By Dr Ben Swallow
Lecturer in Statistics, The University of Glasgow
Dr Swallow is a Lecturer in Statistics from the University of Glasgow, Scotland. His research expertise is in statistical methodology development and application to real world systems, with applications spanning biological and environmental sciences.
He has worked extensively in parameter estimation and uncertainty quantification, particularly in a Bayesian framework, to extract information from noisy and high-dimensional data and help inform decisions. His PhD in Statistics focused on statistical and computational methods for multispecies citizen-science data in ecology [data collected by expert members of the public], attributing changes in abundance of ecological species across space and through time to environmental changes. He then completed a postdoc on uncertainty quantification and calibration for computer models of atmospheric transport to better account for computer model errors and biases. Then a subsequent postdoc worked on inference in stochastic models of biological cell-signalling systems to better understand the molecular processes in cells that inform biological responses.
Recently he has worked on and contributed to many projects aiming to respond to challenges of informing decision-making in the Covid-19 pandemic response. His work involves direct collaboration with a large range of subject experts across disciplines to ensure statistical approaches account for important processes and data are correctly handled.