Skip to main content
Cornell university
Cornell Statistics and Data Science Cornell Statistics and Data Science
  • About Us

    About Us
    Cornell's Department of Statistics and Data Science offers four programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Undergraduates can earn a BA in statistical science, social...

    Welcome to the Department of Statistics and Data Science
    History
    Facilities
    Statistics Graduate Society
    Recently Published Papers
  • Academics

    Academics

    Undergraduate
    PhD
    MPS
    PhD Minor in Data Science
    Courses & Course Enrollment
  • People

    People

    Faculty
    Field Faculty
    PhDs
    Emeritus Faculty
    Academic Staff
    Staff
    Research Areas of Expertise
    Statistical Consultants
  • News and Events

    News and Events

    Events
    News
  • Resources

    Resources

    Professional Societies and Meetings
    Affiliated Groups
    Career Services
    Cornell Statistical Consulting Unit
  • Alumni

    Alumni
    Cornell's Statistics and Data Science degrees prepare students for a wide variety of careers, from academia to industry.  See the After Graduation page for a general overview of...

    Alumni Profiles

Search form

You are here

  1. Home

Richard Smith

A color photo of a man smiling for a photo
Richard
Smith

Richard L. Smith is the Mark L. Reed III Distinguished Professor of statistics at the Gillings School of Global Health at UNC, and holds a joint position as professor of biostatistics. He obtained his doctoral degree from Cornell University in 1979 and has previously held academic positions at Imperial College (London), the University of Surrey (Guildford, England) and Cambridge University.

His principal areas of research are spatial statistics, time series analysis, extreme value theory and Bayesian statistics. Specific areas of expertise include spatial and time series modeling of environmental pollutants, the health effects of atmospheric pollution, the statistics of global climate change, and extreme values in insurance and finance.

Talk: Extreme Value Theory in Climate Science

Abstract: In recent years there have been a number of extreme weather events of unprecedented severity. Examples include the heatwave that hit Northwest North America in June 2021, the heatwave that affected southern England and parts of Europe in July 2021, and the very severe rainfall in Houston (Hurricane Harvey) in 2017. These events appear to be part of a pattern of extreme weather events exacerbated by global warming. Extreme value theory plays a role in quantitatively assessing the severity of the event, deciding to what extent the event can be attributed to climate change, and assessing the probability of future extreme events under various climate change scenarios. In this talk, I will discuss approaches to these problems using spatial extreme value theory and Bayesian statistics. The results confirm that all three events were very extreme events even taking climate change into account, and they also show the contrast in the likely future distribution of extremes under various climate change scenarios. I will also discuss some recent research (joint with Shaleni Kovach, graduate student) on the health effects of climate change.

Contact Info

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Careers
© Cornell University Department of Statistics and Data Science

1198 Comstock Hall, 129 Garden Ave., Ithaca, NY 14853

Social Menu

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Cornell Bowers CIS College of Computing and Information Science Cornell CALS ILR School

If you have a disability and are having trouble accessing information on this website or need materials in an alternate format, contact web-accessibility@cornell.edu for assistance.