Jeff Andrews

Associate Professor

Data Science, Mathematics, Statistics
On Leave Until: June 30, 2025
Office: SCI 111
Phone: 250.807.9931
Email: jeff.andrews@ubc.ca

Graduate student supervisor


Research Summary

Clustering and classification via mixture models with applications to bioinformatics.

Courses & Teaching

Statistics; data science.

Biography

Jeff’s research primarily investigates finite mixture models and their usage in statistical machine learning. His focus is on clustering and classification, with peer-reviewed articles exploring parameter estimation, variable selection, and model development.

Websites

Google Scholar

Degrees

PhD (University of Guelph), MSc (University of Guelph), BSc (Honours, Acadia University)

Research Interests & Projects

Andrews Research Group
Active and past projects include parameter estimation algorithms, software development in R, robust variable selection, and applied projects in engineering, biology, ecology, health and physics.

Undergraduate Research Assistants
Undergraduate students interested in summer research opportunities are encouraged to discuss in person. Completion of 3rd year in Math/Statistics/Computer Science/Data Science, including strong performance in Machine Learning (DATA 311) is generally a pre-requisite for fruitful summer projects — but exceptions may be possible.

Graduate Supervision
Prospective students must meet program eligibility requirements with excellent performance in upper-year mathematics/statistics courses, ideally including a course in multivariate statistics/machine learning. Research experience at the undergraduate level is an asset. Proficiency in scientific writing, R (and/or general computer programming), and LaTeX document preparation are also assets. Graduate award applications to NSERC CGS are encouraged — these generally have internal deadlines at the university you are graduating from and it is advantageous to discuss potential projects ahead of time. Teaching assistantships and other sources of funding are available for qualified incoming grad students.

Software

teigen: Model-based clustering and classification with the multivariate t-distribution. CRAN

mmtfa: Model-based clustering and classification with mixtures of modified t factor analyzers. CRAN

vscc: Variable selection for clustering and classification. CRAN

Selected Publications & Presentations

Maindonald, Braun, and Andrews (2024). A Practical Guide to Data Analysis Using R: An example-based approach, Cambridge University Press.

For a complete list of available manuscripts, see Google Scholar.

Selected Grants & Awards

Principal Investigator

  • NSERC Discovery Grant (2014-2020, 2020-2025)
  • UBCO OVPRI Support (2021-2022)
  • Mitacs Accelerate (2018)
  • NSERC Engage (2017-2018, 2019)
  • CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund (2017)

Co-Investigator

  • NSERC Alliance (2023-2027)
  • UBCO OVPRI Eminence Fund (2023-2026)
  • UBCO ALT-2040 (2022-2025)
  • Tri-Council New Frontiers in Research Fund – Exploration Stream (2022-2024)
  • BC Cancer Center Priorities Advisory Group Fund (2018-2021)
  • UBCO OVPRI Eminence Fund (2017-2020)
  • Cisco Grants for Catalyzing Smart City Innovations (2017-2018)

Awards

Professional Services/Affiliations/Committees

 

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