Training Workshop:
Fundamental Statistics for Isotope Analyses
Event Details:
- Date: Tuesday, 2 September 2025
- Time: Starts: 09:00, until 17:00
- Venue: This is a hybrid event. You are welcome to join us in-person at the Andreas Mouskos Auditorium, The Cyprus Institute
Or alternatively, join us online on Zoom (Passcode: 384819) - Speaker: Dr Petra Vaiglova, Lecturer in Archaeological Science, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University
Abstract
During the morning sessions (9:00–11:00am, 11:20–12:30), participants will engage with topics and theoretical debates that form a key part of the scientist’s skillset in the 21st century: reliable application of descriptive and inferential statistical tools, principles of good data visualisation, the role of Open Science in fighting the reproducibility crisis, and the benefits of meta-analyses for synthesising previously published datasets.
During the afternoon session (13:30pm–17:00pm), participants will gain a deeper understanding of how effect sizes, confidence intervals, and meta-analyses can be used in isotope analyses to produce reliable, informative, and reproducible results. Two open and free software programs will be used to demonstrate application of estimation approaches for analysing isotopic datasets: jamovi (which does not require coding, but which provides inferential tools that Microsoft Excel does not have) and R (which requires coding).
At the end of the workshop participants will have a deeper appreciation of the role that non-statistical specialists play in designing research projects, collecting samples, and analysing big and small isotopic datasets. They will be equipped with skills - as well as resources on where to further practice the skills of - evaluating published research and analysing datasets in ways that are aligned with the principles of science-wide calls for statistical reform.
About the Speaker
Dr. Vaiglova is a biomolecular archaeologist focused on exploring the impact of human-animal interactions on ancient landscapes. She is currently developing new ways of extracting geochemical data from animal teeth in order to reconstruct the environments in which the animals lived and understand how the animals’ lives were impacted by past societies.
Her research has contributed to knowledge on a range of diverse topics, from the development of farming in Neolithic Greece and Bronze Age China, to the settling of hyper-arid environments during the Byzantine period in the Southern Levant. During her doctorate studies, Petra was a Clarendon Scholar at the University of Oxford and a Pre-doctoral Fellow at the Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science in Athens. She subsequently worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Haifa, the University of Connecticut, Washington University in St Louis, and Griffith University. Petra currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Archaeological Science.
She is particularly keen about statistical reform and has been active in training students and other researchers in moving from statistical significance to more informative estimation science. In 2024, Petra received an ANU Strategic Learning and Teaching Grant to redevelop the statistical training component of the Master’s of Archaeological and Evolutionary Science program at ANU. Petra enjoys sharing her passion for archaeology and science with the wider public. She gave an invited TEDx talk ‘An archaeologist’s view: how connectivity drove our human past’ and was featured on the Science ANU outreach video ‘What is the SHRIMP Lab?’. She was also spotlighted in a blog post titled ‘Meet Petra: Enthusiasm for Archaeology, Open Science, and Better Statistics’ on the statistical reform website: thenewstatistics.com.
Coffee and lunch will be provided | Free Entrance
RSVP by 25 August 2025
to Andri Kyriacou | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 22 208 558
Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
View all CyI events.
Additional Info
- Date: Tuesday, 2 September 2025
- Time: Starts: 09:00, until 17:00
- Speaker: Dr Petra Vaiglova, Lecturer in Archaeological Science, School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University