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July 2020 • Issue #517
AMSTATNEWS
The Membership Magazine of the American Statistical Association • http://magazine.amstat.org
THE PANDEMIC JSM
Hello!
Welcome!
ALSO:
ASA Election Results
Lessons Learned from
Virtual Meetings
AMSTAT NEWS
JULY 2020 • ISSUE #517
Executive Director
Ron Wasserstein: ron@amstat.org
Associate Executive Director and Director of Operations
Stephen Porzio: steve@amstat.org
Senior Advisor for Statistics Communication and Media Innovation
features
Regina Nuzzo: regina@amstat.org 3 President’s Corner
Director of Science Policy 5 A Note from the ASA Presidents
Steve Pierson: pierson@amstat.org
6 Katherine Ensor Elected 2022 ASA President
Director of Strategic Initiatives and Outreach
Donna LaLonde: donnal@amstat.org 9 ASA Members Lead at Los Alamos
Director of Education 12 A Glimpse into the CDC’s Innovation, Technology, and
Rebecca Nichols: rebecca@amstat.org
Analytics Task Force
Managing Editor
Megan Murphy: megan@amstat.org
13 ASA Releases Statement on Government Data Experts
Editor and Content Strategist 14 New ASA Interest Group: Text Analysis
Val Nirala: val@amstat.org
16 Sections and Interest Groups: A Career
Production Coordinators/Graphic Designers Development Perspective
Olivia Brown: olivia@amstat.org
Megan Ruyle: meg@amstat.org 17 Nominations Wanted for Norwood Award
Advertising Manager 18 JSM 2020: Opportunities for Interaction,
Claudine Donovan: claudine@amstat.org Learning, Engagement
Contributing Staff Members 20 ASA Members Stop the Presses with New Book
Naomi Friedman • Kathleen Wert • Elizabeth Henry • Valerie Nirala About Disease Outbreaks
Regina Nuzzo • Amanda Malloy
Amstat News welcomes news items and letters from readers on matters
columns
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24 statistician's view
Lessons Learned and Remaining
Challenges for Online Seminars and Conferences
Virtual Networking Session Mentor Sign-Up 30 meetings
The ASA Committee on Career Development and The Pandemic JSM
ASA GivesBack 2020 are hosting a guided virtual
networking social for students and early-career
statisticians July 30 from 6–8 p.m. We are seeking
mid- to late-career professionals from all areas Hello!
(academia, industry, and government) to attend
the 1.5-hour session and provide students and
early-career statisticians opportunities to practice
virtual networking.
For more information and a tentative outline, visit
bit.ly/3ecB1Ey. Welcome!
CORRECTION
Mousumi Banerjee’s name was inadvertently left
out of the COV-IND-19 Study Group in the May issue
article, “ASA Members Show Leadership During
COVID-19 Crisis.” We regret the error.
Make the most of your ASA membership
Visit the ASA Members Only site: www.amstat.org/
membersonly.
member news
32 People News
40 Section • Chapter • Committee News
46 Professional Opportunities
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2 amstat news july 2020
president's corner
2020
JSM
Virtual Reality
I
’m a history buff, so, when I learned JSM 2020 talk will be filled with insights. She probably does
would be virtual, I immediately started to think not know this, but she has been a role model for
about other JSM history and trivia. In 1940, me as a leader, which makes her participation even
the world was ravaged by WWII, and two JSMs more meaningful to me. I’m also happy to have her
were canceled because of transportation issues and honored in another way this year by being recog-
other considerations. Thus, there were no confer- nized as a new fellow of the ASA.
ences in 1942 and 1943. Statisticians came togeth- When I look at the JSM program, I am filled
er again in 1944 when the ASA President’s Address with pride and amazement at the scope of the con-
was, for the first time, delivered by a woman— tributions to science and society made by our com- Wendy Martinez
Helen M. Walker—who also happens to have been munity. One of the benefits of the virtual program
the first female ASA president. At JSM 2019, the is I will be able to see many more presentations,
ASA was represented—again for the first time—by since the session recordings will be available until
three women presidents: Lisa LaVange; Karen the end of August and I won’t have to make the dif-
Kafadar; and me. ficult choice of which sessions to attend. Of course,
We are again facing a global crisis because of I will participate in many sessions during the week,
COVID-19, which is affecting how we will come including Clinical Visual Analytics: Past, Present,
together this summer. Although we will only be able and the Future, which I had the privilege of organiz-
to connect with each other virtually, I am looking ing with the support of my colleagues in the Section
forward to our first virtual JSM. We have the oppor- on Graphics and the History of Statistics Special
tunity to do some unique and creative things by Interest Group.
going virtual, besides keeping everyone safe. In this Of all the events at JSM, the one I will miss
month’s corner, I want to share some of the activities the most is the opportunity to introduce and
I’m most excited about. congratulate the newly elected ASA Fellows. The
One of the duties of the ASA president is to challenges of the past few months have been sub-
select an invited speaker for JSM. Of all the deci- stantial, but reviewing the accomplishments of
sions I have made during my term as president, these talented members of our community makes
this was by far the easiest. I wanted my colleague me optimistic about our future. Since we will not
Erica Groshen, who served as commissioner of the be able to greet each other on the stage, I would
Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), to be my invited like to ask you to share selfies of yourself and your
speaker. I am grateful Erica agreed and am looking family celebrating your achievement. Use the
forward to her talk—What Is the Future of Official hashtags #ASAFellow and #JSM2020 so we can
Statistics?—August 3 at 3:00 p.m. ET. have a virtual recognition ceremony.
During her tenure at BLS, Erica proved to be We are also planning a virtual walk/run
an exceptional and thoughtful leader, so I know her challenge. Beginning August 2 and concluding
july 2020 amstat news 3
ASA Fellows, post a a virtual recorded talk is better than an in-person
photo of yourself and one at bit.ly/2YBOWxw. The top 5–10 reasons (as
your family on Twitter, determined by ASA staff ) will be announced each
day prior to JSM, and winners will receive a prize
Instagram, or Facebook.
