Research areas
I am a Reader based in the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling and the School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews. Until July 2026, I was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Statistics, University of Auckland
I develop statistical methods and software to estimate ecological parameters of interest, usually animal abundance or density. My recent work has met statistical challenges that arise when instruments like microphones, video-cameras, or drones are deployed to detect animals on wildlife surveys. New technologies have the potential to collect mountains of data at a low cost, but complicate estimation of ecological parameters because less information is encoded within each detection. For example, we can easily identify an individual on a live-trapping survey via a securely fixed ID tag, but perhaps cannot do so from a fleeting glimpse in a video. Most of my current work involves capture-recapture or spatial capture-recapture models.
Along with ecological statistics, I have research interests in spatial statistics, statistical computing, and applied statistics in general. I am currently an associate editor at Biometrics, a journal that publishes statistics research relevant to the biosciences.
Please see my personal webpage for further details.
Selected publications
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Open access
Ex vivo pullout strength of locking and cortical screws in the femur and tibiotarsus of the Pekin duck (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus)
Cohen, O., Baron, H. R., Stevenson, B. C., Wills, D. J., Wang, T., Walsh, W. R., Fearnside, S. M. & Cowan, M. L., 11 Mar 2026, In: Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery. 40, 1, p. 39-45 7 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Measurement error models for morphometric data
Stevenson, B. C., Smit, E. & Setyawan, E., 1 Jun 2026, In: Annals of Applied Statistics. 20, 2, p. 945-962 18 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Redistribution of cetaceans based on ocean temperature using spatiotemporal regression models
Colbert, J., Stevenson, B. C., Bowen, M. & Constantine, R., 1 Feb 2026, In: Diversity and Distributions. 32, 2, 11 p., e70145.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Spatial capture-recapture with penalized regression splines to flexibly model wildlife density and distribution
Seaton, A. E., Borchers, D. L., Groenenberg, M. & Stevenson, B. C., 1 Jun 2026, arXiv, 36 p.Research output: Working paper › Preprint
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Open access
A flexible framework for spatial capture-recapture with unknown identities
Van Dam-Bates, P., Papathomas, M., Stevenson, B. C., Fewster, R. M., Turek, D., Stewart, F. E. C. & Borchers, D. L., Mar 2024, In: Biometrics. 80, 1, 12 p., ujad019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Estimating owl population density using acoustic spatial capture-recapture
Martin, L. H., Hepinstall-Cymerman, J., Chandler, R. B., Cooper, R. J., Parrish, M. C., Hao, L. & Stevenson, B. C., 1 Mar 2024, In: Journal of Raptor Research. 58, 1, p. 15-27Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Spatial connectivity of reef manta rays across the Raja Ampat archipelago, Indonesia
Setyawan, E., Erdmann, M. V., Mambrasar, R., Ambafen, O., Hasan, A. W., Izuan, M., Mofu, I., Putra, M. I. H., Sianipar, A. B., Constantine, R., Stevenson, B. C. & Jaine, F. R. A., 10 Apr 2024, In: Royal Society Open Science. 11, 4, 20 p., 230895.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
That's not the Mona Lisa! How to interpret spatial capture-recapture density surface estimates
Durbach, I., Chopara, R., Borchers, D. L., Phillip, R., Sharma, K. & Stevenson, B. C., Mar 2024, In: Biometrics. 80, 1, 9 p., ujad020.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Density and population size estimates of the endangered northern yellow-cheeked crested gibbon Nomascus annamensis in selectively logged Veun Sai-Siem Pang National Park in Cambodia using acoustic spatial capture-recapture methods
McGrath, S. J., Liu, J., Stevenson, B. C. & Behie, A. M., 27 Nov 2023, In: PLoS ONE. 18, 11, 26 p., e0292386.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
A latent capture history model for digital aerial surveys
Borchers, D. L., Nightingale, P., Stevenson, B. C. & Fewster, R. M., 1 Mar 2022, In: Biometrics. 78, 1, p. 274-285 12 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review