RSS fellow and PhD student in Biostatistics, Celina Gehringer gives her five key takeaways from this RSS 2022 Conference session on starting a statistical career in the environmental and engineering sectors.
With the environment and engineering
not always obvious career paths for young statisticians,
this professional development session provided an insight into the roles of statisticians and data scientists in these two industries.
1. There are a variety of different roles for statisticians and data scientists, which can be more research or consultancy focused. Some of the exciting topics that the panellists have worked on include:
- Covid-19 in wastewater
- Impact of offshore renewable developments on seabirds
- Flooding
- Climate change
- Water quality
- Energy consumption
- Condition monitoring
- Leakage analysis
2. There is a culture of learning, personal development, and knowledge sharing across the industry and the companies that were represented (Scottish Water, BioSS, OPEX and Northern Gas Networks).
3. Some of the key qualities that recruiters in environment and engineering look for include:
- An interest in science/technology
- An openness to new opportunities
- Problem solving skills
- Curiosity - asking questions
- Creative thinking
- Communication skills
4. If you are looking to switch career paths or start your career in environment and engineering, it is important to put yourself out there and network at conferences or reach out to people on LinkedIn. People are usually very happy to share advice.
5. And finally, the speakers said that while engineering and environment might be non –conventional career routes for statisticians, they’re fun and rewarding so definitely worth pursuing!