Intermediate-level workshop
Bayesian population analysis using WinBUGS and JAGS
Instructors: Marc Kéry & Michael Schaub, Swiss Ornithological Institute
Date: 12–16 August 2013
Venue: Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach, Switzerland
Computers: Bring your own laptop with latest R and WinBUGS, JAGS or OpenBUGS
Costs: 500 Swiss francs (700 for people outside academia), 2 wild-cards are available (*)
This course introduces many key models used in the analysis of distribution, abundance and survival, as well as their spatial and temporal patterns, in a Bayesian analysis framework. It closely follows our recent book “Bayesian population analysis using WinBUGS” published by Academic Press. We use programs R and WinBUGS and JAGS to fit and understand some of the most widely used models for the analysis of animal and plant populations. These include:
• Poisson generalized linear mixed model (e.g., Link and Sauer 2002)
• State-space models (e.g., Dennis et al. 2006)
• Site-occupancy models (MacKenzie et al. 2002, 2003) for the analysis of species distributions
• Binomial mixture models (Royle 2004) for the analysis of distribution and abundance with full accounting for observation error
• Closed-population models for population size
• Cormack-Jolly-Seber models for estimating survival probabilities
• Jolly-Seber models for estimating survival, recruitment and adundance
• Multistate capture-recapture models for estimating survival and transition rates
• Integrated population models (Besbeas et al. 2002; Schaub et al. 2007).
This is an intermediate-level workshop with about 3/4 of the time spent on lecturing and 1/4 on solving exercises. No previous experience with program WinBUGS, or Bayesian statistics, is assumed. However, a good working knowledge of modern regression methods (ANOVA, ANCOVA, generalised linear models) and also of program R (or another programming language) is required.
Please bring your own laptops and install a recent version of R plus WinBUGS 1.4., with the upgrade patch and the immortality key decoded (in this order). Alternatively, JAGS and OpenBUGS work fine for 99% of what we do.
Send your application to Michael Schaub (michael.schaub@vogelwarte.ch; cc to marc.kery@vogelwarte.ch), describing your background and knowledge in statistical modeling, R and WinBUGS/OpenBUGS/JAGS, by 31 May 2013 at the latest. Workshop invitations will be sent out in early June 2013.
(*) If you have limited funds, you can apply for your course fee to be waived. Please submit a letter detailing your situation and the benefit that this course will have for your work.