(thanks to an anonymous donor).
Use the #ASAFellow and
#JSM2020 tags. Share SDSS 2020
them with @AmstatNews The ASA Symposium on Data Science and Statistics
so we can celebrate (bit.ly/3e3I6ao) is taking place as I write this column
together! (with a lot of help from Donna LaLonde). I believe
this is the first major virtual conference the ASA has
View the 2020 ASA
organized, and I have to tell you it is fantastic. If this
Fellows announcement at is an indication of how JSM will go this year, then I
bit.ly/37y3X7q. can only say it will be well worth your time.
I am attending sessions at SDSS and am
August 6, there will be daily walk/run tasks. impressed by how smoothly it’s going. We can see
Besides getting your workout in, you will have the speaker and slides via live streaming. There is a
the opportunity to win prizes. So, lace up your chat box for attendees to exchange comments and
shoes and watch for more information about how to say hi, along with a box for entering questions to
to sign up. I promise the challenges will have a be asked of the speakers. All of this will be available
statistical flair! at virtual JSM (depending on the type of session),
Now back to being a history buff, which means along with a virtual exhibit hall, mentoring conversa-
I love trivia. We are going to have a JSM trivia con- tions and activities, poster sessions, and much more.
test, and we need your help. Please use the form at Kudos to SDSS 2020 Program Chair Dave Hunter,
bit.ly/3ht9sZD to submit JSM trivia—serious, funny, the SDSS program committee, speakers, attendees,
or both. We will use your submissions to create the and ASA staff (especially Naomi Friedman).
questions for our contest. I already have some great After having the privilege of chairing several
trivia questions after working on my address. Yes, it sessions at SDSS (including a panel discussion),
will have elements of history and statistics! I know the ASA staff will ensure our JSM experi-
One positive aspect of a virtual JSM is I do not ence is one for the history books! So, I encourage all
have to give my talk in person, live, and on the members, colleagues, and friends to be creative for
stage. Plus, the talk is always given late in the eve- this meeting, have some fun, learn something new,
ning on the Tuesday of JSM after several days of connect with others, enjoy yourselves, and make
sessions and meetings, and it’s past my usual bed- some wonderful memories.
time. So, one benefit this year is I can record my
talk ahead of time, leaving me “stress free” and able
to sit back and enjoy virtual JSM. I am sure many
of you can come up with more reasons why it is
good I’m giving a virtual recorded talk, and we are
asking you to submit them to us. Please enter your
hopefully funny, but not required, reasons for why
4 amstat news july 2020
A Note from the ASA Presidents
Editor’s Note: The following letter was sent to ASA members June • We will create and maintain communica-
10, 2020, on the day of #ShutdownSTEM and #ShutdownAcademia. tions channels to facilitate public commen-
tary to help us identify the opportunities for
improvement with respect to diversity and
Dear Colleagues, inclusion within the ASA and the broader sta-
tistics and data science communities.
We, the three elected presidents of the American
Statistical Association (ASA), are deeply moved by
the tragedies and social upheaval that have unfolded To help fulfill these pledges, we are creating an anti-
in the past few weeks. As felt by many of you, we racism task force that will be co-chaired by the chair
too are angered, anguished, and wearied as new of the ASA Committee on Minorities in Statistics
names are added to the dreadful roll call of black and include some of its members plus other people
individuals slain, harmed, or threatened by law we will appoint.
enforcement or by vigilantes. As allies, we stand Please help us learn from you:
with African Americans and other communities of
color as we to work to overcome systemic racism in • Tell us how the ASA can improve itself and
America. And we acknowledge that all institutions our community by better addressing systemic
are imperfect and need reforms that eradicate racism racism and hindering biases of any kind.
in operations, policies, and structure. Provide confidential or public suggestions
These reforms should start at home, here within (bit.ly/37xt9eb).
the ASA and the broader statistics and data science
communities. For that reason, we especially are • Share with us your experiences. Our email
grateful for the many discussions and recommenda- addresses are listed by our signatures at the
tions shared via social media, email, and ASA dis- bottom of this message. We also plan to host
a virtual town hall meeting for individuals to
cussion boards. We are compiling recommendations
share their experiences and recommendations.
here (bit.ly/3d50u1p).
However, we immediately make the • Volunteer to be involved (bit.ly/2YCTfsb).
following pledge:
Today, Wednesday, June 10, 2020, we
• We will critically reappraise and work to join with the global community by observing
improve the effectiveness of our efforts to be a #ShutDownSTEM and #ShutDownAcademia.
more diverse and inclusive community. We are taking time for reflection on how system-
ic racism and unconscious bias damages our per-
• We will identify resources to help the persons sonal and professional lives and, more broadly, the
and organizations within our professional statistics and data science communities. With your
community learn and grow their level of cul- help, we hope to strengthen our professional com-
tural competence. munity by making it more just, equitable, diverse,
• We will work with the ASA Board of and inclusive.
Directors to develop a plan to help members
of our professional community become better Sincerely,
statisticians and citizens of our communities
through a deeper understanding of our own Wendy Martinez, President
inherent biases. wendyasa2020@gmail.com
• We will be transparent in sharing the diversity
Rob Santos, President-Elect
and inclusion issues identified within our orga-
robasapresident2021@gmail.com
nization, as well as the solutions implemented.
