Within the environmental sector there is currently a shortage of practitioners equipped with the statistical modelling skills to carry out reliable population assessments. This can have an adverse effect on the reliability of Environmental Impact Assessments and similar exercises. (An EIA was carried out before construction started on the new Sibson building at Parkwood, for example.)
In order to help to address this skills deficit the Statistical Ecology At Kent group (SEAK) are organising a week-long training event in January 2017. This is entitled Statistical Models for Wildlife Population Assessment and Conservation and will offer places for 30 researchers (primarily NERC-funded PhD students) to develop their skills in this field.
The training will include advanced use of R statistical software and here are further details: https://www.kent.ac.uk/smsas/statistics/research/seak-news.html?view=287.