The first ever BES Quantitative Ecology conference is just a couple of weeks away. Liam Butler, a member of the conference organising committee, tells us what we can look forward to at this year’s event.

The Quantitative Ecology Special Interest Group (QE SIG) within the British Ecological Society is hosting its first Annual Conference on Monday 9th July just before the BES Macro Annual Conference, at St. Andrews, Scotland. The QE SIG aims to bring together interdisciplinary research that, in one way or another, links quantitative biology to the broader disciplines within ecology and genetic research. The QE SIG will welcome over 50 international attendees made up of a mix of BES members, students and professionals involved or interested in quantitative ecological processes within the broader field of biology.

The QE SIG aims to support quantitative skills for ecologists, improve dissemination of new and novel quantitative methods across the board and bring international, interdisciplinary researchers together for a specialised network event.

The QE SIG welcomes Keynote speakers Prof. Jane Reid (University of Aberdeen), Dr. Janine Illian (University of St. Andrews) and the winner of our student keynote competition Kate Wootton (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences). Prof. Jane Reid will be discussing quantitative genetic approaches and their applications, Dr. Janine Illian will talk about spatial point processes in ecology and Kate Woottoon will discuss microhabitat use, mesocosms and models in multitrophic communities using traits to predict community dynamics. Registered lightning talks will range from the use of models to compare distribution of species, to comparison of body size in animals inhabiting different ecosystems, to the use of Bayesian networks and to forecasting change of zoonotic disease with current climate change dilemmas delivered by Postgraduate research candidates, Postdoctoral Researchers, Fellows, Associates and Professors.

The first Annual Conference for the QE SIG is a very exciting event to recognise the importance of quantitative science, especially because of the fast-paced technological and methodological advances that science is now experiencing. It also goes without saying that this event is an exceptional opportunity for networking with international attendees working in both similar and different research fields, bringing together scientists who might cross paths again in their career. This is especially targeted towards early career researchers to help identify areas of research and opportunities.

For more information on the upcoming event please visit our webpage, the QE SIG blog or follow us on twitter @BES_QE_SIG for further updates. The QE SIG team is very excited to welcoming you all in St. Andrews!