Karen Kafadar, Past President
kkiustat@gmail.com
july 2020 amstat news 5
Katherine Ensor
Elected 2022
ASA President
Matilde Sanchez-Kam to
Be Vice President
K
atherine (Kathy) Ensor, programs. “ASA has an opportu- Institute Urban Data Platform,
Noah G. Harding nity to work with university lead- a computing platform and
Professor of Statistics in ers to articulate the value statis- data repository for the greater
the George R. Brown School of ticians bring to their strategic Houston area. She served as chair
Engineering at Rice University, leadership table.” Ensor said. of the department of statistics
has been elected the 117th presi- Another area of focus for from 1999 through 2013. Ensor
dent of the American Statistical Ensor will be growing urban ana- looks forward to advancing the
Association. She will serve a one- lytics, a field that combines statis- ASA’s Leadership Institute, which
year term as president-elect begin- tics, local governments, and “data was established in 2018 and pro-
ning January 1, 2021; her term as for good.” “Our urban environ- vides training and opportunities
president becomes effective ments generate massive amounts for ASA members to develop
January 1, 2022. of geo-referenced data, allowing their leadership skills.
The ASA membership also us to draw insights on how we Ensor’s professional service
elected Matilde Sanchez-Kam, work, live, play, and learn within spans many areas, including serv-
associate director of analytics our communities,” Ensor said. ing on the board of directors of
and informatics in the Office of “Urban analytics requires our the National Science Foundation
Biostatistics of the Center for best statistical science coupled Institute on Pure and Applied
Drug Evaluation and Research with a willingness to engage local Mathematics, as a member of the
at the US Food and Drug governments, NGOs, and com- National Academies Committee
Administration, ASA vice presi- munities to improve quality of on Applied and Theoretical
dent. Sanchez-Kam’s term begins life.” Ensor said she would like to Statistics, as vice president of the
January 1, 2021. see the ASA foster collaborations ASA from 2016 to 2018, and as
Ensor said one of her major between ASA members and their elected representative to numer-
goals as president is to advance local communities. ous ASA sections and councils.
the ASA’s data science footprint. Leadership has been a con- Ensor earned her doctorate
“Data science methods integrate sistent theme in Ensor’s career. in statistics from Texas A&M
the best of statistical thinking At Rice University, she serves University and her master’s in
and practice,” she said, noting as director for the Center for mathematics and bachelors of sci-
that many universities are already Computational Finance and ence in education from Arkansas
investing in their statistics depart- Economic Systems and also over- State University. She was
ments to build top data science sees development of the Kinder elected fellow of the American
6 amstat news july 2020
Association for the Advancement Publications Representative Section on Statistical Computing
of Science in 2013 and an ASA to the ASA Board (COMP)
Fellow in 2000. Chair-Elect 2021
• Jeffrey Dawson, Associate Jun Yan
Sanchez-Kam begins her ten-
Dean for Faculty Affairs,
ure as ASA vice president after College of Public Health,
Program Chair-Elect 2021
more than 20 years of active ser- University of Iowa, as
Linglong Kong
vice to the ASA. She first became Chair-elect of the Council Council of Sections Representative
a member as a Penn State gradu- of Chapters Governing 2021–2023
ate student in 1993 and has Board Samantha Tyner
held numerous positions within Section on Statistical Consulting
the ASA since then, including • Jason Roy, Chair (CNSL)
chair of the biopharmaceutical of Biostatistics and Chair-Elect 2021
section, chair of the statistical Epidemiology, School of Xiaoyue Maggie Niu
consulting section, and both Public Health, Rutgers
Publications Officer 2021–2022
president and vice president of University, as Chair-elect
Edward L. Boone
the New Jersey Chapter. of the Council of Sections
Governing Board Council of Sections Representative
Since 2018, Sanchez-Kam
2021–2023
has been an associate director of The entire slate of election results,
Naomi Brownstein
analytics and informatics for the including officers for each of the
Office of Biostatistics at the US ASA’s 27 sections, follows: Executive Committee at Large 2021–
Food and Drug Administration. 2023
Prior to that, she held positions Section on Bayesian Statistical Robert Podolsky
in industry, including nine years Science (SBSS) Section on Statistics and Data
Chair-Elect 2021 Science Education (EDUC)
as vice president of biostatistics
Amy Herring Chair-Elect 2021
and data management at Arena
Program Chair-Elect 2021 Rebecca Nugent
Pharmaceuticals and 11 years as
director of clinical biostatistics Veronica Berrocal Council of Sections Representative
and research decision science at Secretary/Treasurer 2021–2022 2021–2023
Merck Research Laboratories. Adrian Dobra Kumer Das
Sanchez-Kam earned her Biometrics Section (BIOM) Executive Committee at Large 2021–
bachelor’s in statistics from the Chair-Elect 2021 2023 (two positions)
University of the Philippines at Sebastien Haneuse Alison Gibbs
Los Banos, a master’s in statis- Secretary/Treasurer 2021–2022 Executive Committee at Large 2021–
tics and operations research from Xian Jin Xie 2023 (two positions)
Penn State, and a PhD in statis- Chris Malone
tics from Penn State. Council of Sections Representative
2021–2023 Section on Statistics in Defense
and National Security (SDNS)
Briana Stephenson
The ASA membership also elect- Chair-Elect 2021
ed the following: Biopharmaceutical Section (BIOP) Karl Pazdernik
Chair-Elect 2021
• Alexandra Hanlon, Director, Alan Hartford Program Chair-Elect 2021
Center for Biostatistics and Justin T. Newcomer
Health Science at Virginia Program Chair-Elect 2021
Freda Cooner Publications Officer 2021–2022
