Key Skills in
Statistics,
Data Science,
and Statistical Programming
for Resource Managers

(Conducted under EMF 115 1.0 Key Skills for Resource Managers)

Dr. Thiyanga S. Talagala

Why are these skills important to learn?

In 2022, a government in a country introduced a forest conservation tax. The main purpose of the tax is to charge for activities like logging, land clearing, and timber exports to discourage unsustainable use of forests.

In 2022, a government in a country introduced a forest conservation tax. The main purpose of the tax is to charge for activities like logging, land clearing, and timber exports to discourage unsustainable use of forests.

To assess the effectiveness of the Forest Conservation Tax introduced in 2022, the government consults two managers to understand its impact.

Manager A

I think deforestation has slowed. I haven’t seen as many trucks lately. It seems like the forest conservation tax policy is working.

Manager A

I think deforestation has slowed. I haven’t seen as many trucks lately. It seems like the forest conservation tax policy is working.

Manager B

Using satellite images, we compared the extent of deforested areas before and after the tax policy was introduced. The data show that these deforested areas have decreased.

Manager A

Just opinion, no data

Manager B

Transparent and justifiable

Why Statistics are Needed for Managers

  1. To make informed decisions with strong evidence

    • Statistics helps managers move from “I think” to “I know based on data.”

    • Statistics gives managers the language of evidence which is important when communicating with policymakers, donors, or communities.

  2. To measure performance and impact

  3. To understand trends and patterns

Statistician/ Data Scientist: What they do and How they work

Have you ever cooked something or watched how a cook is preparing a meal?

Cook

Step 1

Collect ingredients

Statistician/ Data Scientist

Step 1

Collect data

Data

Obesity is a common problem in captive elephants. Body weight (in kilograms) is a useful way to check their physical condition, but it is hard to weigh elephants.

Therefore, a team of researchers wants to develop a model to predict body weight (kg) using four other body measurements of elephants.

Image source: R for Data Science

Primary Data vs Secondary Data

  1. Primary Data: Data collected directly by the researcher for a specific purpose or study.

  2. Secondary Data: Data that has already been collected by someone else and made readily available for researchers to use

Primary Data Collection Methods

  1. Observational studies

  2. Questionnaire Survey

Method: Asking a set of questions

Instruments:

  • Printed or digital questionnaires

  • Google Forms / SurveyMonkey

  • Mobile apps or data collection tools (e.g., KoboToolbox)

Your turn: Find other primary data collection methods.

Your turn

Identify secondary data sources relevant to forestry and environmental sciences.

  • Open source data repositories:

    ourworldindata

  • Paid data repositories