dan
nettleton
professor
statistics
Pollinating. Detasselling.
Statistical genomics.
Before he came to Iowa State,
about the only interest Dan Nettleton took in the plant sciences was when he
pollinated and detasselled corn in high school. And that was a job he couldn't
wait to finish. But something clicked when he arrived on campus. "I took
advantage of the opportunity to more completely direct my research toward the
rapidly emerging field of statistical genomics."
After building relationships with researchers in the plant and animal sciences
his first few years as a "statistical genomicist," Dan began to understand
the concepts needed to transform biological questions into statistical questions.
Now he's a national leader in statistical genomics, developing statistical methodologies
for gene expression research. He strives to understand the relevant scientific
problems and then seeks to develop appropriate statistical methods before using
those methods to solve problems.
"The more general the statistical tool, the less effective it is. I tailor
methods for specific projects. Typically the methodology is based on a scientific
problem from a specific collaborator (in the plant or animal sciences). We try
to develop something better than what currently exists for these problems."
