Biography

I am an institute scientist, data science at GTI Energy. My primary research interests lie in spatial, Bayesian, and non-parametric statistical methods with applications in ecological, environmental, and biological problems. I am also interested in applications in energy and wildlife management. In addition to my research, I am also interested in scientific communication, the intersection of science and policy, and statistics education.

Previously, I was a senior data scientist at Pacific Northwest National Lab where I was part of the Applied Statistics and Math group in the National Security Directorate. At PNNL, I worked on projects related to environmental impacts and remediation associated with energy and national security. Before joining PNNL, I was an assistant professor of Statistics at Colorado State University where I worked in the Graybill Statistics and Data Science Laboratory and taught statistics courses. At CSU, I was involved in a long term research project to locate natural gas leaks and quantify their methane emissions.

Selected Publications and Manuscripts

For the most recent updates and more information about my publications, see my Google Scholar page.

• Characterizing detection probabilities of advanced mobile leak surveys: implications for sampling effort and leak size estimation in natural gas distribution systems. Luetschwager, E., von Fischer, J.C., Weller, Z.D. (2021). Elementa. doi: 10.1525/elementa.2020.00143

• A National Estimate of Methane Leakage from Pipeline Mains in Natural Gas Local Distribution Systems. Weller, Z.D., Hamburg, S.P., von Fischer, J.C. (2020). Environmental Science and Technology, 54: 89548-8967. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.0c00437.

• A Nonparametric Spectral Domain Test of Spatial Isotropy. Weller, Z.D & Hoeting, J.A. (2020). Journal of Statistical Planning and Inference, 204: 177-186. doi: 10.1016/j.jspi.2019.05.005.

• A Calibration-Capture-Recapture Model for Inferring Natural Gas Leak Population Characteristics Using Data From Google Street View Cars. Weller, Z.D., Hoeting, J.A., von Fischer, J.C. (2018). Environmetrics, 29(7): e2519. doi: 10.1002/env.2519

• Vehicle-based Methane Surveys Help Find Natural Gas Leaks and Prioritize Leak Repairs. Weller, Z.D., Roscioli, J.R., Daube, W.C., Lamb, B.K., Ferrara, T.W., Brewer, P.E., von Fischer, J.C. (2018). Environmental Science and Technology, 52(20): 11922-11930. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.8b03135

• spTest: an R package implementing nonparametric tests of isotropy. Weller, Z.D. (2018). Journal of Statistical Software, 83(4), 1-24. doi: 10.18637/jss.v083.i04.

• A Review of Nonparametric Hypothesis Tests of Isotropy Properties in Spatial Data. Weller, Z.D. & Hoeting, J.A. (2016). Statistical Science, 31(3), 305-324. doi: 10.1214/16-STS547