Welcome to the May 2022 Edition of the NISS Parameters Newsletter
As spring flowers emerge and people are beginning to return to pre-pandemic behavior, we look forward to conferences returning in-person, SDSS in Pittsburgh in June, JSM in Washington DC in August, and ITSEW 2022 in Manchester England in September. However, we continue to sponsor virtual events, which have the advantage of simplifying logistics and reducing the time and expense of attending. Please see the upcoming events that NISS is planning, beginning this weekend with our second annual graduate student network (GSN) work, which highlights graduate student research presentations. This virtual activity is organized by the GSN committee of our affiliates, and sponsored by P&G, our newest Industry Affiliate.
Many of our co-sponsored events can be supported by your affiliate award funds that our affiliates have available for their students and faculty. Just prior to JSM, the perennially favorite writing workshop for new researchers is again being presented in hybrid mode, virtually on Zoom for most of the activities, but we’ll conclude with a Sunday morning in person presentation and panel discussion at JSM. This will also provide an opportunity for networking with the participants and mentors who are in attendance, along with the new researcher attendees from the past two years who are at JSM.
Also stay tuned for other NISS activities at JSM beginning Sunday noon, when we will be holding the affiliate luncheon for our affiliate liaisons, and Monday afternoon at the NISS reception where the Sacks Award is presented along and the Distinguished Alumni and Service Awards. This hopefully will be an opportunity to meet with old and new friends of NISS and an opportunity to meet other NISS liaisons.
This newsletter introduces you to the work of two of our newest research associates, Haley Jeppson and Ruiyi Zhang. Learn about their background and their aspirations for the work they are engaged in with our contracts at NASS and NCES under agreements with NISS.
As the world transitions from the locked down to more open interactions we are witnessing various social issues that need solution, how to implement DEI, how we address constitutional issues related to gun control and access to abortion, and others. In all these issues access to reliable data is crucial for understanding reality and the statistical sciences continue to play a vital role in addressing these matters. The Ingram Olkin Forum series, which NISS supports, is planning additional future events related to police use of force, privacy and confidential data issues, and assessing hard-to-measure data related to human trafficking.
We ask your support and suggestions for topics that require statistical innovation, topics where statistics can play a critical role in addressing the scientific questions. We also continue through our affiliate program to provide programming to link academic statisticians and data scientists with the challenges facing government agencies. To advance these goals, we have been holding monthly career fairs focusing on various industries such as pharmaceutical, insurance, government agencies.
If you are interested in learning more about our affiliate program, or any upcoming events, see our website and click on Affiliates link for the information on how to participate and the benefits of joining.
Jim Rosenberger
Director, NISS