Dr Alison Gray
Lecturer
Mathematics and Statistics
Personal statement
I belong to the departmental Population Modelling and Epidemiology (PME) research group and am an associate member of the Stochastic Analysis group. I lecture in statistics, currently multivariate statistics and introductory probability and statistics. For many years I taught mathematical statistics and survey design and analysis, and also regression modelling.
My research interests cover pattern recognition and machine learning, image analysis, applied epidemiology, SDE models for epidemics, and applications of statistics for honey bee research. I am a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, and a former long term member of the British Machine Vision Association.
I run an annual spring survey of beekeepers in Scotland, collecting questionnaire data to study colony losses over winter and other aspects of beekeeping practice and experience, together with a retired beekeeper colleague. We began this in 2006 and recently carried out our 11th survey. Since 2010 I have been involved in the COLOSS (Prevention of honey bee COlony LOSSes); www.coloss.org) honey bee colony loss international research association and have been co-chair of its colony loss monitoring group since September 2014. This group co-ordinates colony loss surveys in more than 30 countries across Europe and beyond. I have been data co-ordinator/analyst of the same group since February 2016.
I was involved in the COLOSS CSI (Citizen Science Investigator) Pollen project for study of pollen diversity across Europe over the 2014 and 2015 foraging seasons, established this project in Scotland, acted as UK co-ordinator, and also as international co-ordinator for a one-year continuation of CSI Pollen in 2016.
In addition to the above a current project is examining bee race across Scotland, using wing morphometry and multivariate statistics, as well as DNA analysis.
Publications
- A comparative study of time series and decision tree models for forecasting water levels on the River Benue, Nigeria
- Umar Nura, Gray Alison
- UMYU Scientifica Vol 4, pp. 122-134 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.56919/usci.2542.015
- Honey bee colony population annual dynamics in northern Ethiopia's semi-arid region, Tigray
- Hailu Teweldemedhn Gebretinsae, Wakjira Kibebew, Gray Alison
- Journal of Apicultural Research Vol 64, pp. 797-806 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/00218839.2024.2309781
- Honey bee colony losses and causes during the active beekeeping season 2022/2023 in nine Sub-Saharan African countries
- Nganso Beatrice T, Ayalew Workneh, Wubie Abebe J, Assefa Freweini, Belayhun Lulseged, Ndungu Nelly N, Toroitich Daniel, Otieno-Ayayo Z Ngalo, Wambua Mbatha B, Oyieyo Yudah O, Elie Ntirenganya, Sikirou Rachidatou, Idrissou Souradji B, Mwiza Willy, Turner S, Bobadoye Bridget O, Fameni Sidonie T, Gaboe Sayemie, Agbodzavu Mawufe K, Mafwila Patrick, Tasse Taboue Geraud C, Emily Kimathi, Henri Tonnang ZE, Niassy Saliou, Fonkou Simplice N, Pirk Christian W W, Gray Alison, Brodschneider Robert, Soroker Victoria, Subramanian Sevgan, Babarinde Samuel Adelani
- PLoS ONE Vol 20 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0322489
- COLOSS B-RAP expert evaluation of beekeeping advice from ChatGPT, part 2
- Fabricius Kristiansen Lotta, Morawetz Linde, Chlebo Robert, Gray Alison, Mazur Ewa, Dahle Bjørn, Diéguez-Antón Ana, Schaunitzer Georg, Gratzer Kristina, Oberreiter Hannes, Schorkopf Dirk Louis P, Fischer Johann, Brodschneider Robert
- Bee World Vol 102, pp. 5-7 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/0005772x.2024.2418224
- High rates of honey bee colony losses and regional variability in Ethiopia based on the standardised COLOSS 2023 survey
- Hailu Teweldemedhn Gebretinsae, Atsbeha Alem Tadesse, Wakjira Kibebew, Gray Alison
- Insects Vol 15 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.3390/insects15060376
- COLOSS B-RAP expert evaluation of beekeeping advice from ChatGPT, part 1
- Morawetz Linde, Fabricius Kristiansen Lotta, Brus Jan, Dahle Bjørn, Danihlík Jiří, Diéguez-Antón Ana, Fischer Johann, Gray Alison, Mazur Ewa, Schaunitzer Georg, Brodschneider Robert
- Bee World Vol 101, pp. 2-4 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1080/0005772X.2024.2348305
Professional Activities
- Honey bee colony losses, surveys in Scotland, and some international results
- Speaker
- 12/4/2018
- COLOSS Monitoring Group Workshop, Nitra, Slovakia
- Chair
- 7/2/2018
- COLOSS B-rap Workshop, Nitra, Slovakia
- Participant
- 5/2/2018
- Mapping bee race across Scotland.
- Contributor
- 5/12/2017
- Mapping bee race across Scotland.
- Speaker
- 18/11/2017
- 13th International COLOSS Conference, Athens, Greece, 2-3 November 2017.
- Chair
- 2/11/2017
Projects
- Citizen Science Investigation for Pesticides in Apicultural Products (INSIGNIA)
- Gray, Alison (Principal Investigator)
- Pilot study on environmental monitoring of pesticide use through honey bees
- 01-Jan-2018 - 30-Jan-2021
- Pollen collection for assessing forage diversity for honey bees in Britain and Ireland
- Gray, Alison (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2014 - 31-Jan-2017
- Nanoscale characterisation of nitride semiconductor thin films using EBSD, ECCI, CL and EBIC.
- Trager-Cowan, Carol (Principal Investigator) Gray, Alison (Co-investigator) Hourahine, Ben (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2012 - 30-Jan-2016
- Aquaculture Sampling Approaches for Detection of Veterinary Residues
- Gettinby, George (Principal Investigator) Gray, Alison (Co-investigator)
- 05-Jan-2011 - 31-Jan-2012
Contact
Dr
Alison
Gray
Lecturer
Mathematics and Statistics
Email: a.j.gray@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 4335