[IEEE-bhpjobs] [Fwd: ISDS Seminar Jan 13 @ Duke: "A Maximum Entropy Approach to Species Distribution Modeling"]

[esther L]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: ISDS Seminar:  Rob Schapire, Princeton University
Date: Thu, 12 Jan 2006 16:24:41 -0500 (EST)
From: Terry Furey <tsfurey at duke.edu>
Reply-To: Terry Furey <terry.furey at duke.edu>
To: bioinfo at duke.edu


Friday, January 13, 2006, 3:30pm
116 Old Chem Building

Robert Schapire, Professor of Computer Science   (Princeton University)

"A Maximum Entropy Approach to Species Distribution Modeling"

Abstract:

The modeling of the geographic distribution of a plant or animal species
is a critical problem in conservation biology: to save a threatened
species, one first needs to know where it prefers to live, and what its
requirements are for survival. We propose the use of maximum-entropy
methods for this challenging problem, a set of decades-old techniques that
happen to fit this problem very cleanly and effectively. We prove
theoretically that maxent methods enjoy strong theoretical performance
guarantees. We also describe a number of experiments comparing maxent with
a standard distribution-modeling tool, called GARP, for several different
animal species. In our study, maxent is substantially superior to the
standard method, performing well with fairly few examples. We also show
that maxent models can be easily interpreted by human experts, a property
of considerable practical importance.

This talk includes joint work with Steven Phillips, Robert Anderson and
Miroslav Dudik.



----------------------------------------------------------------
Terrence S. Furey
Scholar, Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy (IGSP)
Assistant Research Professor
Dept of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics
Dept of Computer Science
Duke University
101 Science Dr, Box 3382
Durham, NC 27708
Phone: 919-668-4728
Fax: 919-668-0795



-- 
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.17/228 - Release Date: 1/12/2006



-- 
-- Esther L.,  esther-L at mailsnare.net or esther-L at alumni.virginia.edu
Speaking only for myself.


-- 
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Free Edition.
Version: 7.1.371 / Virus Database: 267.14.17/228 - Release Date: 1/12/2006