Quantitative Ecology Workshop - Yaounde, Cameroon

Quantitative Ecology Workshop Jan 28-Feb 4, 2019

Biodiversity Initiative is hosting a quantitative ecology workshop For Cameroonians and Equatoguineans. Applications are due December 15th. Please see below and here on BI's website for more information.

Practical Details

The 7-day workshop will be hosted at IITA Nkolbisson.

Looking for highly-motivated Masters, PhD. or early career researchers from Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

Candidates should send a CV, a motivation letter stating why they would like to participate in the workshop, and include whether they have previous exposure to R (max. 1 page) and 2 references to quantworkshop@gmail.com by Dec 15th 2018.

Please include full name and surname, university, department, current level of education, and current research interests or project in the email.

The workshop will comprise of 3 days of introductory R for statistics followed by 4 modules (1 day each) on pressing ecological/conservation issues:

1. Sustainable Agriculture & ecosystem services: quantitatively understanding the pest-eating services provided to farmers by wild birds and bats. Instructor Dr. Bea Maas, University of Vienna.
2. Biodiversity & climate change: Forest or agroforestry biodiversity and biomass estimation/carbon sequestration, quantitative analyses. Instructor Dr. Ruksan Bose, CBI.
3. Bushmeat/hunting crisis: Data analysis from camera traps. Focus: Chimps, Elephants & gorillas Dr. Kristin Brzeski, Michigan Tech. University.
4. Molecular biology: DNA bar-coding (including practical lab work on DNA extraction) Dr.Luke Powell, Durham University and Glasgow University.

Students with some exposure to R and basic statistics would be preferred. Although there will be an introductory course on R, and assistance and supervision provided throughout, the pace will pick up quickly and you will be expected to follow subsequent modules and conduct basic analyses using R.

Participants who already have a research project and their own data will benefit the most.

Participants coming from universities outside Yaoundé will be provided housing and board.

Transportation costs by bus to Yaoundé and back for out-station participants will be reimbursed.

Most instruction will be provided in English, but there will be bilingual English/French students and instructors present that can assist French speakers.