Tech, as the Council of Sarah Elise Roberts
Chapters Representative to Secretary 2021–2023
Section on Statistics and the
the ASA Board Inna Perevozskaya Environment (ENVR)
• Kate Calder, Professor, Council of Sections Representative Chair-Elect 2021
Department of Statistics 2021–2023 Elizabeth Mannshardt
and Data Sciences at The Mark Levenson Program Chair-Elect 2021
University of Texas at Business and Economic Statistics Emily L. Kang
Austin, as the Council of Section (BE)
Chair-Elect 2021 Treasurer 2021
Sections Representative to Katie Banner
the ASA Board Erica Groshen
Program Chair-Elect 2021 Council of Sections Representative
• Bin Nan, Professor of 2021–2023
Tyler McCormick
Statistics, University of Debashis Mondal
California at Irvine, as Secretary/Treasurer 2021–2022
Daniel Kowal
july 2020 amstat news 7
Section on Statistics in Program Chair-Elect 2021 Quality and Productivity Section (QP)
Epidemiology (EPI) Glen Wright Colopy Chair-Elect 2021
Chair-Elect 2021 Lifetime Data Science Section (LIDS) Xinwei Deng
Michael Daniels Chair-Elect 2021 Program Chair-Elect 2021
Program Chair-Elect 2021 Douglas Schaubel Lisa M. Moore
Bo Lu Program Chair-Elect 2021 Section on Risk Analysis (RISK)
Council of Sections Representative Jing Ning Chair-Elect 2021
2021–2023 Treasurer 2021–2023 Indranil Ghosh
Doug Landsittel Yu Cheng Program Chair-Elect 2021
Section on Statistics in Genomics Section on Statistics in Marketing Alexander Alekseyenko
and Genetics (SGG) (MKTG) Council of Sections Representative
Chair-Elect 2021 Chair-Elect 2021 2021–2023
Michael Wu Alan Montgomery Chris Sroka
Program Chair-Elect 2021 Program Chair-Elect 2021 Social Statistics Section (SOC)
Lin Chen Liye Ma Chair-Elect 2021
Council of Sections Representative Secretary/Publications Officer Aleksandra (Sesa) Slavkovic
2021–2023 2021–2022 Program Chair-Elect 2021
Iuliana Ionita-Laza Alice Li Elena Erosheva
Government Statistics Section Section on Medical Devices and
(GOVT) Publications Officer 2021–2022
Diagnostics (MDD) Quentin Brummet
Chair-Elect 2021 Chair-Elect 2021
Simone Gray Section on Statistics in Sports (SIS)
Norberto Pantoja-Galicia
Chair-Elect 2021
Program Chair-Elect 2021 Program Chair-Elect 2021 Paul Sabin
Stephen Campbell Tracy Bergemann
Program Chair-Elect 2021
Secretary/Treasurer 2021–2022 Mental Health Statistics Section Benjamin S. Baumer
Emily Molfino (MHS)
Chair-Elect 2021 Council of Sections
Publications Officer 2021–2022
Pilar Lim Representative 2021–2023
Kathi Irvine
Sarah Morris
Section on Statistical Graphics Program Chair-Elect 2021
(GRPH) Alessandro De Nadai Survey Research Methods Section
(SRMS)
Chair-Elect 2021 Section on Nonparametric Chair-Elect 2021
Ed Mulrow Statistics (NPAR)
Jean Opsomer
Program Chair-Elect 2021 Chair-Elect 2021
Lan Wang Program Chair-Elect 2021
Carson Sievert
Jana Asher
Secretary/Treasurer 2021–2022 Program Chair-Elect 2021
Yichao Wu Treasurer 2020–2021
Natasha Sahr
Jessica Kohlschmidt
Health Policy Statistics Section Treasurer 2021
(HPSS) Howard D. Bondell Publications Officer 2021–2022
Dan Liao
Chair-Elect 2021 Publications Officer 2021–2022
Yuanjia Wang Lingzhou Xue Council of Sections Representative
2021–2023
Section on Statistics in Imaging (SI) Section on Physical and
Engineering Sciences (SPES) Stas Kolenikov
Chair-Elect 2021
Ciprian Crainiceanu Chair-Elect 2021 Education Officer 2021–2022
Lulu Kang Daniell Toth
Program Chair-Elect 2021
Simon Vandekar Program Chair-Elect 2021 Section on Teaching of Statistics
Jonathan Stallrich in the Health Sciences (TSHS)
Council of Sections Representative Chair-Elect 2021
2021–2023 Section for Statistical
Programmers and Analysts (SSPA) Jacqueline Milton n
Elizabeth Sweeney
Chair-Elect 2021
Section on Statistical Learning
Whitney Worley
and Data Science (SLDM)
Chair-Elect 2021 Program Chair-Elect 2021
Ali Shojaie Gabriel Odom
8 amstat news july 2020ASA Members Lead at Los Alamos
Amstat News regularly profiles government statisticians. For this issue, we feature two
leaders from the statistics group at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Kary Myers
is the current group co-lead. Joanne Wendelberger started at LANL in 1992 and has been
project leader, deputy group leader, group leader, and acting deputy division leader. She
recently returned to full-time technical work as a senior-level scientist.
Please tell us about your work at down the hall to help bounce
LANL, including how you came to ideas around. Some of my most
work at LANL, the positions held impactful work has resulted
there, and your prior training. from analysis and visualization
After completing my master’s of large-scale simulation models
degree, I worked as a statistical and design and analysis of aging
consultant at General Motors experiments for materials and
Research Laboratories. Exposure components. My greatest per-
to a variety of statistical problems sonal satisfaction has come from
arising in automotive applica- serving as group leader of the
tions motivated me to return to LANL Statistical Sciences Group,
Joanne R. Wendelberger where I could support my fellow
Wisconsin, where I completed
has been a statistician group members in their techni-
my PhD in statistics working
at Los Alamos National with George Box. While working cal endeavors and careers. One
Laboratory since 1992. on my dissertation, I saw an ad in of the projects I am most proud
She holds a bachelor’s Amstat News for a statistician at of is a current collaboration with
degree in mathematics and Los Alamos National Laboratory. researchers at The University
economics from Oberlin I wasn’t really looking for jobs of Texas at Austin on an educa-
College and master’s and yet, but the position looked like tional research project focused on
PhD degrees in statistics from a unique professional opportu- understanding factors that influ-
nity located in the mountains of ence success in pursuing STEM
the University of Wisconsin-
Northern New Mexico. I decided degrees and careers.
