The statistics department today hosts Doug Nychka, head of the small statistics group at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), who will discuss “Challenges of Understanding the Atmosphere.”

Nychka will lecture today at 4:10 p.m. in Room 319 of Snedecor Hall. He is coming to Iowa State as part of the department’s seminar series and will be speaking to faculty and staff about atmospheric statistics.

However, Nychka’s visit is not just to lecture.

“He is coming because he is interested in hiring some of our graduates for post-docs at NCAR,” said Jean Opsomer, chairwoman of the statistics seminar committee. “He is also going to be speaking about the statistical analysis of modeling the atmosphere.”

NCAR, which is located in Boulder, Colo., and is funded by the National Science Foundation, works with universities to conduct research into all areas of the atmosphere. One of the many areas of study at NCAR is on weather models.

“He is going to give an informal talk at noon with graduate students,” said Soledad Fernandez, graduate student in statistics. “At that meeting, he is going to talk to graduate students about different possibilities.”

The opportunities will be more statistical than meteorological, Opsomer said. It focuses on working with computer weather models.

Computer weather models are equations that try to explain the atmosphere. When advanced in time, they forecast the weather. The output of the models can be analyzed for accuracy statistically, she said.

This statistical analysis creates job opportunities for doctorate students, and the department of statistics strongly recommended in an e-mail sent by Opsomer that graduate students in the department attend.

The lecture is free and open to the public.