Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/N01877X/1
Systematic review and meta-analysis for environmental sciences
Training Grant Award
- Lead Supervisor:
- Professor E Kulinskaya, University of East Anglia, Computing Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of East Anglia, Computing Sciences
- Science Area:
- Atmospheric
- Earth
- Freshwater
- Marine
- Terrestrial
- Overall Classification:
- Atmospheric
- ENRIs:
- Biodiversity
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Global Change
- Natural Resource Management
- Pollution and Waste
- Science Topics:
- Climate & Climate Change
- Community Ecology
- Conservation Ecology
- Population Ecology
- Applied Statistics
- Environmental Statistics
- Statistical Ecology
- Statistics & Appl. Probability
- Abstract:
- The importance of research synthesis in environmental sciences is currently particularly high because of the growing pressure on scientists to provide accurate quantitative assessments, predictions and practical solutions for pressing environmental issues (e.g. biodiversity losses, global climate changes). To increase objectivity and transparency as well as minimise bias in research syntheses, methods of systematic review and meta-analysis have been developed in medicine and social sciences and more recently introduced into environmental sciences. The use of systematic review and metaanalysis approach by early career environmental scientists is particularly beneficial as it allows objective assessment of the evidence base and knowledge gaps at the beginning of the research project. However, training in systematic reviews and meta-analytic techniques is seldom included into the syllabuses of standard statistical courses and therefore is not readily available to environmental scientists. To fill this gap, we are proposing to renew a successful 5-day training course on systematic reviews and meta-analysis for environmental sciences funded by NERC in 2014/15 and 2015/16 ATSC funding calls. The vast majority of students found the previous courses extremely helpful and very well organised. To our knowledge, there are currently no similar courses available to PhD students and early career researchers in the UK. The course will be run on January 9-13, 2017 at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, and will involve combination of lectures and practical sessions where students will practice conducting meta-analysis using worked examples. In addition, students will conduct their own mini-meta-analyses by working in small groups pairs on an assigned environmental topic. This will provide them with the first-hand experience in question formulation, data extraction, database design, use of software for meta-analysis, and report preparation. The course will combine expertise in systematic reviews at the Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation (Prof Pullin, Bangor University) with expertise in statistical approaches to meta-analysis (Prof Kulinskaya, UEA) and applications of meta-analysis to ecological and environmental data (Prof Koricheva, RHUL). All three applicants have extensive experience in teaching short courses on systematic reviews and meta-analysis in the UK and abroad and taught together the previous NERC-funded ATSCs on the same topic at Royal Holloway in January 2015 and at UEA in August 2015. The proposed course is highly relevant for three of the NERC Training Priority Areas: statistics (statistical methods for handling, analysing and interpreting large data sets for the environmental sciences), data & information management (environmental sciences data assimilation, visualisation and analysis) and risk and uncertainty (quantitative risk assessment for environmental sciences). The main learning outcome of the course will be enablement of the thoughtful and critical use of systematic reviews and meta-analysis for research synthesis in environmental sciences. The impact of the course will be increase in the number of early career researchers trained in modern methods of research synthesis, which will in turn lead to improved robustness and increase in scope of applications of systematic review and meta-analysis in environmental sciences. Ultimately, we anticipate that increased usage and improved quality of systematic reviews and meta-analysis in ecology will inform and increasingly influence evidence-based decision making in the environmental sector, just as they have in medical fields.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/N01877X/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Doctoral Training
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Advanced Training
This training grant award has a total value of £30,458
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - Other Costs |
|---|
| £30,458 |
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