Quantitative Analysis Group: USGS Pacific Island Ecosystems Research Center

The Quantitative Analysis Group (Q-Hui) is a team of four experts that advises on design, implementation, analysis, and interpretation of population- and habitat-centered wildlife science. Contact us.

They are employees of the Hawaii Cooperative Studies Unit of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and have a long history of collaboration with PIERC, other federal and state agencies, and NGOs. The Q-Hui can be brought in to assist at any stage of a project - before, during, and after data collection - or for review and comment on theoretical issues such as design of sampling protocols, sampling effort, and analytic strength, as well as applied issues such as GIS analysis and database management.

Examples of Q-Hui expertise

Project Planning

Monitoring and experimental design
Power analysis
Efficient sampling design
Spatial and temporal sampling design
Geodatabase design
Relational database design for research and monitoring
Statistical consultation

Project Implementation

Point-transect distance sampling bird surveys
Quantitative vegetation surveys
Occupancy sampling bird and bat surveys
Infra-red (IR) videography
Automated detection of animal occurrence (e.g., bat echolocation sampling)
Population size and distribution trend assessments
Relational and geospatial database management

Theoretical Issues

Spatial and temporal sampling design
Sampling rare or elusive species
Adaptive management of monitoring protocols
Assess estimator bias and improve sampling techniques

Data Analysis

GIS analysis and mapping of results
Geospatial habitat occupancy
Adjusting sampling metrics for detection probability
Habitat selection
Automated vegetation mapping
Population Viability Analysis (PVA)
Time-series and repeated measures analysis
Trend analysis
Parametric statistics
Distribution-free statistics
Hierarchal models
Bayesian inference (e.g., occupancy, abundance, and trend computations)
Model selection and validation