A statistical method for analysing predator-prey relationships was developed by Philipp Neubauer. The method will be used to study the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on marine ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico. The approach was developed collaboratively with Olaf Jensen, at Rutgers University, and Olaf is continuing to expand the use of this analysis.
After Philipp Neubauer completed his Ph.D., he had a post-doctoral fellowship in the United States working in the laboratory of Olaf Jensen at Rutgers University. Since returning to New Zealand, Philipp has been able to continue his collaboration with Olaf, leading to a paper in PeerJ, and the release of software for analysing predator-prey relationships on GitHub.
Developing the software has allowed Philipp to make his statistical modelling experience more widely available to Olaf’s research group. This has opened up new directions for their research, and they are planning to use the software to look at how marine ecosystems have been affected by the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Olaf has been very supportive of our involvement in the project, and this experience illustrates the advantages of an open, collaborative research process.
Read a case study describing this work in more detail: Statistical modelling for working out who’s eating who.
Contact Philipp by email: philipp@dragonfly.co.nz.