The Moyal Medal Committee invites you to attend the virtual lecture and presentation of the 2021 Moyal Medal to Professor Louise Ryan from the University of Technology Sydney 

The Moyal Medal is awarded annually for research contributions to mathematics, physics or statistics, the areas of research of the late Professor José Enrique Moyal. Professor Moyal was Professor of Mathematics at Macquarie University for five years from 1973 to 1977. His insight into the interaction between mathematics, physics and statistics led him to make contributions to these disciplines which have had far-reaching ramifications in all three fields. 

2021 Medallist Professor Louise Ryan 

After completing her honours degree in statistics at Macquarie University in 1978, Louise Ryan left Australia to undertake PhD studies at Harvard. On completing her PhD in 1983, she moved to the Harvard Biostatistics Department, first as a postdoctoral fellow, then a junior faculty member and finally as the Henry Pickering Walcott Professor and Chair of the Department.

Louise returned home in 2009 as Chief of CSIRO’s Division of Mathematics, Informatics and Statistics. She joined University of Technology Sydney as a Distinguished Professor of Statistics in 2012.

Louise has always enjoyed blending research in statistical methods with applications to compelling real world problems, particularly in the health and environmental domains. Some of her recent methodological work relates to the development of computationally and cost-efficient approaches to the design and analysis of complex spatial and longitudinal surveys. She has long-standing interests and involvement in studies assessing environmental effects on child growth and development. In the past several years, she has been collaborating with the NSW Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer on developing strategies for effective decision making in the face of uncertainty. 

Louise has authored or co-authored well over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and has been recognized with several prestigious awards, including Harvard’s Centennial Medal and the Pitman Medal from the Statistical Society of Australia. She is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science as well as the National Academy of Medicine in the United States. She is a passionate advocate for the advancement of women and minorities in the statistical and mathematical sciences and active in the profession, particularly the International Biometric Society. 

Lecture Details 

Monday, 6 December 2021, 11:00-12:00pm

How statistical modelling and machine learning can offer insights about the sustainability of our precious water resources.

Water is a precious resource, essential for agriculture and for drinking. However, water is under increasing global pressure and vulnerability due to rising populations and changing climate patterns. Because Australia is such a dry continent, protecting our water resources is of particularly critical importance and government agencies are working hard to establish and maintain reliable monitoring networks.  Modelling the resulting rich data can offer critical insights into the nature and sustainability of this resource so that effective and equitable decisions can be made regarding its usage. In this presentation, we will talk about various approaches to modelling underground aquifers, which are a significant water source for many parts of Australia. After a very brief review of classical process-based approaches based on hydro-geological theory, our main focus will be more data-driven approaches. In particular, we will discuss several strategies including dynamic regression modelling that draw on the theory of time series, as well as machine learning approaches such as neural network models and their extensions to the time series domain. We consider both “local” models focussed on the time-series analysis of a single bore as well as “global” models that incorporate data from many different bores from the same catchment. We will see that there are advantages and disadvantages to the various approaches and that this is an area with rich opportunity for further methodological exploration. We will finish up with a discussion about the potential and limitations of using these modelling strategies to project.

Zoom link:   https://macquarie.zoom.us/j/85383656950

Enquiries:  Hayley Prescott 
Email:   hayley.prescott@mq.edu.au 

We look forward to having you join us for this special edition of The Moyal Medal. 

Our warmest regards, 
The Moyal Medal Committee Macquarie University