Welcome to the Environmental Conservation Quantitative Sciences Group (QSG) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst

QSG is an ad hoc committee of the Environmental Conservation (ECo) Graduate Program in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachustts Amherst, whose goal is to improve quantitative literacy in environmental science and conservation among graduate students and faculty of ECo. Quantitative literacy is the ability to understand and effectively apply quantitative methods, which is becoming increasingly important in environmental science and conservation.

The realm of quantitative sciences in environmental science and conservation includes an exceptionally broad range of topics and methods. However, based on the experience, expertise, and anticipated needs of graduate students and faculty in ECo, QSG focuses on the following areas as they apply to environmental science and conservation:

• Study design
• Statistical modeling
• Spatial data analysis
• Systems modeling

With the overall goal of improving quantitative literacy in environmental science and conservation among ECo graduate students and faculty, QSG has three principal objectives:

1. Design and teach quantitative sciences courses to ECo graduate students – to this end, QSG offers a four-semester sequence of courses on the analysis of environmental data, in addition to the regular periodic offerings of courses on specialized topics in spatial data analysis and systems modeling.
2. Provide quantitative sciences consultation to ECo graduate students and faculty - to this end, QSG is available every Monday 2:00-4:00 p.m. in 304 Holdsworth Hall for scheduled consultations to offer advice in the areas of study design, analytical methodology and interpretation of results. Click here for details on this consultation service.
3. Provide tutorials for statistical modeling in R - to this end, QSG is developing a series of tutorials on statistical modeling in R to aid students and faculty in the use of R for common statistical modeling applications in environmental conservation. Click here for details on these R tutorials.

QSG includes ECo faculty members with a particular interest and expertise in quantitative approaches in environmental conservation, including the following:

• Dr. Kevin McGarigal (mcgarigalk@eco.umass.edu; 413-577-0655)
• Dr. Jack Finn (finn@eco.umass.edu; 413-545-1819)
• Dr. Chris Sutherland (csutherland@umass.edu; 413-545-1770)
• Dr. Andrew Whiteley (awhiteley@eco.umass.edu; 413-577-0204)
• Dr. Adrian Jordaan (ajordaan@eco.umass.edu; 413-565-2758)

Please contact any of the above individuals for more information about QSG.