Madison. Her research
to take a leap and have remained
interests include design and
at LANL for 28 years as a techni- What advice would you offer
analysis of experiments, cal staff member, project leader, younger statisticians and stu-
statistical intervals, errors deputy group leader, group lead- dents who might be interested
and uncertainty, analysis and er, acting deputy division leader, in working for the government?
visualization of large-scale and senior-level scientist. There are abundant opportuni-
simulations, and education
ties for statisticians to contrib-
modeling. She has been active
What do you like most about ute statistical skills to different
in ASA chapters and sections,
working as a statistician at LANL? types of statistical problems and
What’s most challenging? What applications in the government
conference organization, and sector. Working in government
work/accomplishments are you
editorial service. Wendelberger most proud of? provides opportunities to con-
is a fellow of the American The LANL Statistical Sciences tribute to issues that affect people
Statistical Association and Group develops and applies sta- in many ways. Look beyond the
a recipient of the American tistical methods motivated by immediate tasks and see how you
Society for Quality William G. interdisciplinary challenges. I can connect to broader efforts
Hunter Award. enjoy working in collaboration and longer-term opportunities. I
with amazing colleagues in sta- have always advised students and
tistics and other fields. Having early-career statisticians that a job
a group of about 30 statisticians is what you make it and to think
means there is always someone about your job not just as a job
but as part of a lifelong career. I
july 2020 amstat news 9have found that being involved provides endless opportunities make modifications or develop
in the ASA and other profes- for creativity and experimenta- new approaches.
sional societies has benefitted my tion that draw upon my statisti-
career immensely. In particular, cal background and knowledge. Tell us about your training and
I encourage statisticians to get I have traveled extensively with career path before arriving at
involved in sections and interest destinations providing cultural Los Alamos.
groups that can provide a techni- experiences, adventure, and I started my career at Carnegie
cal/professional focus, network- the opportunity to help others, Mellon, where I earned my
ing opportunities, ongoing learn- including Mount Kilimanjaro, undergraduate degree in statistics
ing, and other benefits. the Himalayas, Mount Fuji, with a minor in computer sci-
the Galapagos Islands, and ence. That’s when I began doing
How has your statistical work Cameroon. Most of all, I enjoy collaborative, interdisciplinary
changed over your tenure with spending time with my family, research, including working with
LANL, and where do you see including my husband and fellow a team of statisticians, computer
statistical work heading in an statistician, Jim, whom I met in scientists, and astrophysicists
era of machine learning, AI, and graduate school; my three daugh- to study the Sloan Digital Sky
data science? ters, Barbara, Beth, and Laura— Survey. The faculty recruited me
After progressing from purely tech- two of whom are statisticians; and to join a new joint PhD program
nical roles to a series of R&D lead- my granddaughter, Genevieve. between the statistics department
ership roles, I transitioned back to JSM has been a professional and and what later became the world’s
full-time technical work with the family destination for decades! first machine learning depart-
perspectives of both a researcher ment. After winning a fellowship
and a manager. I have witnessed from AT&T Labs to support
a change over time from small six years of graduate work, I did
focused projects to larger, more Please tell us about the summer internships in AT&T’s
complex challenges. I see a trend Statistical Sciences Group at Los artificial intelligence department,
toward more integrated approach- Alamos National Laboratory and their machine learning depart-
es to problem solving with increas- the projects you work on. ment, and then at a machine
ing interaction across both the Our group has almost 30 scien- learning startup. For my PhD
scientific components and the tists—I love saying “I’m a scien- thesis, I worked with large data
different aspects of data collec- tist!” —most with a PhD in sta- sets to combine video of the sur-
tion and analysis. I currently serve tistics. We’re very much an applied face of a brain with physiological
as the analysis lead for an analyt- group, by which I mean our work measurements like blood pres-
ics project at LANL where opera- typically starts with a consequen- sure and heart rate. Knowing I
tional data streams are integrated tial scientific challenge, such as didn’t want a career in academia,
into a variety of analyses to support predicting the impact of hurricanes I applied to become a scientist at
data-informed decision-making. I on the power grid, estimating the Los Alamos instead.
see statistics continuing to provide chemical composition of rocks on
a rigorous foundation for many Mars, forecasting COVID-19 cases What do you like most about work-
of the methods used in machine and deaths, or evaluating the state ing as a statistician at Los Alamos?
learning, AI, and data science, as of the nuclear stockpile. We then What’s most challenging?
well as a structured approach to explore the data sets—ranging In the best jobs, you work on
uncertainty, while other disciplines from massive to meager—that we projects you’re excited about with
bring additional concepts and can use to address that challenge, people you enjoy being around,
tools for analysis, computation, and we determine what methods and I get both here. We tackle
and efficient work flows. will be appropriate. We’re extreme- amazing problems with some of
ly data driven, whether those data the top scientists and best com-
Please tell us about your per- are experimental or simulated or puting resources in the world.
sonal interests and hobbies. just what our collaborators have The people in our group are
I enjoy daily opportunities for lying around. Sometimes, standard always keen to hear about your
exercise—including walking, hik- methods will do the trick—it’s sur- work and help you brainstorm
ing, and swimming—that help prising how far linear regression ways of approaching your latest
me immensely both physically can get you—but our data violate challenge. I often say that when
and mentally. I find that cooking model assumptions a lot, so we someone hires one of us to work
10 amstat news july 2020Tell us about your position as fit in well. Computing skills will
leader of the Statistical Sciences help you stand out as a strong
Group at Los Alamos National candidate, whether that’s devel-
Laboratory. What about this oping an R package or deploying
position appealed to you, and your analyses on a supercomputer.
