Geostatistics is a branch of statistics focusing on spatial or spatiotemporal datasets. Developed originally to predict probability distributions of ore grades for mining operations, it is currently applied in diverse disciplines including petroleum geology, hydrogeology, hydrology, meteorology, oceanography, geochemistry, geometallurgy, geography, forestry, environmental control, landscape ecology, soil science, and agriculture. Geostatistics is applied in varied branches of geography, particularly those involving the spread of diseases (epidemiology), the practice of commerce and military planning (logistics), and the development of efficient spatial networks. Geostatistical algorithms are incorporated in many places, including geographic information systems (GIS).
Calyampudi Radhakrishna Rao,, commonly known as C. R. Rao, is an Indian-American mathematician and statistician. He is currently professor emeritus at Pennsylvania State University and Research Professor at the University at Buffalo. Rao has been honoured by numerous colloquia, honorary degrees, and festschrifts and was awarded the US National Medal of Science in 2002. The American Statistical Association has described him as "a living legend whose work has influenced not just statistics, but has had far reaching implications for fields as varied as economics, genetics, anthropology, geology, national planning, demography, biometry, and medicine." The Times of India listed Rao as one of the top 10 Indian scientists of all time. Rao is also a Senior Policy and Statistics advisor for the Indian Heart Association non-profit focused on raising South Asian cardiovascular disease awareness.
The branches of science, also referred to as sciences, scientific fields or scientific disciplines, are commonly divided into three major groups:
Jillian Fiona Banfield is professor at the University of California, Berkeley with appointments in the Earth Science, Ecosystem Science and Materials Science and Engineering departments. She leads the Microbial Research initiative within the Innovative Genomics Institute, is affiliated with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and has a position at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Some of her most noted work includes publications on the structure and functioning of microbial communities and the nature, properties and reactivity of nanomaterials.
The International Association of Geoanalysts is an international not-for-profit learned society. Its objectives are to: "serve as an international forum for the advancement of geoanalytical science and to promote the interests and support the professional needs of those involved in the analysis of geological and environmental materials".
The International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG) is a nonprofit organization of geoscientists. It aims to promote international cooperation in the application and use of mathematics in geological research and technology. IAMG's activities are to organize meetings, issue of publications on the application of mathematics in the geological sciences, extend cooperation with other organizations professionally concerned with applications of mathematics and statistics to the biological sciences, earth sciences, engineering, environmental sciences, and planetary sciences. IAMG is a not for profit 501(c)(3) organization.
Behara Seshadri Daya Sagar also known as B. S. Daya Sagar is an Indian mathematical geoscientist specializing in mathematical morphology. He is a professor of computer science at the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore. He is known as a specialist in mathematical morphology, fractal geometry. chaos theory, and their applications in geophysics, geographical information science, and computational geography. The Indian Geophysical Union awarded him the Krishnan Medal in 2002. He is the first Asian to receive the Georges Matheron Lectureship in 2011. In 2018, he received the IAMG Certificate of Appreciation by the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences for his work on the Handbook of Mathematical Geosciences. In 2020, Sagar was selected as an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer (DL) to represent the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society.
John Warvelle Harbaugh (1926-2019) was an American geologist who spent most of his professional career at Stanford University devoted to research on mathematical modeling of dynamic systems, sedimentary basin simulation and oil exploration risk analysis. Since 1999, he is Professor Emeritus both at the Geological and Environmental Sciences Department and at the Energy Resources Engineering Department.
He received numerous honors and awards for his accomplishments and service to the profession that include the Haworth Distinguished Alumni Award of University of Kansas (1968), the A.I. Levorsen Award (1970) from the Pacific Section of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), the Distinguished Service Award also from AAPG (1987), the William Christian Krumbein Medal from International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (1986), and the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (2003). In 2001, his colleagues and friends presented him with a festschrift. In 2013, the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences elected him as Honorary Member.
Vera Pawlowsky-Glahn is a Spanish-German mathematician. From 2000 till 2018, she was a full-time professor at the University of Girona, Spain in the Department of Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, and Statistics. Since 2018 she is emeritus professor at the same university. She was previously an associate professor at Technology University in Barcelona from 1986 to 2000. Her main areas of research interest include statistical analysis of compositional data, algebraic-geometric approach to statistical inference, and spatial cluster analysis. She was the president of the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences (IAMG) during 2008–2012. IAMG awarded her the William Christian Krumbein Medal in 2006 and the John Cedric Griffiths Teaching Award in 2008. In 2007, she was selected IAMG Distinguished Lecturer.
