Animal studies are a valuable source in scientific research to understand environmental determinants of health and to improve health outcomes. The impact of climate change on animal populations is widely studied through animal tracking of many wildlife species. Laboratory animals are an essential component of preclinical research and drug development. Livestock health, reproduction and welfare are important for animal-based food industry. Microbial composition plays an important role in various health-related traits in host species. All these applications require tailored statistical tools and approaches to address the data collection, study/experimental design and data analysis needs.

The proposed session aims to highlight statistical methods for various applications involving animals. The session will host a chair and three speakers. The first speaker, Dr. Ayesha Ali of the University of Guelph will present their research on compositional data as encountered in microbiome studies. The second speaker, Dr. Saman Muthukumarana of the University of Manitoba will present their research on modelling fish movements in Canadian Arctic. The third speaker, Dr. Thierry Duchesne of Université Laval will present their research on predicting behavioral aspects in animal movements in populations such as mule deer, bison and zebra.

While all three speakers are established researchers with similar career stages, they all come from different  academic and cultural backgrounds, and form a diverse group representing three provinces (Ontario, Manitoba and Quebec). Furthermore, the session composition is gender-balanced with two females and two males, including the Chair.

All speakers confirmed their participation in the session and provided tentative title and abstract for their talks (see below).