Strengthen your quantitative toolkit for marine mammal research with our live online course *Bayesian Statistical Modelling with Stan and brms (BMSB01)*.
https://prstats.org/course/bayesian-statistical-modelling-with-stan-and-brms-bmsb01/ Bayesian modelling is increasingly important in marine mammal science, particularly when dealing with sparse sightings, complex survey designs, imperfect detection, and hierarchical ecological processes. This hands-on course provides a practical introduction to Bayesian inference using *Stan* through the *brms* interface in R, combining conceptual understanding with applied modelling workflows. This course does not use examples from ecology or marine mammals, however, the methods taught are directly applicable to many types of marine mammal datasets, including: - Modelling abundance and population trends from survey data - Analysing behavioural or movement data from tagging studies - Hierarchical models for multi-site or multi-year monitoring programmes - Integrating environmental covariates with ecological observations - Quantifying uncertainty in ecological and conservation decisions *The course covers:* - Foundations of Bayesian reasoning and statistical inference - Fitting Bayesian regression models in R using *brms* and Stan - Understanding priors, likelihoods, and posterior distributions - Model diagnostics and convergence assessment (e.g. R-hat, trace plots) - Model comparison and interpretation of posterior estimates - Extending models to generalized linear and hierarchical structures Participants will work through practical coding exercises and learn how to build, evaluate, and interpret Bayesian models in a reproducible R workflow. Delivered live online, the course allows direct interaction with the instructor, opportunities to ask questions about your own datasets, and structured guidance through applied examples. All participants receive course materials, example code, and post-course support. *Course details* Dates: 5–7 May 2026 Duration: 3 days (approximately 6 hours per day) Format: Live online Fee: £400 This course is suitable for postgraduate students, researchers, and professionals working in marine mammal ecology, conservation, and population assessment who want to apply Bayesian methods using R and Stan. Full details and registration: https://prstats.org/course/bayesian-statistical-modelling-with-stan-and-brms-bmsb01/ Email [email protected] with any questions. -- Oliver Hooker PhD. PR stats
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