During the 6th International Workshop on Compositional Data Analysis in June 2015, Vera was appointed president of a commission to formalize the creation of an international organization of scientists interested in the advancement and application of compositional data modeling.
William Swain Cleveland II is an American computer scientist and Professor of Statistics and Professor of Computer Science at Purdue University, known for his work on data visualization, particularly on nonparametric regression and local regression.
Daniel Francis Merriam was an American geologist best known for fostering the development of quantitative modeling in geology after the advent of digital computers. He first joined the Kansas Geological Survey in 1953, initially working under the direction Raymond C. Moore to have a more accurate knowledge about the geology of the state. His fascination with the new possibilities offered by computers started ten years later while working with John W. Harbaugh at Stanford University as Visiting Research Scientist. In the following seven years, he was active organizing colloquia and as editor of the Computer Contributions, who saw 50 publications in the series by pioneers in the new field. Merriam accepted the position of Chairman of the Department of Geology at Syracuse University in 1971 and moved to the same position at Wichita State University in 1981, coming back to the Kansas Geological Survey in 1991 to retire in 1997, remaining as an Emeritus Scientist.
Jef Caers, born in Belgium, is an academic working as a Professor at the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, Stanford University. He was awarded the Andrei Borisovich Vistelius Research Award and the William Christian Krumbein Medal by the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences in 2001 and 2014 respectively. He is Editor-in-Chief of Computers & Geosciences.
John Clements Davis is an American geologist best known for his research in the application of statistics to geology. He spent almost his entire professional career with the Kansas Geological Survey, being an Emeritus Scientist since 2003. He then served as Univ-Prof of Reservoir Characterization at the Montanuniversität in Leoben, Austria and is now Chief Geologist for Heinemann Oil GmbH in Austria.
Davis has been a member of several professional societies, most active in the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences, where he was Editor of the Newsletter (1973–1989), Western Treasurer (1972–1980), Secretary General (1980–1984), President (1984–1989) and Distinguished Lecturer (2002). The Association acknowledged his valuable contributions to the organization and science by presenting him with the Krumbein Medal. Davis also received the Haidinger Medal from the Geologische Bundesanstalt for his contributions to mathematical geology.
Peter Arthur Fox was a data science and Semantic eScience researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), United States. He was a Tetherless World Constellation chair and professor of Earth and Environmental Science, Computer Science and Cognitive Science, and director of the Information Technology and Web Science Program at RPI. He was known for defining informatics and data science in earth sciences, bringing Semantic Web research to that community, as well as defining the sun-earth connection research agenda and co-convening the community. Fox was born in Devonport, Tasmania, Australia and resided in Troy, NY, United States until his death on 27 March 2021, at the age of 61.
Noel Andrew Cressie is an Australian and American statistician. He is Distinguished Professor and Director, Centre for Environmental Informatics, at the University of Wollongong in Wollongong, Australia.
Rishi Narain Singh is an Indian geophysicist and an Emeritus Professor of the National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad. He is known for his researches on the quantification of geological processes and is an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Earth, Atmosphere, Ocean and Planetary Sciences in 1985.
Carol Anne Gotway Crawford is an American mathematical statistician and from 2018 to 2020 served as Chief Statistician of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). She joined the GAO in May 2017. From August 2014 to April 2017, she was with the Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Statistics Service. She was formerly at the National Center for Environmental Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She also holds an adjunct faculty position at the Rollins School of Public Health of Emory University, and is an expert in biostatistics, spatial analysis, environmental statistics, and the statistics of public health. She also maintains an interest in geoscience and has held executive roles in the International Association for Mathematical Geosciences.
Antonella Buccianti is an Italian statistician and earth scientist, known for her work on the statistics of compositional data and its applications in geochemistry and geostatistics. She is an associate professor in the department of earth sciences at the University of Florence.
Xiaogang Ma or Marshall Ma is a Chinese data science and geoinformatics researcher at the University of Idaho (UI), United States. He is an associate professor in the department of computer science at UI, and also affiliates with the department of earth and spatial sciences and several research institutes and centers at the university.
