Growing up, Denise Abreu’s favorite subject was math. Thinking math and computer science were the same thing, she attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook to major in computer science. To her amazement, she genuinely enjoyed deriving maximum likelihood estimators, finding means and standard deviations, and doing matrix algebra more than she did programing, thus she switched majors. Today, Abreu is a mathematical statistician who has served within the federal statistical system for more than 23 years, first at the Census Bureau and then at the US Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service.
NASS
Administration Releases FY23 Budget Request as Congress Finalizes FY22 Budget
Congress wrapped up its funding for the federal government for fiscal year 2022 in March, the sixth month of the fiscal year. With the Biden administration releasing its fiscal year 2023 within a few weeks, Congress had to almost immediately start the process again. The National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation both received 4 percent increases. Several statistical agencies also received 3–6 percent increases.
Biden Administration’s First Budget Request Favors NIH, NSF; Flat Funds Education, Energy, Health, Justice Statistics
The Biden administration’s fiscal year 2022 (FY22) budget request sends a strong signal for its support of research funding, proposing 20 percent increases for the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. Many of the federal statistical agencies also see strong support through increases of 5–10 percent.
For Linda Young, It’s About Learning the Right Questions to Ask
Linda Young has done consulting projects throughout her career, but prefers to think of herself as an applied researcher.
Statistics and Science Policy
In her September column, Karen Kafadar talks about the ASA’s Science Policy Department and the director of science policy’s extensive efforts to keep statistics in the science limelight.
Linda J. Young
When Linda Young went to the Oklahoma City zoo with a team working to determine why the golden marmosets were getting sick, she knew she wanted to be a statistician. Young has since explored her interests in agriculture, the environment, and education and, recently, has worked with others to explore the potential of web scraping to develop list frames for surveys.
FY17 Requests for NIH, NSF, Federal Statistical Agencies Largely Positive
President Barack Obama’s requested budget for Fiscal Year 2017 maintains his record of proposing generally healthy increases for the NIH, NSF, and many federal statistical agencies, but realizing increases of any amount will be challenging.
Meet Joseph Reilly, Administrator of NASS
Joseph T. Reilly of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service talks with Amstat News about his work with the NASS.
Meet NASS Administrator Cynthia Clark
Amstat News invited Cynthia Clark, director of the National Agricultural Statistics Service, to respond to a few questions so readers could learn more about her and the agency she leads.
World Statistics Day
In celebration of World Statistics Day, Amstat News asked staff from several federal statistical agencies to provide a list of their agency’s accomplishments, both recent and historical. Documented here is a rich history of providing statistical data that informs policymaking in the public and private sectors, resulting in economic development and smarter, more effective government. Also documented is a commitment to innovation and adaptation that has kept federal statistical products current and reliable.