Stephen Terrence Buckland (born 28 July 1955) is a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English ...
statistician and professor at the
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
. He is best known for his work on
distance sampling
Distance sampling is a widely used group of closely related methods for estimating the density and/or abundance of populations. The main methods are based on line transects or point transects.Buckland, S. T., Anderson, D. R., Burnham, K. P. and La ...
, a widely used technique for estimating the size of animal populations. He has also made significant contributions in the following areas:
bootstrap resampling methods;
modelling the dynamics of wild animal populations and
measuring biodiversity.
Biography
Buckland was born in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...
, England, the youngest of three children. After secondary education at
Foster's School
Foster's Grammar School for Boys, Sherborne, Dorset, was founded by Richard Foster in 1640. It closed in 1992.
History
Foster's School was initially endowed by Richard Foster from rent collected at Foster's Farm at Boy's Hill in the parish of H ...
, Sherborne, he studied mathematics at the
University of Southampton
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
and the
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...
, followed by a PhD in statistics from the
University of Aberdeen
, mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
, established =
, type = Public research universityAncient university
, endowment = £58.4 million (2021)
, budget ...
in 1983. He had a keen interest in natural history from a young age, and now has a strong interest in wildlife photography. He became “Photographer in Residence” at Tentsmuir National Nature Reserve in 2018.
Academic career
From 1977–1985 he was lecturer in statistics, University of Aberdeen. He then became senior scientist at the
Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
, motto =
, formation =
, type = tuna regional fishery management organisation
, status = International organization
, purpose = Fisheries management
, headquarters = La Jolla, San Diego, United St ...
, based at
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (sometimes referred to as SIO, Scripps Oceanography, or Scripps) in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and Earth science research, public servi ...
in San Diego, California, estimating trends in dolphin abundance in the eastern tropical Pacific, to assess the impacts of tuna fisheries on dolphin stocks. In 1988 he accepted the post of statistician at Scottish Agricultural Statistics Service (now Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland), based at the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute (now the
James Hutton Institute
The James Hutton Institute is an interdisciplinary scientific research institute in Scotland established in 2011, through the merger of Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI) and the Macaulay Land Use Research Institute. The institute, named aft ...
).
In 1993 he was appointed professor of statistics,
University of St Andrews
(Aien aristeuein)
, motto_lang = grc
, mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best
, established =
, type = Public research university
Ancient university
, endowment ...
, and still holds the position as of 2019.
At St Andrews, he established the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling (CREEM) in 1999, and was its Director from 1999 to 2004, and again from 2009 to 2014. He co-founded the National Centre for Statistical Ecology (NCSE) in 2005, with Byron Morgan at the
University of Kent
, motto_lang =
, mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...
, and
Steve Brooks, then at the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
. He was Director or Co-Director until 2019.
With others he established the biennial International Statistical Ecology Conferences, with both the first conference (in 2008) and the sixth conference (in 2018) hosted by St Andrews.
Buckland has published around 190 refereed papers spanning statistics, mathematics, ecology, conservation, wildlife management, experimental and theoretical biology, fisheries, environmental science, botany, zoology, geography, geology, epidemiology, agroforestry, remote sensing and analytical chemistry. He is one of the developers of distance sampling methods, and is first author on four books on the subject.
Buckland was editor of the ''
'' from 2016–2018.
Awards
Buckland was elected a Fellow of the
International Statistical Institute
The International Statistical Institute (ISI) is a professional association of statisticians. It was founded in 1885, although there had been international statistical congresses since 1853. The institute has about 4,000 elected members from gov ...
in 1995 and a Fellow of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
in 2007. He was a
Leverhulme Trust
The Leverhulme Trust () is a large national grant-making organisation in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the n ...
Research Fellow in 2005-06. He was a Member of the Council of the Royal Statistical Society during 2005-09. In 2019, he was awarded the Royal Statistical Society's
Guy Medal in Gold,
the 38th recipient since its inception in 1892.
Selected publications
Books authored
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Books edited
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Selected journal articles
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References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buckland, Stephen
Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Academics of the University of St Andrews
Living people
1955 births
Alumni of the University of Edinburgh
British statisticians
Alumni of the University of Southampton
Alumni of the University of Aberdeen
People from Dorset
Academics of the University of Aberdeen
British expatriates in the United States
Spatial statisticians
Elected Members of the International Statistical Institute