Dr. Laura Cowen
Associate Professor
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Victoria
P.O. Box 3060 STN CSC
Victoria, B.C. V8W 3R4

EMAIL: lcowen (a t) uvic.ca
PHONE: (250) 721-6152
OFFICE: Social Science and Mathematics A446
FAX: (250) 721-8962


Research Interests
My main research interests are in mark-recapture methods and applications.  In particular I am interested in tag loss and how it can be incorporated into models directly. I work on real world problems, mainly pertaining to fishery studies.

I am also involved in the Population Research Group at the University of Victoria.  Here I am involved in a project that is looking at needle sharing behaviour of people who use injection drugs in Victoria, B.C.  

Currently I am on study leave in the New Zealand visiting Richard Barker at the University of Otago. I will be back in Victoria in May.  


Graduate Students
If you are interested in becoming a graduate student at UVic and you are interested in ecological statistics then please contact me!
Name
 Degree
 Thesis/Project
 Status/ Year Graduated
Yuan Xu
 MSc- Statistics
 Rock lobseter abundance estimation using the Jolly-Seber-Tag-Loss model with group heterogeneity
 2011
Ryan Stone
 MSc- Statistics
 Modeling Victoria's injection drug users.
 Canadian Tire analyst
Ahmed Hoque
 PhD- Economics and Statistics
 Estimating variances for Gini indices with complex surveys
 Current
Paul van dam Bates
 MSc- Statistics
 Spatial analysis of sea cucumbers
 Current
Lu Wang
 MSc- Statistics
 A goodness-of-fit test for closed population models
 Current
Yu Wang
 MSc- Statistics
 Power leakage in radio-telemetry studies
 Current
Emily Malcolm
 MSc- Statistics
 The JSTL model with dependent tag loss
 Starting January 2013


Undergraduate Students
If you are interested in becoming an undergraduate research student then please contact me!
Year
Name
 Degree
 Project
2009
Selina Gonzalez
 BSc- Economics and Statistics
 The Jolly-Seber-Tag-Loss model with group heterogeneity.
2012
Dean Koch
 BSc- Math/Stat and Biology
 Comparing growth rates of Cassin's Auklet chicks on Frederick and Triangle Island, BC.
2012
Dean Koch
 BSc- Math/Stat and Biology
 Comparing the wiggliness of two spline models.


Articles Submitted
Smith, B.C., Simpson, Y., Morshed, M., Cowen, L.L.E., Hof, R., Wetherell, C. Boulanger, M.J., Cameron, C.E. Syphilis diagnosis – new proteins for a new perspective. Submitted March 2012.

Xu, Y., L.L.E. Cowen, and C. Gardner. Group Heterogeneity in the Jolly-Seber-Tag-Loss Model. Submitted June 2012.

Xu, Y. M. Fyfe, L. Walker, and L.L.E. Cowen. Estimating the number of injection drug users in greater Victoria, B.C. using mark-recapture methods. Submitted August 2012.


Articles Published
Gonzalez, S. and L. Cowen, 2010. The Jolly-Seber-Tag-Loss Model with Group Heterogeneity. The Arbutus Review. 1, 30-42.

Exner, H., E.K. Gibson, R. Stone, J. Lindquist, L. Cowen and E.A. Roth, 2010. A mixed methods approach to delineating and understanding injection practices among clientele of a Victoria, British Columbia needle exchange program. Drug Alcohol Rev., 30, 360-365. DOI: 10.1111/j.1465-3362.2010.00219.x

Blight, L.K, T. D. Williams, D. F. Bertram, and L. Cowen.   Interannual variation in egg neglect and incubation routine of the Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorhinca Monocerata) during the 1998-1999 El Nino/ La Nina events.  Marine Ornithology. 38, 11-15.

Eshghi, A., P. A. Cullen, L. Cowen, and C. E. Cameron. 2009.   Global proteome analysis of Leptospira interrogans cultured in vivo-like media.  J Proteome Research. Published online August 10.

Exner, H., E.K. Gibson, R. Stone, J. Lindquist, L. Cowen and E.A. Roth. 2009.  Worry as a window into the lives of people who use injection drugs: A factor analysis approach.   Harm Reduction J. 6-20.

Cowen, L., S. J. Walsh, C. J. Schwarz, N. Cadigan and J. Morgan. 2009.  Estimating exploitation rates of a migrating population of yellowtail flounders using multi-state mark-recapture methods incorporating tag-loss and variable reporting rates.  Can. J. Fish. Aquatic Sc. 66, 1245-1273.

Cowen, L., N. Trouton, and R. E. Bailey.  2007. Effects of angling on Chinook salmon for the Nicola River, British Columbia, 1996-2002.  N. Am. J. Fish Manage. 27, 256-267.

Cowen, L. and C. J. Schwarz. 2006.  The Jolly-Seber model with tag loss.  Biometric. 62, 699-705.

Cowen, L. and C. J. Schwarz. 2005. Capture-recapture studies using radio telemetry with premature radio-tag failure. Biometrics. 61, 657-664.

Fraser, G. S., I. L. Jones, F. M. Hunter, and L. Cowen. 2004. Mate switching patterns in Crested Auklets (Aethia Cristatella): The role of breeding success and ornametation. Bird Behavior. 16, 1-6.

Cowen, L. and W. F. Bobier. 2003.  Defining the astigmatism in a pre-school population using the Retinomx Plus autorefractor. Invest. Ophth. Vis Sci. 44, 4593-4600.

Hedd, A., J. L. Ryder, L. Cowen, and D. F. Bertram. 2002. Inter-annual variation in the diet, provisioning, and growth of Cassin's Auklet at Triangle Island, British Coumbia: Resonses to variation in ocean climate? Mar. Ecol-Prog. Ser. 229, 221-232.

Bertram, D. F., L. Cowen, and A. Burger. 1999. Use of radar for monitoring colonial burrow nesting seabirds. J. Field Ornithol. 70, 145-157.