andrew mead

Science

Andrew Mead

Statistician

Intelligent Data Ecosystems

PUBLICATIONS
Location
Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, AL5 2JQ
Tel
+44 (0) 1582 938 278
Email
andrew.mead@rothamsted.ac.uk
Professional Platforms
LinkedIn
ORCID
ResearchGate

Biography

Andrew enjoys promoting the application and development of statistical and mathematical approaches to add value to the wide range of biological research at Rothamsted Research, and more widely within the life sciences. He is particularly interested in the statistical topics of the design of experiments, statistical (regression) modelling, and multivariate statistical approaches. He has applied this expertise in seed viability and germination, insect pest and plant disease studies, plant nutrition, modelling the weed life cycle, gene expression studies, landscape-scale impacts of bioenergy on ecosystem service, and mushroom production. He is also interested in the development of training courses and materials for non-statisticians. He would like to provide biological researchers with an appropriate statistical background knowledge and awareness of the potential for the application of statistical approaches to enhance their research. One current research area is the multivariate analysis and statistical modelling of metagenomics data, with applications to the spatial variation of communities of antibiotic resistance genes in river catchments, and to the soil microbial communities found in different agricultural growing environments. A second current research area is the statistical design of long-term field trials to assess metrics of sustainability, and the development to model-based analyses of data from long-term experiments.

Strategic Programme

  • Tailoring Plant Metabolism (TPM)

Science Projects

  • Blackgrass: using weather data to improve the efficacy of pre-emergence herbicides for control of grass-weeds
  • Using next generation sequencing to reveal human impact on aquatic resevoirs of antibiotic resistant bacteria at the catchment scale
  • Chicken or the Egg: Is AMR in the Environment Driven by Dissemination of Antibiotics or Antibiotic Resistance Genes (NERC)
  • Developing integrated approaches for pest and disease control in horticultural crops (IAPAD) (BBSRC-HAPI)
  • Digitilization of Field Trial Operations (Bayer Crop Science)

PhD Projects

  • Understanding the relative impacts of climate change on crop production using data from the Long Term Experiments
  • Developing a model for Sclerotinia disease risk in the UK

Awards

  • 2012 - Postgraduate Certificate in Academic and Professional Practice, University of Warwick, UK
  • 1993 (re-accredited, 2015) - Chartered Statistician (CStat), Royal Statistical Society, UK
  • 1987 - MSc in Biometry, University of Reading, UK
  • 1986 - BSc in Statistics, University of Bath, UK

Measures of Esteem

  • July 2016 - Invited Short Course Lecturer "Design of Complex Experiments in Modern Biological Research", International Biometric Conference, Victoria, Canada
  • July 2015 -UK national panel of experts in statistical training for life scientists
  • Present - Fisher Memorial Trust Committee Member
  • Present - Royal Statistical Society Examiner for Graduate Diploma Module 4
  • 2008-2009 - Past-President of the International Biometric Society (Vice-President, 2007 & 2010)
  • Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Development of the International Biometric Society, 2006
  • International Council Member of the International Biometric Society, 2001-2008
  • Secretary of the British and Irish Region of the International Biometric Society, 2000-2007