ECEM/EAML 2004
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Fourth International Workshop on Environmental Applications of Machine Learning

September 27 - 29, 2004, Bled, Slovenia


As environmental concerns grow and information technology develops, more and more data on the different aspects (physical, chemical, biological, ecological) of the environment are gathered. Important sources of such data include (but are not limited to) laboratory tests, environmental monitoring, and remote sensing. Important types of environmental data include temporal data and spatial data, which is often stored in geographical information systems (GIS).

There is an increasing need to analyse the collected environmental data for different purposes, which include the support for environmental management decisions. For example, the data can be used to build predictive ecological models for an ecosystem of interest. Also, patterns discovered in the data may help understand the environmental processes of interest by highlighting the interrelationships between different parameters. Machine learning and data mining can be used to discover patterns and build predictive models from environmental data.

EAML-04, The International Workshop on Environmental Applications of Machine Learning will provide a forum for presenting recent advances in applying machine learning and data mining techniques for the analysis of environmental data. Three workshops on the topic have been previously organized, attracting mainly researchers in ecological modeling interested in the use of machine learning. This workshop aims to bring together researchers from the areas of ecology, ecological modelling and environmental sciences, on one hand, and the areas of data analysis, data mining and machine learning, on the other. EAML-04 is organized jointly with ECEM-04, The Fourth European Conference on Ecological Modelling, during the week September 27 - October 1, 2004.

EAML-04 covers all topics related to the application of data mining and machine learning methods to environmental data. An indicative, but non-exhaustive list of topics is given below.

Analysis of environmental data with:

itemcomputational scientific discovery
itemdecision and regression tress
itemevolutionary computing (e.g., genetic algorithms and programming)
itemstatistical learning (e.g., kernel methods and SVMs)
itemneural networks (e.g., MLPs and SOMs)
itemprobabilistic methods (e.g., Bayesian networks)
itemrelational learning methods
itemrule induction methods

Data mining and machine learning for:

itemmodelling of different types of ecosystems:

  • agricultural ecosystems
  • aquatic ecosystems
  • grassland ecosystems
  • forest ecosystems

itemmodelling different aspects of ecosystems / ecological processes:

  • biodiversity changes
  • habitat suitability
  • population dynamics

itemanalysis of different types of environmental data:

  • monitoring data (air/soil/water samples; chemical, physical, biological)
  • remote sensing data (e.g., on atmosphere, geology, vegetation)
  • spatial data (e.g., GIS data on land cover)
  • temporal data (e.g., time series data on pollution levels)

itemvarious environmental applications of machine learning, e.g.,:

  • for decision support in environmental management
  • for earthquake prediction
  • for environmental risk assessment
  • in environmental epidemiology
  • in meteorological/atmospheric sciences
  • in predictive ecotoxicology

Abstracts (no longer than two pages) should be submitted by March 20, 2004. Notification of acceptance for presentation at the conference will be sent by April 15, 2004. Full papers should be submitted by June 15, 2004. They will be reviewed by members of an international program committee for inclusion in a special issue of the journal Ecological Modelling and/or an edited book.


Important Dates

itemAbstracts deadline: March 20, 2004
itemNotification of acceptance: April 21, 2004
itemStudent bursary application deadline: June 10, 2004
itemFinal version of abstract deadline: June 15, 2004
itemFull paper deadline: June 20, 2004
itemEarly registration deadline: June 30, 2004
itemThe conference: September 27 - October 1, 2004


Workshop Chairs

itemSaso Dzeroski, Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
itemBernard Zenko, Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia


Organizing Committee

itemTina Anzic, Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
itemJana Babic, Nova Gorica Polytechnic, Slovenia
itemMili Bauer, Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
itemDamjan Demsar, Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia
itemPeter Ljubic, Jozef Stefan Institute, Slovenia


International Advisory Committee

itemBratko, Ivan, Slovenia
itemDietterich, Thomas G., USA
itemFurlanello, Cesare, Italy
itemLangley, Pat, USA
itemLek, Sovan, France
itemMalerba, Donato, Italy
itemRecknagel, Friedrich A., Australia
itemSlokar, Marko, Slovenia
itemWalley, William J., UK


Program Committee

itemAtanasova, Natasa, Slovenia itemBabovic, Vladan, Switzerland
itemBohanec, Marko, Slovenia itemBratko, Ivan, Slovenia
itemBreckling, Broder, Germany itemBredeweg, Bert, The Netherlands
itemCortes, Ulises, Spain itemDebeljak, Marko, Slovenia
itemDietterich, Thomas G., USA itemDimopoulos, Yannis, Greece
itemDzeroski, Saso, Slovenia itemFohrer, Nicola, Germany
itemFountain, Tony, USA itemFurlanello, Cesare, Italy
itemGrbovic, Jasna, Slovenia itemGuerrin, Francois, France
itemJorgensen, Sven E., Denmark itemKishi, Michio J., Japan
itemKobler, Andrej, Slovenia itemKomarov, Alexander S., Russia
itemKompare, Boris, Slovenia itemKontic, Branko, Slovenia
itemKumar, Vipin, USA itemKusuda, Tetsuya, Japan
itemLangford, Bill, USA itemLangley, Pat, USA
itemLegovic, Tarzan, Croatia itemLek, Sovan, France
itemLi, Bai-Lian, USA itemMalchow, Horst, Germany
itemMalerba, Donato, Italy itemMarques, Joao Carlos, Portugal
itemMcKay, Robert I., Australia itemMueller, Felix, Germany
itemNielsen, Soeren N., Denmark itemO'Connor, Mark, UK
itemPalmeri, Luca, Italy itemPatten, Bernard C., USA
itemRecknagel, Friedrich A., Australia itemSanchez-Marre, Miquel, Spain
itemSavic, Dragan, UK itemSchwabacher, Mark, USA
itemSekine, Masahiko, Japan itemSolidoro, Cosimo, Italy
itemSvirezhev, Yuri M., Germany itemTodorovski, Ljupco, Slovenia
itemUlgiati, Sergio, Italy itemUrbancic, Tanja, Slovenia
itemVoinov, Alexey, USA itemVoss, Hans, Germany
itemWachowicz, Monica, The Netherlands itemWalley, William J., UK
itemWhigham, Peter A., New Zealand itemWotawa, Franz, Austria
itemZenko, Bernard, Slovenia


Contact Information

E-mail: ecemeaml@ijs.si


Abstract and Paper Submission


Previous Related Events

itemBritish Ecological Society workshop on machine learning for ecological applications,
indentManchester, UK, April 19, 1997
itemInternational workshop on applications of artificial neural networks to ecological modelling,
indentToulouse, France, December 14-17, 1998
itemThe second international conference on applications of machine learning to ecological modelling,
indentAdelaide, Australia, November 27-December 1, 2000