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Featured Science
Cooperation and Confict
Dr. Erol Akçay is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS). He investigates the dynamics of cooperation and conflict in animal social behavior and ecological mutualisms. Click here to view the video. (4 min 01 sec)
Transmission Dynamics of Infectious Disease
Dr. Folashade Agusto is a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS). She conducts research involving mathematical analysis and optimal control of transmission dynamics of infectious diseases, focusing specifically on bovine tuberculosis, malaria and avian influenza. Click here to view the video. (1 min 53 sec)
Biodiversity in a Changing World
Dr. Xavier Thibert-Plante is a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS). He studies the impact of climate change on biodiversity, specifically the evolution of biodiversity and the process of biodiversification in a changing environment. Click here to view the video. (2 min 11 sec)
Ants and Climate Change
Dr. Sharon Bewick is a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS). She studies how different ant species interact and how their interactions affect forest plant composition. She focuses particularly on how ant communities might be affected by disturbances in the global climate. For more information about Dr. Bewick's research, click here. To view the video, click here. (2 min 23 sec)
The Evolution of the Protein
Dr. Yi Mao is a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis. She studies enzymatic protein's role in biological energy production and the physical principles that drive protein evolution. Because the origins of many diseases lie in the malfunction of proteins, a better understanding of how proteins behave could lead to new discoveries in medicine. Click here to view the video. (1 min 12 sec)
The Evolution of Biodiversity Under a Changing Climate
The rate of climate change is happening so fast that many species cannot adapt quickly enough and risk extinction. Dr. Thibert-Plante studies the interaction between ecological and evolutionary forces and their impact in shaping the planet's biodiversity.
Model explains rapid transition
The transition from colonies of individual cells to multicellular organisms can be achieved relatively rapidly, within one million generations, according to a new mathematical model that simplifies our understanding of this process.
Emerging Fungal Disease
A new commentary on the nature of pathogens is raising startling new questions about the role that fundamental science research on evolution plays in the understanding of emerging disease.
Species Distribution Models
Separate species that live in radically different environments don't necessarily also have different ecological niches. This is the finding of a new study investigating the accuracy of current statistical tests that use models of geographic distributions to infer changes in environmental requirements.
A Mad Itch
Feral swine have been described as the most worrisome of non-native species in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. These free-roaming pigs not only root out native plants and destroy natural habitats, but can also carry disease, such as pseudo-rabies, which is often fatal if transmitted to other wild and domestic animals.
Darwinian Morphometics and the Problem of Shape
Biologists have a rich array of quantitative tools for analyzing the genetics and evolution of traits, especially when the traits can be described by one or a few measurements. But describing some traits, such as gene expression profiles or life history patterns, is far more complex, often defined as a mathematical function of some other variable, such as body size as a function of age.
Mathematic Models Help Formulate Strategies for Controlling Infectious Disease
Although largely eradicated in the United States, the scourge of bovine tuberculosis continues to devastate cattle herds and other animals in parts of the developing world. The disease is also still a threat to public health where it can be transmitted via contact with infected animals and by consuming unpasteurized milk. Folashade Agusto knows firsthand of the devastation in her home country of Nigeria, where few control measures are in place to help eradicate bovine tuberculosis (TB). A postdoctoral fellow at NIMBioS, Agusto's research focuses on developing mathematical models to analyze the transmission of bovine TB in cattle, wildlife and humans.
Trees Facilitate Wildfires As a Way to Protect Their Habitat
Fire is often thought of as something that trees should be protected from, but a new study suggests that some trees may themselves contribute to the likelihood of wildfires in order to promote their own abundance at the expense of their competitors. The study, which appears in the December 2009 issue of The American Naturalist, finds that positive feedback loops between fire and trees associated with savannas can make fires more likely in these ecosystems.
Scientist Ties Distribution Modeling to Ecological Theory
As the planet warms, scientists have observed a radical disruption in the geographic distribution of thousands of animals and plants, which has unknown consequences for species survival. William Godsoe, postdoctoral fellow at the NIMBioS, studies the statistical relationships between a species ecological requirements, or niche, and its distribution, which offers a way to predict and mitigate ecological challenges facing the plant, such as climate change, habitat loss and species invasion.
The Evolution of Social Behavior: Cooperation and Conflict
In the course of a day, animals cooperate in a myriad different ways in order to increase their, and their species, chances of survival. In many species, for example, raising offspring requires help and cooperation from multiple individuals, and fending off predators can often be more effective when animals cooperate together as a herd.
Ants and Climate Change
Dr. Sharon Bewick studies how ant communities might be affected by disturbances in the global climate as a part of her research as a postdoctoral fellow at NIMBioS. She also wants to know how temperature changes might affect the delicately balanced ecosystems in which ants live.
Modeling Black Bears
As a short-term visitor to NIMBioS, Dr. Rene Salinas' research focuses on developing computer models that simulate changes in the black bear population in eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. The model could be used by wildlife managers to help determine the best strategy for minimizing bear-human conflict while maintaining a sustainable bear population.
Protein Form and Function
Proteins are the workhorses of biological processes. Because the origins of many diseases lie in the malfunction of proteins, a better understanding of how proteins behave could lead to new discoveries in medicine. At NIMBioS, postdoctoral fellow Yi Mao develops mathematical theories and algorithms to analyze bio-molecular systems, such as proteins.
Investigative Workshop: Modeling Bovine Tuberculosis
U.S. authorities working to eradicate the spread of tuberculosis in cattle might benefit from predictive modeling approaches developed for European agricultural systems where more detailed animal movement data are available, according to summary findings from the first NIMBioS Investigative Workshop on Modeling Bovine Tuberculosis held July 7-9.
Working Group: Ecology of Niche Variation
Consider the case of the three-spine stickleback. These tiny fish that thrive in oceans and in fresh water might appear to be the same, yet ecologists are finding that they are actually a diverse collection of highly specialized individuals. Understanding the causes and consequences of such ecological variation was the goal of a group of scientists who met at NIMBioS July 27-29.
Investigative Workshop: White Nose Syndrome in Bats
A primary concern for wildlife managers tackling white-nose syndrome in bats is the ability to predict when and where in the United States the killer fungus will strike next, according to summary findings from the first NIMBioS Investigative Workshop on Modeling White Nose Syndrome (WNS) held June 30- July 2.
Other articles:
Plotting Herds to Eradicate Bovine Tuberculosis
Searching for Solutions to Evolutionary Puzzles
Unraveling the Mystery of White-Nose Syndrome
Examining Human Behavior and the Threat of Disease
Tackling a Math Problem for Ecology
