Structural Equation Modelling for Ecologists and Evolutionary Biologists 
(SEMR02)

www.prstatistics.com/course/structural-equation-modelling-for-ecologists-
and-evolutionary-biologists-semr02/

This course will be delivered by Jon Lefcheck (author of the piecewise 
package) and will take place at Myuna Bay sport and recreation, Centre, 
Newcastle, Australia from 18th - 22nd June 2018

Course Overview:
The course is a primer on structural equation modelling (SEM) and 
confirmatory path analysis, with an emphasis on practical skills and 
applications to real-world data.

Structural equation modelling is a rapidly growing technique in ecology and 
evolution that unites multiple hypotheses in a single causal network. It 
provides an intuitive graphical representation of relationships among 
variables, underpinned by well-described mathematical estimation 
procedures. Several advances in SEM over the past few years have expanded 
its utility for typical ecological datasets, which include count data, 
missing observations, and nested or hierarchical designs.

We will cover the basic philosophy behind SEM, provide approachable 
mathematical explanations of the techniques, and cover recent extensions to 
mixed effects models and non-normal distributions. Along the way, we will 
work through many examples from the primary literature using the open-
source statistical software R (www.r-project.org). We will draw on two 
popular R packages for conducting SEM, including lavaan and piecewiseSEM.
Participants are encouraged to bring their own data, as there will be 
opportunities throughout the course to plan, analyze, and receive feedback 
on structural equation models.

Sunday 17th Meet at Myuna Bay Sport and Recreation at approximately 18:30

Monday 18th �C Classes from 09:00 to 17:00
Introduction to SEM
Module 1: What is Structural Equation Modeling? Why would I use it?
Module 2: Creating multivariate causal models
Module 3: Fitting piecewise models
Readings: Grace 2010 (overview), Whalen et al. 2013 (example)

Tuesday 19th �C Classes from 09:00 to 17:00
SEM Using Likelihood
Module 4: Fitting Observed Variable models with covariance structures 
Module 5: What does it mean to evaluate a multivariate hypothesis?
Module 6: Latent Variable models Module 7: ANCOVA revisited & Nonlinearities
Readings: Grace & Bollen 2005, Shipley 2004
Optional Reading: Pearl 2012, Pearl 2009 (causality)

Wednesday 20th �C Classes from 09:00 to 17:00
Piecewise SEM
Module 8: Introduction to piecewise approach
Module 9: Incorporation of random effects models
Model 10: Autocorrelation Reading: Shipley 2009; Lefcheck 2016

Thursday 21st �C Classes from 09:00 to 17:00
Advanced Topics with Likelihood and Piecewise SEM
Module 11: Multigroup models and non-linearities
Module 12: Composite Variables
Module 13: Phylogenetically-correlated data
Module 14: Prediction using SEM
Module 15: How To Reject A Paper That Uses SEM
Readings: Grace & Julia 1999, von Hardenberg & Gonzalez�\Voyer 2013

Friday 22nd �C Classes from 09:00 to 16:00
Open Lab and Final Presentations

email oliverhoo...@prstatistics.com with any questions 

check out our sister sites

www.PRstatistics.com
www.PRinformatice.com
www.PSstatistics.com

and our up-comign courses

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1.      February 19th �C 23rd 2018
MOVEMENT ECOLOGY (MOVE01)
Margam Discovery Centre, Wales, Dr Luca Borger, Dr Ronny Wilson, Dr 
Jonathan Potts
www.prstatistics.com/course/movement-ecology-move01/

2.      February 19th �C 23rd 2018
GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRICS USING R (GMMR01)
Margam Discovery Centre, Wales, Prof. Dean Adams, Prof. Michael Collyer, 
Dr. Antigoni Kaliontzopoulou
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/geometric-morphometrics-using-r-gmmr01/
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3.      March 5th - 9th 2018
SPATIAL PRIORITIZATION USING MARXAN (MRXN01)
Margam Discovery Centre, Wales, Jennifer McGowan   
www.prstatistics.com/course/introduction-to-marxan-mrxn01/

4.      March 12th - 16th 2018
ECOLOGICAL NICHE MODELLING USING R (ENMR02)
Glasgow, Scotland, Dr. Neftali Sillero
http://www.prstatistics.com/course/ecological-niche-modelling-using-r-
enmr02/

5.      March 19th �C 23rd 2018
BEHAVIOURAL DATA ANALYSIS USING MAXIMUM LIKLIHOOD IN R (BDML01)
Glasgow, Scotland, Dr William Hoppitt
http://www.psstatistics.com/course/behavioural-data-analysis-using-maximum-
likelihood-bdml01/
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6.      April 9th �C 13th 2018 
NETWORK ANAYLSIS FOR ECOLOGISTS USING R (NTWA02
Glasgow, Scotland, Dr. Marco Scotti   
www.prstatistics.com/course/network-analysis-ecologists-ntwa02/

7.      April 16th �C 20th 2018
INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL MODELLING FOR PSYCHOLOGISTS USING R (IPSY01)
Glasgow, Scotland, Dr. Dale Barr, Dr Luc Bussierre   
http://www.psstatistics.com/course/introduction-to-statistics-using-r-for-
psychologists-ipsy01/

