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Liberty Vittert

Lecturer, Statistics, University of Glasgow
After completing her PhD at the University of Glasgow Liberty was offered the role of Mitchell Lecturer at the University. As well as teaching, a large part of her role involves public outreach. Her interest lies in relating statistics to real-life situations.

Liberty Vittert graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2010 with a degree in mathematics and a concentration in political science with Russian language from Harvard.

Liberty Vittert wants to reach as many people as possible with her passion for stats. In order to achieve this, she has focused on using the media as an outlet by offering a statistical angle on news stories and speaking on TV and radio. She has recently appeared on STV Scottish news Programme and BBC Radio Scotland, Channel 4 programs, and Fox News Channel.

She was named an Ambassador of Royal Statistical Society and gives invited talks at conferences around the world. She has significant experience in explaining issues concerning mathematics, statistics, polling and voting techniques, and the topic of “big data” to the media, public, and government. Her work also includes issues of involving and energising young people in STEM subjects.

Between finishing her undergraduate degree and undertaking postgraduate research, Liberty took a year away from her studies and moved to Paris to follow her love of cooking by enrolling in Le Cordon Blue cookery school. She is now a regular guest chef on STV’s ‘Live at Five’ and has her own cookery show on local STV channels titled ‘Liberty’s Great American Cookbook.’

In 2017 Liberty was one of twenty women chosen from hundreds of applicants to become a BBC Woman Expert Contributor for BBC Television and Radio Programs.

International Statistic of the Year: Race for a COVID-19 vaccine

Dec 19, 2020 09:46 am UTC| Insights & Views

CC BY-ND Scientists in China published the complete genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 on Jan. 10, 2020. On Dec. 8, 2020, health officials in London began administering an effective coronavirus vaccine to the public. The...

Statistic of the decade: The massive deforestation of the Amazon

Dec 24, 2019 08:54 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

This year, I was on the judging panel for the Royal Statistical Societys International Statistic of the Decade. Much like Oxford English Dictionarys Word of the Year competition, the international statistic is meant to...

Uber's data revealed nearly 6,000 sexual assaults. Does that mean it's not safe?

Dec 15, 2019 12:50 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

Since Uber released its first ever safety report on Dec. 5, the media has raised alarms for the 5,981 instances of sexual assault included in the document. This also includes 464 reports of rape over a two-year period ...

Are conspiracy theories on the rise in the US?

Sep 22, 2019 13:58 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Have the internet and social media created a climate where Americans believe anything is possible? With headlines citing now as the age of conspiracy, is it really true? In a word, no. While it may be true that the...

If you recycled all the plastic garbage in the world, you could buy the NFL, Apple and Microsoft

Dec 19, 2018 15:21 pm UTC| Insights & Views Sports

This year, I served on the judging panel for The Royal Statistical Societys International Statistic of the Year. On Dec. 18, we announced the winner: 90.5 percent, the amount of plastic that has never been recycled....

Measuring racial profiling: Why it's hard to tell where police are treating minorities unfairly

Nov 14, 2018 12:20 pm UTC| Insights & Views Life

Donald Trump has waved the words stop and frisk around like a banner call to cure violent crime in American cities. That means its time to take a look back at one of the primary criticisms of this police practice:...

Numbers in the news? Make sure you don't fall for these 3 statistical tricks

Nov 04, 2018 13:21 pm UTC| Insights & Views Business

Handy bit of research finds sexuality can be determined by the lengths of peoples fingers was one recent headline based on a peer-reviewed study by well-respected researchers at the University of Essex published in the...

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Economy

Nigerians throw naira notes around to show love: but it could land you in jail

The legal implication of physically damaging the naira, Nigerias currency, came into focus recently with the prosecution of at least two celebrities by the countrys Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Nigeria has a...

The US is one of the least trade-oriented countries in the world – despite laying the groundwork for today’s globalized system

Given the spate of news about international trade lately, Americans might be surprised to learn that the U.S. isnt very dependent on it. Indeed, looking at trade as a percentage of gross domestic product a metric...

