“Thanks to AMSI, we were able to organise and host a very successful meeting on spatial statistical modelling in honour of Julian Besag. Julian was one of the founders of modern spatial statistics and of Bayesian modelling and computation. His work has inspired researchers and practitioners across the world. He was a strong supporter of Australian statistics and visited Australia many times. The meeting showcased a wide range of methods and applications from diverse research areas such as agriculture, environment, health and industry. It provided an excellent vehicle for international interaction and communication both within the statistics community and across the wider scientific community. Approximately 80 people attended the event from six countries.”

Professor Kerrie Mengersen, Co-Chair, Organising Committee

Spatial statistics is a branch of statistical science dealing with the analysis of spatial data - any data that are attributed to spatial locations. The conference is in honour of Julian Besag a noted spatial statistician who is credited with some of the initial work and theories in this area of statistics who passed away in August last year.

The conference gave local statisticians from diverse backgrounds an opportunity to hear high profile speakers from the field of spatial statistics in an intensive two day session. Local students had the opportunity to hear and network with world renowned researchers.

Organising Committee

• Kerrie Mengersen (QUT)
• Claire Alston (QUT)
• Dow Jaemjaret (QUT)