ONLINE COURSE – Species Distribution Modelling With Bayesian Statistics Using R (SDMB07) This course will be delivered live
30 September 2025 - 2 October 2025
£385.00
Event Date
Tuesday, September 30th, 2025
Course Format
This is a ‘LIVE COURSE’ – the instructor will be delivering lectures and coaching attendees
through the accompanying computer practicals via video link, so a good internet connection is
essential.
Time Zone
TIME ZONE – Portugal (GMT+1) local time – however all sessions will be recorded and made available allowing attendees from different time zones to follow.
Please email oliverhooker@prstatistics.com for full details or to discuss how we can accommodate you.
About This Course
This course focuses on the use of BART (Bayesian Additive Regression Trees) for modelling
species’ geographical distributions based on occurrence data and environmental variables. BART is a relatively recent technique that shows very promising results in the field of species distribution and ecological niche modelling (SDM / ENM), as it produces accurate predictions (considering various aspects of model performance) without overfitting to noise or to special cases in the data. Additionally, BART allows mapping the uncertainty and credible intervals associated to each local prediction.
The course includes a combination of theoretical lectures and hands-on practicals in R, as well as
open discussions about models and data for SDM applications. The practicals go through a
complete worked example, from data preparation to model output analysis, with annotated R
scripts that can be adapted on-the-spot by participants to work on their own species of interest.
Along the course, the instructor is available for constant feedback and orientation on participants’; outputs and interpretations.
Intended Audiences
best practices and state-of-the-art methods for modelling species’ distributions or ecological
niches, in an automated and reproducible way.
Venue
Course Details
Duration – 3 days
Contact hours – Approx. 12 hours live, plus remote assistance via Slack from the first day to the
weekday after the course.
ECT’s – Equal to 1.5 ECT’s
Language – English
Teaching Format
This course runs along 3 days, each with a 4-hour live online session. Each session is divided into
4 parts, alternating between theoretical lectures and hands-on practicals. Annotated scripts are
provided and instructor assistance is available, both during the live sessions (on Zoom) and
whenever possible the rest of the day (on Slack), until the weekday after the course.
Live sessions will be video-recorded, uploaded to a video hosting website as soon as possible after
each session, and remain available for one month after the course.
Assumed quantitative knowledge
and ideally have some previous experience with the basics. Previous knowledge of Bayesian
statistics is not required.
Assumed computer background
basic data handling, although commented scripts will be provided for the entire course.
Equipment and software requirements
Participants must use a computer with a good internet connection, a working recent version or R (and ideally also RStudio), and recent versions of some R packages whose installation instructions will be sent a few days before the course. A working webcam is desirable for enhanced interactivity during the live sessions. Some computation power is required for modelling large datasets, although the provided example data (and suggested subsets of participants’ data) can run on an ordinary laptop.
Cancellations are accepted up to 28 days before the course start date subject to a 25% cancellation fee. Cancellations later than this may be considered, contact oliverhooker@prstatistics.com. Failure to attend will result in the full cost of the course being charged. In the unfortunate event that a course is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances a full refund of the course fees will be credited.
If you are unsure about course suitability, please get in touch by email to find out more oliverhooker@prstatistics.com
COURSE PROGRAMME
Tuesday 30th
Day 1 – Classes from 14:00 – 18:00
- Module 1a: Obtain and process data, including species presences and environmental variables
- Practical
- Module 1b: Determine an adequate spatial resolution and extent for modelling
- Practical
Wednesday 1st
Day 2 – Classes from 14:00 – 18:00
- Module 2a: Build a species distribution model with BART and obtain predictions of environmental favorability, with credibility intervals and associated uncertainty
- Practical
- Module 2b: Evaluate and cross-validate the model, assessing various aspects of predictive ability
- Practical
Thursday 2nd
Day 3 – Classes from 14:00 – 18:00
- Module 3a: Quantify variable contributions and try out different methods for selecting relevant variables
- Practical
- Module 3b: Plot and map the species’ partial response to each variable
- Practical
Dr. Marcia Barbosa
Márcia is an experienced researcher and instructor in biogeography and macroecology, particularly in geographic information systems and species distribution modelling. She’s also a reviewer and editor for scientific journals and funding agencies, and a promoter and developer of free and open-source software implementing transparency, reproducibility and best practices. You can see her publication list at her website or at Publons/ResearcherID, Scopus, ORCID, Google Scholar, or ResearchGate.