Beyond the spin, beyond the handouts, here’s how to get a handle on what’s really happening on budget night

Three weeks from now, some of us will be presented with a mountain of budget papers, and just about all of us will get to hear about them on radio, TV or news websites on budget night. The quickest way to find out what...

Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility

Ivan Vladislavić is Johannesburgs literary linkman. He tells us, in the first pages of his new book, The Near North, that before cities were lit, first by gaslight and later electricity, people of means paid torchbearers...

Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget

With Jim Chalmerss third budget on May 14, Australians will be looking for some more cost-of-living relief beyond the tax cuts although they have been warned extra measures will be modest. As this weeks consumer price...

Politics

Sudan’s civil war is rooted in its historical favouritism of Arab and Islamic identity

The current civil war in Sudan goes beyond a simple power struggle between two generals. It reflects a deep-rooted crisis within the countrys governing structure thats been present since it gained independence from the...

South Africa’s youth are a generation lost under democracy – study

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently painted a rosy picture in which the countrys youth democracys children had enormous opportunities for advancement, all thanks to successive post-apartheid governments led...

Sadiq Khan on track for third term as London mayor – but nearly half of Londoners dissatisfied with performance

Polls have consistently shown that the incumbent mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appears to be on track to win a third term in office at the upcoming mayoral elections on May 2. One poll we commissioned as part of our...

The politics stopping the UK from opening a youth mobility scheme with Europe

Earlier this week, it seemed possible that young people in the UK might soon be able to travel freely to work and live in Europe again. The European Commission laid out proposals to open mobility to millions of 18- to...

Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’

Most American workers are hired at will: Employers owe their employees nothing in the relationship except earned wages, and employees are at liberty to quit at their option. As the rule is generally stated, either party...

Science

IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects

About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these relic neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they cant harm you. In fact, only one of them is...

The Mars Sample Return mission has a shaky future, and NASA is calling on private companies for backup

A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return, is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this...

Dark matter: our new experiment aims to turn the ghostly substance into actual light

A ghost is haunting our universe. This has been known in astronomy and cosmology for decades. Observations suggest that about 85% of all the matter in the universe is mysterious and invisible. These two qualities are...

A Nasa rover has reached a promising place to search for fossilised life on Mars

While we go about our daily lives on Earth, a nuclear-powered robot the size of a small car is trundling around Mars looking for fossils. Unlike its predecessor Curiosity, Nasas Perseverance rover is explicitly intended to...

The rising flood of space junk is a risk to us on Earth – and governments are on the hook

A piece of space junk recently crashed through the roof and floor of a mans home in Florida. Nasa later confirmed that the object had come from unwanted hardware released from the international space station. The 700g,...

Technology

South Korea Excludes Crypto in Donation Law Update, Charities at Risk

South Koreas recent amendments to donation laws have raised concerns as cryptocurrency remains excluded from permissible donation methods. The Ministry of Public Administrations decision, reported by local media outlet...

Shiba Inu Burn Rate Skyrockets: 81M SHIB Destroyed, Prices Surge

Shiba Inu, the beloved dog-themed meme coin, experiences an astounding 4000% surge in its burn rate, resulting in the destruction of over 81 million SHIB coins. This significant development has sparked optimism among...

Samsung Trails Apple, Remains 2nd in Global Tablet Rankings, Q1 2024

In the first quarter of 2024, Samsung emerged as the second-largest tablet manufacturer globally, despite a slight sales decline compared to last year, as the International Data Corporation (IDC) reported. Samsungs...

Russia's Crypto Clampdown: Tight Regulations Aim to Curb Cryptocurrency Activities

Russia is poised to enact stringent regulations on cryptocurrency trading, aiming to curb the mass trade of digital assets like Bitcoin within its borders. This move, driven by geopolitical tensions and sanctions, signals...

Bitcoin's Ongoing Battle at $64K; Cardano's Hoskinson Ends Ripple Debate

Bitcoin traders are on edge as the cryptocurrency battles to sustain its position above $64,000, with analyst Josh Olszewicz warning of lingering concerns. Meanwhile, Cardanos Charles Hoskinson settles the Ripple and XRP...