[MARMAM] Workshop announcement - Advancing Marine Species Density Surface Modelling

[Catriona Harris]

*Workshop announcement - Advancing Marine Species Density Surface Modelling*

*Open workshop, Sunday 22 October 2017 (prior to Society for Marine 
Mammalogy Conference), Halifax, Nova Scotia*

Density surface models (sometimes called spatial or habitat models) 
attempt to describe animal distribution as a function of spatially 
referenced variables. Data typically come from line transect surveys, 
although there is the potential to use other effort-indexed surveys, 
such as passive acoustics. Outputs include modelled relationships 
between density and explanatory variables, spatial maps of population 
density, and estimates of population size with uncertainty in areas of 
interest within the larger modelled region. Outputs are of practical use 
in, for example, marine spatial planning and impact assessment.

There are many statistical methods available for density surface 
modeling. This one-day workshop is part of the start-up meeting of a 
research project, DenMod, that aims to compare the different approaches, 
identify outstanding issues and address some of them. The project is a 
collaboration between the University of St Andrews, Duke University and 
the regional NOAA Fisheries labs, and is funded by the US Navy. The goal 
of the workshop is to solicit input on the project goals and plans from 
developers and users of density surface models and their outputs. We 
will briefly present the methods we are considering, and invite 
comments. We also invite participants to present their research relating 
to density surface modeling. The workshop will be of interest to 
researchers who create density surface models as well as those who use 
the outputs.

The workshop is free but due to venue size, places are limited. If you 
are interested in attending, please register by emailing Catriona Harris 
(catriona.harris at st-andrews.ac.uk 
<mailto:catriona.harris at st-andrews.ac.uk>). If you would like to be 
considered for a presentation slot then please include a short abstract 
(no longer than 100 words) when you register.


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