Four students in the Statistics and Analytics (StAn) interdisciplinary graduate program recently presented posters at the 155th annual American Fisheries Society International Meeting in San Antonio in August.

Master’s students Logan Perez, Wesley Ocampo, Caleb Templer, and Elijah Richardson (Figure, left-to-right) presented collaborative posters at the meeting. Templer and Ocampo presented a poster titled BioAnalytics as a Precursor for Fisheries Conservation and Management, and Perez and Richardson presented a poster titled A Predictive Approach to Fisheries Data: ETS Modeling of Cartilaginous Fishes.

Students presented earlier versions of these posters at a joint meeting of the Arkansas chapter of the American Fisheries Society and the Wildlife Society in Little Rock earlier this year. The posters were further developed as the students’ coursework expanded, underscoring a central tenet of the Statistics and Analytics program: Producing data-driven results and developing communication skills that allow those results to be effectively communicated.

“Importantly, the Master of Science curriculum in Statistics and Analytics, whether coursework-driven or with a thesis option, offers participating students a potential platform for either a business-oriented career or a solid foundation for a Ph.D. program,” said Michael Douglas, professor of biological sciences.

Marlis R. Douglas, also a professor of biological sciences, noted, “Students greatly appreciate the flexibility of the StAn program, as it can successfully accommodate a shift in their career perspectives over time, from academic through commercial to state-federal-NGO employment or any such sequential relationship within or among those options.” For more information on the Statistics and Analytics program, visit their website.