what are your priorities for the And being able to communicate
next few years? your work—both the application
I’m our deputy group leader, area and your methodology—to
which means I help with every- a smart audience that doesn’t have
Kary Myers is a scientist thing from hiring decisions to your expertise will make you a cov-
and deputy group leader student programs to sharing our eted collaborator.
group’s accomplishments with To join our group at Los
in the Statistical Sciences
a larger audience. I’m also still a Alamos, you’ll need to be able to
Group at Los Alamos National
scientist and have several tech- obtain a Department of Energy
Laboratory. At Los Alamos, she security clearance that usually
nical leadership roles, including
has been involved with a range requires US citizenship. Some
guiding teams studying Mars or
of data-intensive projects, from nuclear reactors. national labs have more flexible
examining electromagnetic I’ve enjoyed this role because citizenship requirements than
measurements to aiding large- I get to support and showcase so we do, so check each job post-
scale computer simulations many smart people working on ing for details.
to developing analyses for such a wide range of projects and
initiatives. It also has enabled me How does one find out about
chemical spectra from the Mars
to continue growing CoDA, the opportunities for internships
Science Laboratory Curiosity and employment at LANL?
Rover. She is an ASA Fellow Conference on Data Analysis, a
biennial event that Earl Lawrence We are hiring, pandemic or no
and has served as an associate pandemic! And this summer, we’re
and I founded in 2012 to feature
editor for the Annals of Applied
data-driven research across the learning how to do our interviews
Statistics and Journal of Department of Energy. online, instead of onsite. To see
Quantitative Analysis in Sports. Over the next few years, I’d the job posting for our scientist
She created and organizes like to expand and formalize our positions and learn more about
CoDA, the Conference on Data academic connections—includ- our group, visit stat.lanl.gov.
ing having faculty visit for a week If you’re thinking about an
Analysis, to showcase data-
or a summer or a year—and con- internship, contact people in our
driven research across the
tinuing to engage with students group who are working on top-
Department of Energy. ics that interest you. The staff
through internships or by pro-
viding challenging data for their profiles at stat.lanl.gov are a good
on their project, they’re actu- thesis work. place to start, as is browsing our
ally gaining the expertise of our Google Scholar pages to see what
entire group. What makes someone a good we’re publishing. Many of our
The group has several defini- candidate to work in your group current group members start-
tions of success. We value pub- or at another national lab as a ed out as summer interns, so I
lishing and proposal writing but statistician? encourage you to talk with them
don’t require either. Some people We love to see people who have to learn more about their experi-
are entrepreneurial about creat- worked collaboratively on applied ences and to hear about beautiful
ing opportunities to pursue the problems and made the effort northern New Mexico! n
work they want to do. Others to know the subject matter as
are tremendous at lending their much as the statistical methods.
statistical knowledge to support If you’ve worked with a variety
some of the most critical missions of challenging data sets and can
in the nation. The challenge lies articulate what made them chal-
in ensuring that such a diverse lenging and how that steered your
group can thrive. methodology decisions, you’ll
july 2020 amstat news 11A Glimpse into the CDC’s Innovation,
Technology, and Analytics Task Force
Amanda Malloy, ASA Director of Development
What work is the data
analysis team responsible
for? What is your part?
We are responsible for the com-
mercial laboratory data orders and
results being sent to CDC from
six commercial laboratories. I am
the commercial laboratory data
co-lead, and we oversee a team of
analysts working to validate and
stand up these new data streams.
We’re getting all coronavirus-
related laboratory tests, regardless
of result outcome or type of test,
from six commercial laboratories.
Stephanie Dietz of the CDC Innovation, Technology, and Analytics Task Force We are also responsible for
reporting on the data daily and
T
working with other statisticians
he Centers for Disease Following is a bit of my
and analysts to incorporate the
Control and Prevention interview with her (edited
data into other reports and mod-
(CDC) has been men- slightly for clarity):
els. Our daily reports on the data
tioned or referenced almost daily
and the work we’re doing with
since the COVID-19 outbreak. How did you end up on other statisticians and analysts
Local and state governments, the
White House, business owners, and the CDC’s COVID-19 data to incorporate the data into other
reports and models are being
the general public depend on the analysis team? used by CDC and HHS leader-
data, analysis, and guidelines rec- In my normal job, I work in the ship to inform decision-making.
ommended by the CDC to make Division of Laboratory Systems Laboratory data testing reports can
important decisions. However, not (DLS) as a statistician, analyz- also be seen on the CDC website.
everyone knows how complicated ing national laboratory test
it is to collect, clean, and analyze result data. At the beginning of
the data related to the pandemic March, another division in our What does your typical
and communicate it in a way that is center, the Division of Health workday look like?
easy to understand. Information Systems (DHIS), I am working from home now.
There are statisticians work- started the process of receiving We have daily stand-ups and
ing tirelessly to wrangle and SARS-CoV-2 laboratory data meetings, which were already in
analyze data and come up with orders and results from commer- place prior to the response and
innovative data visualizations cial laboratories. The technical working from home. The hardest
anyone can understand. That’s complexities of this task required part of my day is working with
not an easy task! Therefore, when a collaboration between DHIS a toddler knocking on my office
I was given the opportunity to and DLS. As a result, staff from door! While I miss asking my col-
talk to Stephanie Dietz, a statisti- DHIS and DLS were deployed to leagues to come over and look at
cian at the CDC who is part of the CDC Data and Analytics Task my screen, I am so impressed with
the Innovation, Technology, and Force and I was asked to co-lead the technology and innovation
Analytics Task Force (currently the effort of validating the com- available to get our jobs done.
focused on COVID-19), I jumped mercial laboratory data for CDC. I don’t currently have a “typi-
at the chance. cal” workday. Every day has been
12 amstat news july 2020varied and different, with unique
and unexpected challenges. It
can range from technical issues
ASA Releases Statement on
to fun analytic questions to
requests with very quick turn-
arounds. I used to joke that there
Government Data Experts
was no such thing as a statistical
T
he American Statistical errors or bias can easily appear,
emergency, but this response has
Association released the leading to misleading and po-
turned that on its head.