8.      April 23rd �C 27th 2018
MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES USING THE VEGAN PACKAGE 
(VGNR01)
Glasgow, Scotland, Dr. Peter Solymos, Dr. Guillaume Blanchet             
www.prstatistics.com/course/multivariate-analysis-of-ecological-communities-
in-r-with-the-vegan-package-vgnr01/

9.      April 30th �C 4th May 2018
QUANTITATIVE GEOGRAPHIC ECOLOGY: MODELING GENOMES, NICHES, AND COMMUNITIES 
(QGER01)
Glasgow, Scotland, Dr. Dan Warren, Dr. Matt Fitzpatrick
www.prstatistics.com/course/quantitative-geographic-ecology-using-r-
modelling-genomes-niches-and-communities-qger01/
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10.     May 7th �C 11th 2018 ADVANCES IN MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF SPATIAL 
ECOLOGICAL DATA USING R (MVSP02)
CANADA (QUEBEC), Prof. Pierre Legendre, Dr. Guillaume Blanchet
www.prstatistics.com/course/advances-in-spatial-analysis-of-multivariate-
ecological-data-theory-and-practice-mvsp03/
11.     May 14th - 18th 2018
INTRODUCTION TO MIXED (HIERARCHICAL) MODELS FOR BIOLOGISTS (IMBR01)
CANADA (QUEBEC), Prof Subhash Lele 
www.prstatistics.com/course/introduction-to-mixed-hierarchical-models-for-
biologists-using-r-imbr01/

12.     May 21st - 25th 2018
INTRODUCTION TO PYTHON FOR BIOLOGISTS (IPYB05)
SCENE, Scotland, Dr. Martin Jones
http://www.prinformatics.com/course/introduction-to-python-for-biologists-
ipyb05/

13.     May 21st - 25th 2018
INTRODUCTION TO REMOTE SENISNG AND GIS FOR ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS (IRMS01)
Glasgow, Scotland, Prof. Duccio Rocchini, Dr. Luca Delucchi
www.prinformatics.com/course/introduction-to-remote-sensing-and-gis-for-
ecological-applications-irms01/

14.     May 28th �C 31st 2018
STABLE ISOTOPE MIXING MODELS USING SIAR, SIBER AND MIXSIAR (SIMM04)
CANADA (QUEBEC) Dr. Andrew Parnell, Dr. Andrew Jackson 
www.prstatistics.com/course/stable-isotope-mixing-models-using-r-simm04/

15.     May 28th �C June 1st 2018
ADVANCED PYTHON FOR BIOLOGISTS (APYB02)
SCENE, Scotland, Dr. Martin Jones
www.prinformatics.com/course/advanced-python-biologists-apyb02/
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16.     June 12th - 15th 2018
SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELLING (DBMR01)
Myuna Bay sport and recreation, Australia, Prof. Jane Elith, Dr. Gurutzeta 
Guillera
www.prstatistics.com/course/species-distribution-models-using-r-sdmr01/

17.     June 18th �C 22nd 2018
STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELLING FOR ECOLOGISTS AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGISTS 
USING R (SEMR02)
Myuna Bay sport and recreation, Australia, Dr. Jon Lefcheck
www.prstatistics.com/course/structural-equation-modelling-for-ecologists-
and-evolutionary-biologists-semr02/

18.     June 25th �C 29th 2018
SPECIES DISTRIBUTION/OCCUPANCY MODELLING USING R (OCCU01)
Glasgow, Scotland, Dr. Darryl McKenzie
www.prstatistics.com/course/species-distributionoccupancy-modelling-using-r-
occu01/
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19.     July 2nd - 5th 2018
SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS FOR BEHAVIOURAL SCIENTISTS USING R (SNAR01)
Glasgow, Scotland, Prof James Curley
http://www.psstatistics.com/course/social-network-analysis-for-behavioral-
scientists-snar01/

20.     July 8th �C 12th 2018
MODEL BASE MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF ABUNDANCE DATA USING R (MBMV02)
Glasgow, Scotland, Prof David Warton
www.prstatistics.com/course/model-base-multivariate-analysis-of-abundance-
data-using-r-mbmv02/

21.     July 16th �C 20th 2018
PRECISION MEDICINE BIOINFORMATICS: FROM RAW GENOME AND TRANSCRIPTOME DATA 
TO CLINICAL INTERPRETATION (PMBI01)
Glasgow, Scotland, Dr Malachi Griffith, Dr. Obi Griffith
www.prinformatics.com/course/precision-medicine-bioinformatics-from-raw-
genome-and-transcriptome-data-to-clinical-interpretation-pmbi01/

22.     July 23rd �C 27th 2018
EUKARYOTIC METABARCODING (EUKB01)
Glasgow, Scotland, Dr. Owen Wangensteen
http://www.prinformatics.com/course/eukaryotic-metabarcoding-eukb01/
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-- 
Oliver Hooker PhD.
PR statistics

2017 publications - 

Ecosystem size predicts eco-morphological variability in post-glacial 
diversification. Ecology and Evolution. In press.

The physiological costs of prey switching reinforce foraging 
specialization. Journal of animal ecology.

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