NIMBioS Videos
NIMBioS has initiated a series of brief video interviews with scientists who visit NIMBioS. The first two interviews in this series, described below, are posted on our Newsroom page.
Dr. Peter Daszak, Disease Ecologist and President of Wildlife Trust. NIMBioS interviewed Dr. Daszak about the value of mathematical biology. Dr. Daszak is a leader in the field of conservation medicine, and a respected disease ecologist who helped uncover the wildlife origins of SARS. He co-organized a NIMBioS Working Group on Human Behavior and the Threat of Disease, which held its first meeting June 7-9, 2009.
Dr. Joan Roughgarden, Stanford University. NIMBioS interviewed one of the world's most influential theoretical ecologists, Dr. Joan Roughgarden, about the value of mathematical biology. Dr. Roughgarden co-organized a NIMBioS Working Group on Integrating Functional and Evolutionary Dynamics at Multiple Scales, which held its first meeting June 10-12, 2009.
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Searching for Solutions to Evolutionary Puzzles
Birds are commonly thought of as being the paragon of monogamous fidelity, staying true to their mate for life. Yet, in most bird species, some nests contain offspring of individuals other than the ones tending the nest.
Why would a bird invest in another bird's offspring when genetically such parenting would seem to provide no evolutionary advantage? Many scientists are trying to understand how evolution leads to this phenomenon called "extra-pair parentage."
(read more >>)
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| Photo courtesy Ryan von Linden, New York Department of Environmental Conservation. |
Unraveling the Mystery of White-Nose Syndrome
The mysterious disease that has killed more than 90 percent of wintering bats in some caves and mines from Vermont to Virginia during the past three years has raised numerous questions about the nature of the disease and how to control it. Leading experts in the fields of bat physiology, fungal ecology, ecotoxicology, disease and environmental modeling will gather at a workshop at NIMBioS June 29-July 1 to explore the disease and to develop solutions to manage it. (read more >>)
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| Photo Credit: C. S. Goldsmith and A. Balish, CDC. |
Examining Human Behavior and the Threat of Disease
As swine flu spread from Mexico to Texas and then fanned out farther in the United States, Americans began to alter their behavior. Families kept children home from school, postponed trips to the mall, and stayed home instead of eating out. In so doing, the American population may have inadvertently altered the behavior of the pathogen itself.
How human behavior changes the spread of emerging infectious diseases, and how the spread of disease simultaneously changes human behavior, were among the topics discussed by scientists at a meeting at NIMBioS, June 7-9.
(read more >>)
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Tackling a Math Problem for Ecology
For years, ecologists have struggled to answer some fundamental questions in ecology using certain statistical tests. Trying to measure the distribution of a species over time or geographical space, for example, poses a challenge, as does studying food webs and pollinator networks or investigating how ecological communities are comprised.
(read more >>)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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NSF Funds New Center to Bring Together Biologists, Mathematicians
NSF Press Release 08-152
September 3, 2008
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| Anolis lizard diversity, shown in a simulation model's output, is among the center's subjects. (Credit: Sergey Gavrilets, University of Tennessee, Knoxville.) |
Biologists and mathematicians from around the world will take part in a new institute dedicated to bringing top researchers together to find creative solutions to pressing problems in both scientific fields. Known as the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, or NIMBioS, the center is funded by a $16 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and is located at the University of Tennessee (UT) Knoxville. (read more >>)