following statement tentially damaging public health
recently on the role of data consequences. When experts’
What are some of the experts in state and local govern- data are taken out of their hands,
major technical chal- ments during the COVID-19 their analyses politicized, or
their expertise mocked—rather
lenges facing you and pandemic. The statement has
been sent to US state governors than valued—disinformation
the team? For example, is and public health officials. emerges. If experts have to fear
your technical workflow for their livelihood when the
Government officials face chal- integrity of the data and their
challenging? lenging decisions during this evidence-based conclusions are
Our biggest challenge is data for- COVID-19 pandemic. To make challenged for purely political
matting. As I’m sure most ASA good decisions, policymakers reasons, the entire populace
members know, data cleaning need timely, accurate, and clear suffers. When it becomes known
and validation is often the hard- reports based on the best avail- that experts cannot freely and
est and longest part of any ana- able data and science. Profes- independently provide the best
lytic process. We are receiving sionals in statistics, data science, possible information and that
hundreds of thousands of records epidemiology, and other fields policymakers spurn this informa-
from multiple sources, each are ideally suited to produce tion when making decisions,
with slightly different formats. accurate and objective informa- public confidence fades and
However, we have an outstand- tion to fuel evidence-based public interests are endangered.
ing team of statisticians, database decision-making.
managers, program coordinators, Scientists abide by high stan-
and administrative staff that have Scientific experts and policy- dards of conduct in their work.
found quick, accurate, and cre- makers best collaborate when Statisticians, data scientists,
ative solutions to ensure our data scientists are able to apply epidemiologists, and other sci-
stay flowing and timely. their expertise unfettered and entists who are members of the
independent of political influ- American Statistical Association
What are some things you ence—and absent the fear of (ASA) know to abide by profes-
retaliation, regardless of the
find yourself doing/think- sional ethical standards (www.
implications of their results amstat.org/ASA/Your-Career/
ing/saying that you never on policymaking. A healthy, Ethical-Guidelines-for-Statistical-
thought you would? effective collaborative environ- Practice.aspx). These standards
I, for one, never thought ment requires that experts not only demand a high level of
I’d consider going to a drive provide the most objective professional integrity from ex-
through to pick up dinner a ma- and best possible analyses, perts, but also inform those who
jor outing or have happy hour along with their full context. rely on their expertise about the
by Zoom. I also never thought This allows policymakers and ethical standards on which they
I’d have to teach preschool and decision-makers to integrate can depend.
second grade at the same time. I the expert analyses with other
can honestly say I never thought considerations to arrive at judi- The ASA urges government
I would find myself apologizing cious decisions. The process is officials to work collaboratively
to senior leadership at the CDC entirely transparent. with scientific experts for the
for my toddler making a cameo good of the people they serve.
appearance on our video confer- Decision-making breakdowns Data integrity, rigorous science,
ence call. n occur when these collabora- and good decisions go together.
tions fail and transparency We stand ready to assist officials
dissipates. For example, when in identifying appropriate unbi-
data visualizations are produced ased expertise. n
without input from the experts,
july 2020 amstat news 13New ASA Interest Group:
Text Analysis
T
he ASA’s big tent grew bigger recently with the 4. To contribute to the program of the
addition of the Text Analysis Interest Group annual Joint Statistical Meetings (JSM)
(TAIG). The group was petitioned in the fall and other meetings of the American
of 2018 and formally approved by the Council of Statistical Association and other profes-
Sections Executive Committee in March 2019. sional organizations via formal represen-
tation in technical sessions and continu-
The objectives of the interest group are as follows: ing education opportunities
1. To bring together individuals and groups TAIG serves as the bridge between the main-
who have an active interest in text analysis, stream statistical community represented by the
text mining, natural language processing ASA and the growing field of text analysis, defined
(NLP), and related areas of research through broadly (text mining, natural language processing,
their intersections with statistics computational linguistics, web scraping, senti-
2. To promote research in text analysis and ment analysis, topic modeling, GAN text genera-
involve statisticians with a wide variety of tion, automated translation, etc.). There has been
backgrounds in such work a steady flow of presentations on text analysis and
3. To promote text analysis as an integral part of NLP at ASA conferences over the past five years.
modern statistics education, thereby increas- JSM, the Conference on Statistical Practice (CSP),
ing awareness of the tools and methods of and the Symposium on Data Science and Statistics
text analysis in the statistical community (SDSS) have included at least a dozen presentations
each year featuring text analysis methodology and/
or applications.
14 amstat news july 2020TAIG has had a dynamic start. It held its inau- Looking forward to JSM 2020, TAIG will spon-
gural meeting in Denver at JSM 2019, where about sor the invited session Statistics of Social Media,
30 TAIG members convened to introduce them- organized by Juha Alho of the University of
selves and plan future work. At the meeting, the Helsinki with presentations by Mike Kearney of the
group elected Stas Kolenikov of Abt Associates as University of Missouri, Columbia, Emilio Zagheni
chair, recognizing his contributions to the successful of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic
launch of the group. He wrote the draft charge, set Research, and Alho and discussion by Frauke
up the petition, collected the votes, and interacted Kreuter of the University of Maryland.
with the Council of Sections throughout the group TAIG will also sponsor of a topic-contributed
creation process. panel—Big Data, Technology Platform, and Digital
In December of 2019, the group held an election Innovation with Measurable Impact—organized by
for the first full cohort of officers. About a third of Zou with panelists Siddhartha Dalal of Columbia
the group members voted. The 2020 elected officers University, Joseph Imperator of Upjohn, Pfizer Inc.,
for 2021 are as follows: Kolenikov, Lourenco Miranda of Societe Generale,
Mike Porath of The Mighty, and May Yamada-
• Chair-Elect: Kelly H. Zou, Upjohn, Pfizer Inc. Lifton of SAS Institute.
