattern is a dataset giving the map locations of things or events in a region of two- or three-dimensional space, such as a map of crimes, ant nests, gold deposits or stars. The statistical analysis of spatial point patterns has many important applications. It also has a tortuous and tragic history, which we will relate in this talk. It is a story of mistakes, mutual incomprehension and missed opportunities, counterbalanced by clever insights and brilliant original ideas, ultimately leading to a powerful science.

About the Speaker

Adrian Baddeley is a statistician who develops methodology and software for spatial data. His contributions include the method of vertical sections in stereology (quantitative microscopy), metrics for measuring discrepancies between pixel images, and statistical methodology for spatial point patterns, including the 'spatstat' package. His current research investigates the effect of industrial pollution on indigenous rock art. Adrian Baddeley graduated from Australian National University and Cambridge University, and is a winner of the Pitman and Hannan medals. He is a John Curtin Distinguished Emeritus Professor at Curtin University and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Refreshments and Dinner

Members and visitors are invited to mingle over wine and cheese from 5:30 PM onwards at the venue.

Following the meeting, all are invited to dine afterwards at Steves Bar, Cafe & Winestore (30 The Avenue, Nedlands). All are welcome and there is the promise of cake.

Please register to assist with the restaurant booking.

Meeting Directions

The Blakers Lecture Theatre is located on the ground floor of the Mathematics building at The University of Western Australia. Its entrance is on the northern side of the building. See: UWA Maps, Google Maps.

Parking is free on the UWA Crawley campus after 5:00 PM. A convenient place to park is Car Park 51 accessible from Fairway Entry 1.