National
Institute of Statistical Sciences
19 T. W. Alexander
Drive
P.O. Box 14006
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-4006
Tel: 919.685.9300
FAX: 919.685.9310
admin@niss.org
News: December, 1996
After a hiatus, these news items are resuming on a regular basis.
We want the statistical community to know what's happening at NISS, and of future
opportunities to become involved with our programs. Watch these pages for feature
stories on our projects, as well as a retrospective look at NISS' first five
years.
Postdocs
Four new postdocs have joined NISS this fall. Markus Abt (Ph.D., Statistics, University
of Augsburg, Germany) is working on drug design. Vincent Granville (Ph.D., Mathematics,
Namur University, Belgium) is working on space-time environmental modeling in
connection with ground water contamination at the Hanford nuclear reservation.
Pia Koskenoja (Ph.D., Economics, University of California, Irvine) is working
on travel demand forecasting, as part of the transportation project. Jeffrey Picka,
(Ph.D., Statistics, University of Chicago) is involved with permeability and deterioration
of concrete (based at the Center for Advanced Cement Based Materials at Northwestern
University), also as part of the transportation project. Several postdocs, including
the two remaining members of the original 1993 cohort have departed. Agostino
Nobile (Ph.D., Statistics, Carnegie-Mellon), who worked on the transportation
project, now holds a position at the University of Bristol (UK). Patricia Styer
(Ph.D., Statistics, Chicago), who worked in environmental modeling and also on
deterioration of concrete, has accepted a position at the College of American
Pathologists. Vonu Thakuriah (Ph.D., Urban and Regional Planning, Illinois at
Chicago) worked on the transportation project and has returned to her alma mater
as Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning. Kenneth Vaughn (Ph.D.,
Civil Engineering, University of California, Davis), who also worked on the transportation
project, is now with the Federal Transit Administration. Valerie Williams (Ph.D.,
Psychology, North Carolina at Chapel Hill) worked on the education project, and
has taken a position at the Research Triangle Institute. Advertisements for this
year's post-docs will appear in the Employment Opportunities section and on NISS'
home page: http://www.niss.rti.org. Projects in transportation, software development,
environment and drug discovery will be among NISS' emphases this coming year.
For more information contact admin@niss.org.
Environment Project
NISS has completed a four-year, EPA-funded project on environmental statistics.
The output of this project has been extensive; many results have been reported
in earlier columns. A summary of this project will appear as a book - the first
volume in a "NISS subseries" of the Springer-Verlag Lecture Notes in Statistics.
Its authors are W. Piegorsch (South Carolina), D. Nychka (North Carolina State),
L. Cox (EPA), D. Holland (EPA), J. Davis (North Carolina State), M. Xie (NISS)
and B. Eder (EPA). Details about this volume will appear in a subsequent column.
NISS held a workshop in September, 1996, on "Statistical Issues in Setting
Environmental Standards," particularly relevant because of the announcement
of new air quality standards by the EPA in late November. Controversial aspects
of the setting of standards for airborne particulates were further fueled by
results reported at the workshop by Richard Smith (North Carolina at Chapel
Hill). Smith's report, prepared in collaboration with J. Davis (North Carolina
State), N. Saltzman (NISS), J. Sacks (NISS) and P. Styer (NISS), is an analysis
of data from Birmingham, Alabama.
Previous studies by J. Schwartz and co-authors, including one in Birmingham,
found connections between mortality and particulate levels. These studies, which
received front-page coverage in the New York Times, the Washington
Post and the Times of London, asserted that more than 60,000 Americans
and 17,000 British die from particulate pollution each year. The results reported
by Smith show that no such connection is tenable. The discrepancy in Birmingham
arises from the failure of the Schwartz study to include relevant meteorology
(in particular, humidity). The results in these studies are profoundly sensitive
to statistical details ranging from omitted variables to the effects of model
selection on error statements.
Building
Plans are nearly complete for a 16,000 square foot NISS building in Research Triangle
Park. Funds for the building were provided by the State of North Carolina. The
design, by O'Brien, Atkins and Associates, will accommodate 45 researchers, administrative
staff, lecture rooms and conference rooms. Ground is expected to be broken early
in the Spring of 1997, with completion of construction scheduled for the Fall
of 1997.
Space for visitors is expected to open up by January, 1998, after construction
of the NISS building is completed. For information please contact NISS at admin@niss.org.
Upcoming Items
Our next column will highlight the NISS transportation project, in connection
with more than a dozen presentations of NISS research at the January, 1997,
Transportation Research Board meeting in Washington, DC.
