The SPRUCE initiative is concerned with Statistics in Public Resources, Utilities and Care of the Environment It was established in 1990 and has become active and influential in advancing the use of statistical models and methods in all areas of its remit but particularly in respect of the major environmental issues which are at the forefront of concern as we enter the 21st century. These include global warming and the greenhouse effect; acid rain; disposal of nuclear waste products; air soil and water pollution; nitrate leaching; threats to flora and fauna etc. SPRUCE encourages statisticians and others do work together to use statistical models and methods to try to understand and resolve the environmental problems through such approaches as conservation, remediation, management of resources, monitoring of ecosystems, pollution assessment and control, and so on.
SPRUCE originally arose out of collaboration between statisticians in the universities of Lisbon and Sheffield and is now playing an important role in bringing together workers from the developed and developing world in the fields of protection and conservation of the environment and in the safeguarding and garnering of resources.
SPRUCE encourages and supports research and development work. It has organised 6 major International Conferences in Lisbon (Portugal), Rothamsted (UK), Merida (Mexico), Enschede (The Netherlands), and most recently in Sheffield (UK) in 2000 and Lund (Sweden) in 2003(www.maths.lth.se/conferences/spruceVI). The conferences have covered various themes in environmental statistics including health, pollution and water-related issues. The materials from the conferences has been published in 5 research level books, the first four by John Wiley and Sons in a series of texts Statistics for the Environment (edited by Vic Barnett, Feridun Turkman and Alfred Stein) and the fifth by Springer Verlag as Quantitative Methods for Current Environmental Issues edited by Clive Anderson, Vic Barnett, Philip Chatwin and Abdel El-Shaaarawi.
SPRUCE is registered with the UK Charity Commission as the SPRUCE TRUST and has a board of trustees consisting of Vic Barnett(vic.barnett@ntu.ac.uk) (Chairman), K. Feridun Turkman(kfturkman@fc.ul.pt) (Vice Chairman), Clive Anderson(c.w.anderson@sheffield.ac.uk), Richard Smith(rls@email.unc.edu) and Marian Scott(marian@stats.gla.ac.uk) any of whom will be pleased to discuss SPRUCE activities.
SPRUCE also organises a series of Advanced Workshops on specific topics or emphases in environmental statistics – the first was held in Willersley, UK in 1999, in conjunction with HSSS, on the theme of Complex Models and Methods for Environmental Problems, the second in Lisbon in 2001 on Environmental Sampling and Monitoring and a third in Lisbon in March 2004 on Spatial/Temporal Models and Methods. SPRUCE offers modest research bursaries to young researchers to attend these workshops and other events.