Dr. Dan Gorbonos, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany, gives a talk on ""The Gravitational Theory of the Midges".


Abstract: The collective motion of animal groups emerges from the combined interactions between individual members. In many cases, such as with birds, fish, or ungulates, these interactions are mediated by sensory stimuli that predominantly originate from nearby neighbors. However, not all stimuli in animal groups are short-range. Here, we examine mating swarms of midges, which are thought to interact primarily through long-range acoustic stimuli. We leverage the similarity in form between the decay of acoustic and gravitational sources to develop a model for swarm behavior, finding structural similarities between swarms and star clusters.

Dr. Rich Norby presented his research on the topic "Adjusting for Pre-treatment Bias in a Forest FACE Experiment." This study examines the responses of an old oak forest to elevated CO2 in the BIFoR FACE experiment in central England. Rich's team used tree ring chronologies to normalize the data, addressing pre-treatment biases and exploring how biomass estimates are influenced by allometric relationships.

Stephanie Johnson presented her research on the topic "Modeling ICU’s MRSA Acquisitions with Different Staffing Levels and Direct Care Task Models," providing insights into the impact of staffing and task allocation on the transmission of MRSA in Intensive Care Units.