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In the first part, I will introduce a few of the relevant statistical issues by recounting some early history of modern statistics following Darwin’s publication of On the Origin of Species. 

In the second part of the talk I will sketch some current research on statistical tools for identifying patterns of gene expression from RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology, including specialized modeling of the negative binomial distribution, higher-order asymptotics for improved inference from small samples, goodness-of-fit tools, and graphical tools for communicating complex results. 

By covering both early history and a modern application, I wish to clarify the continuing role of the classical mathematical foundations of statistics but also illustrate the evolution of the field induced by new data-producing technologies and by ever-increasing computational speed. Most of the talk will be at a low level of sophistication.

• Agricultural Sciences
• College of Science*
• Lectures / Seminars