As with any ASA interest group, ASA members
• Program Chair-Elect: Jordan Rodu, University can join TAIG for free. Currently, there are more
of Virginia than 170 members. To join or learn more about the
• Secretary-Treasurer: Carol Haney, Qualtrics group, visit https://community.amstat.org/taig-group. n
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Free demos* / tutorials available for JSM 2020 attendees
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Sketch and use custom prior distributions
Organize research data & results
Publication-friendly export
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july 2020 amstat news 15Sections and Interest Groups: A
Career Development Perspective
Regulatory-Industry Statistics Workshop), short
courses, webinars, and roundtables on diverse top-
ics. Participation in these activities improves tech-
nical knowledge and helps members build connec-
tions with experts.
In addition, many sections and IGs sponsor
mentoring, leadership, and networking activities
that can be extremely useful for junior statisti-
cians. Some sections have an established mentoring
program around conferences, whereas others have
Matthew Krachey is a data Ofer Harel is a professor year-round programs (https://community.amstat.org/
scientist at the Expedia Group and the director of graduate ccd/asamentoring). These development opportuni-
working on natural language admissions in the department ties can focus on technical topics or soft skills (e.g.,
processing problems. He is the of statistics at the University presenting, writing, and networking). Because sec-
current chair of the Committee of Connecticut. He is chair of
tions and IGs are always looking for volunteers and
participants in their activities, getting involved is a
on Career Development. the ASA’s Council of Sections
great way to quickly build a professional network
Governing Board and a
and develop leadership and organizational skills.
member of the Committee on Several sections also hold or support data chal-
Career Development. Harel lenges throughout the year. Data challenges such as
is also an active member of DataFest are supported by the ASA in general, while
numerous ASA sections who Data Expo Challenge is supported by the Statistical
began his involvement when Computing and Statistical Graphics sections, for
he was a junior researcher. example. These challenges are opportunities to gain
access to novel data sets, learn modeling and data
T
processing methods, sharpen programming skills,
MORE ONLINE he ASA is a large and diverse organization, and develop professional portfolios that can dem-
For a list of bringing together statisticians working in onstrate aptitude and provide interesting conversa-
section and areas such as sports, health care, manufac- tion in interviews.
interest group turing, defense, and national security. Each area Currently, there are 29 sections and 10 IGs.
websites, visit may make use of different methodologies and appli- Section membership requires an annual fee (rang-
cations, so it is a good idea for all statisticians— ing from $5 to $12 per year, reduced for students).
bit.ly/2B8vQqK.
especially those in the early phases of their careers— Sections also have formal charters with elected
to join a section or interest group (IG) to develop chairs and other officers. ASA members are able to
professional skills in the areas of their interest. join a section and receive the first year of member-
Sections and IGs are subject-area and/or industry- ship for free as an incentive to get involved with
related communities that offer avenues for per- one. Membership in an IG is free and not restricted
sonal and professional development. Membership to ASA members.
provides opportunities to attend specialty confer- Some of the sections and IGs are more active than
ences (e.g., International Conference on Health others, but most have opportunities for students and
Policy Statistics), workshops (e.g., Preparing to early-career professionals. Several maintain websites
Teach and the ASA Biopharmaceutical Section
16 amstat news july 2020The ASA Committee on Career
Development’s (CCD) mission is to organize
and promote activities, information, and
materials to aid in the career development
of statisticians and data scientists and to
excite new interest in careers in these fields. Nominations
To achieve this mission, CCD works on a
variety of programs, including webinars,
virtual career office hours, a networking
Wanted for
training at JSM, a database of soft skills,
and a variety of articles. You can find these
Norwood Award
materials and more at https://community.
T
amstat.org/ccd/home. he University of Alabama at Birmingham
(UAB) School of Public Health and
Department of Biostatistics request
with up-to-date information related to development nominations for the Janet L. Norwood Award for
in the research area. Some have a resources portal, Outstanding Achievement by a Woman in the
and others maintain blogs. Before jumping into spe- Statistical Sciences.
cific examples, here is a list of general section and Eligible individuals are women who:
IG benefits: • Have completed their terminal degree
1. Networking with members who have simi- • Have made extraordinary contributions and
lar interests have an outstanding record of service to
the statistical sciences, with an emphasis on
a. Online discussions in dedicated ASA both their own scholarship and teaching and
Community groups leadership of the field in general and women
b. In-person meetings at conference mixers in particular
c. Mentoring programs • Are willing to deliver a lecture at the award
2. Keeping up to date in your area ceremony
a. Scientific program at the Joint
Statistical Meetings (JSM) How to Nominate
b. Continuing education classes, webi- Send a full curriculum vitae accompanied by a letter
nars, and roundtables of not more than two pages describing the nature
c. Information about special interest con- of the candidate’s contributions. Contributions may
ferences be in the area of development and evaluation of
statistical methods, teaching of statistics, application
3. Other benefits of statistics, or any other activity that can arguably be
a. Section newsletters said to have advanced the field of statistical science.
b. Best paper and poster awards at JSM Self-nominations are acceptable, and electronic
submissions of nominations are encouraged.
c. Leadership opportunities
Nominations should be sent to norwoodawd@
d. Sponsored awards uab.edu by August 17.
e. Student competitions The winner will be announced by August 31,
and the date of the lecture is October 20.
A summary of the three major activities of For more information, visit bit.ly/3hFqrbe. n
each section and interest group can be found at
bit.ly/2NbKZub.
Whatever career stage you are in, sections and
IGs provide many opportunities for finding com-
munity, networking, mentoring, and developing
technical and soft skills. n
july 2020 amstat news 17You can also read
