Young statisticians are studying statistics or have graduated in the last five years and are working or studying in the area related to statistics.

The current young statistician's representative on the NZSA executive committee is Catherine Lloyd-West.

Given my age, it seems funny for me to be the new "Young Statistician" rep. However, I meet the criteria of "studying statistics" and "working in the statistics area". In fact, I feel very fortunate to have been able to get a job at AgResearch before completing my Masters in Applied Statistics, which I'm currently half-way through.

Following my B.Tech in Operations Research from Massey University, I worked for 4 years at New Zealand Steel in Glenbrook and then spent time overseas and at home with young children. I did statistical analysis of the sensory data at Fonterra Research Centre after starting as a taste panellist, then decided that more study would be required so that I could become a consulting statistician.

Please feel free to e-mail me with any suggestions you have about how NZSA can better support "Young Statisticians".

Catherine (Catherine.LloydWest@agresearch.co.nz)

Local YS Representatives

An active young statistician's network, both within local areas/organisations and across New Zealand, is being built up. Currently we have reps in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. If you're interested in representing your local area, email Catherine (Catherine.LloydWest@agresearch.co.nz).

Auckland
   Carlos Liu (carlos.liu@stats.govt.nz)
Wellington
   Amanda Hughes (amanda.hughes@stats.govt.nz)
Christchurch
   Catherine Cumpstone (catherine.cumpstone@stats.govt.nz)
2012 NZSA Conference Rep
   Daniel Turek (dturek@maths.otago.ac.nz)

Daniel Turek is the student representative on the 2012 NZSA conference organizing committee. Daniel is arranging a young statistician's event for the conference, which will be held in Dunedin (29 – 30 November). Details will be posted on the conference website (http://www.maths.otago.ac.nz/nzsa2012/).

Introducing Carlos Liu (Auckland Rep) I joined Statistics New Zealand after graduating from the Statistics Department of The University of Auckland. As a statistical analyst, my key responsibilities are to provide methodological support to my internal clients. This involves survey design, seasonal adjustment, confidentiality, and all sorts of modelling work. Statistics plays the critical roles in my work, and widely opens up my career. I am glad that I have the opportunities to work with a lot of statistics professionals. carlos.liu@stats.govt.nz
Introducing Amanda Hughes (Wellington Rep) During my B.Sc. in Statistics at the University of Canterbury I was successful in gaining an internship at Statistics New Zealand. From then on I knew statistics was for me, I was hooked. I finished my B.Sc. (Hons) in statistics in 2011 with a brief period of study in the UK. I am now back in New Zealand and working in the Statistical Methods team at Statistics New Zealand. amanda.hughes@stats.govt.nz
Introducing Catherine Cumpstone (Christchurch Rep) As a student I did a summer scholarship at Lincoln University which highlighted to me I was more interested in Stats than Biology (which I was already majoring in). So, in 2010 I added on a Statistics major to my BSc at the University of Canterbury where I also took up tutoring in the Mathematics and Statistics Dept. In 2011 I started working in Statistical Methods for Statistics NZ down in Chch, and now I work on managing a project that will influence how we are going to use admin data in the future. catherine.cumpstone@stats.govt.nz
Introducing Daniel Turek (2012 Conference Rep) After completing BSc and Masters degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science in the United States, I worked for several years in California. This included teaching secondary school maths for two years, which made me realize I truly wanted to continue my education. After exploring opportunities abroad, I settled on the beautiful country of New Zealand! I'm currently a PhD Student in Statistics at the University of Otago, and in the final year of my program. My research relates to the study of model-averaged confidence intervals, and developing new techniques for the construction of them. I presented bits of my research of the NZ Maths & Stats Postgraduate Conferences in 2010 and 2011, and will present the bulk of my findings at the International Statistical Ecology Conference, held in Norway in July 2012. I am yet undecided what I will do upon completion of my program! dturek@maths.otago.ac.nz

Useful information for young statisticians

Young statisticians are encouraged to join the NZSA and the first year of membership is free to senior students enrolled at New Zealand universities, or who are graduates of NZ universities studying overseas, and not in full-time employment.

Normally some funding is available to enable young statisticians to travel to NZSA conferences.  Details are circulated with conference registration material. Special dinners for young statisticians are becoming a feature of our conferences.

NZSA Conference, 2011

Careers in Statistics

The University of Auckland's Statistic Department has produced a series of posters showing where statistics graduates can end up working. There's some fascinating stories - from astrostatistics to sports statistics, from research wind energy to insurance.

To see the posters click here (PDF) and click here (PDF).

Links to other young statistician groups

Young Statisticians in the Royal Statistical Society
http://www.rss.org.uk/site/cms/contentCategoryView.asp?category=195

HRS Student Prizes

Hoare Research Software (HRS) has fostered a close association with the NZSA by offering prizes for the best student talks at NZSA conferences. A list of past winners is given here.  When you submit an abstract, make sure that it is identified in the student category.

International Biometrics Society

The Australasian Region of the International Biometrics Society offers a Scholarship for Honours and coursework Masters students in statistics-related disciplines.