Stat 550 syllabus

Environmental Statistics

Course Description: Sampling environmental populations; parametric and nonparametric and estimation; applications of lognormal, Weibull, gamma and beta distributions; locating hot spots; censored data; outlier detection; trend analysis, seasonality; estimation of animal abundance. Computer Lab fee.
Prerequisites: ST 210 Minimum Grade of C or ST 315 Minimum Grade of C or ST 540 Minimum Grade of C.

Suggested Text: Statistical Methods for Environmental Pollution Monitoring by Richard Gilbert, Wiley Publications.

Coverage: Chapters 1 through 14

Learning outcomes:  Activities of man introduced contaminants of many kinds into the environment: air pollutants from industry, exhaust emissions from vehicles, radionuclides from nuclear discharge, and pesticides, sewage, detergents, and other chemicals that enter lakes, rivers, surface water and ground water. Many monitoring and research studies are conducted to quantify the amount of pollutants, determine trends, and identify potential problems. Upon the successful completion of the course a student will:

know the appropriate statistical techniques that can be used to determine how pollutants distribute and persist in air, water, soil and biota
know to assess the effects of pollutants on man and the environment.
Technology: This course uses statistical software such as Minitab, JMP, R, and SPSS for data analysis.