Short-term Visitors at NIMBioS in 2010
Short-term visitors to NIMBioS are supported for periods from one week to a month to assist their efforts in carrying out research that conforms to the mission of NIMBIoS to foster research at the interface between mathematics and biology.
Yoram Louzoun (Bar Ilan University, Israel)
Project Title:Optimal viral immune surveillance evasion strategies
Yoram Louzoun is collaborating with Vitaly Ganusov (Univ. of Tennessee) to develop an optimization framework to compute the number of expected epitopes in different viral proteins and to conduct a bioinformatic analysis of the epitope density in different proteins that correlates with the optimization analysis.
Visit Dates: July 22 - August 17, 2010
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| (From left) Hiroyuki Yokomizo, Richard Hall, Gregory Schrott, John Lambrinos |
Richard Hall (Univ. of Georgia)
John Lambrinos (Oregon State Univ.)
Gregory Schrott (Archbold Biological Station)
Hiroyuki Yokomizo (National Institute for Environmental Studies, Japan)
Project Title: Modeling the effects of habitat fragmentation and biotic resistance on biological invasions
This collaborative group is synthesizing ecological theory, computational modeling and empirical data to understand how habitat fragmentation interacts with local biotic resistance to drive invasion patterns. The simulation model uses a dataset from pampas grass (Cortaderia jubata) as an invasive in California. The results of this study, and the code generated for the model, will have broad applicability for the understanding and management of invasions into human-altered landscapes.
Visit Dates: July 12-23, 2010
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| (From left) Michael Bode, Carl Toews, Gareth Lennox, Paul Armsworth |
Paul Armsworth
(Univ. of Tennessee)
Michael Bode
(Univ. of Melbourne)
Gareth Lennox
(Univ. of Sheffield)
Carl Toews
(Duquesne Univ.)
Project Title: Optimal design of spatial and spatio-temporal management strategies for terrestrial biodiversity conservation and fisheries management
This collaborative group of early career mathematical biologists focuses on terrestrial biodiversity conservation and fisheries management. The group is developing and applying constrained optimization techniques to inform the design of management strategies.
Visit Dates: July 4-27, 2010
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| (From left) Redwan Al Faori, M. Letitia Holden Hubbard, Luis Cabrales Arriaga |
Redwan Al Faori (Univ. of Arkansas)
Luis Cabrales Arriaga (Texas Tech Univ.)
M. Letitia Holden Hubbard (Duke Univ.)
Al Faori, Arriaga and Hubbard attended the 2010 Summer School in Biophysics
at the Univ. of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, of which NIMBioS was a co-sponsor.
Visit Dates: July 7-10, 2010
Sadie Ryan
(National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis) and
Michael Tildesley
(Centre for Infection, Immunity and Evolution, Univ. of Edinburgh)
Project Title:
Using GIS to inform spatial epidemic models of disease transmission among US farms
Sadie Ryan and Michael Tildesley are collaborating on research to investigate the geographical resolution required to accurately predict future epidemics of foot-and-mouth disease in the USA, and to create model frameworks that can be adapted to other livestock diseases such as Bovine tuberculosis and Brucellosis.
Visit Dates: June 28 - July 2, 2010
William J. Platt (Louisiana State Univ.)
Project Title: Models for savanna dynamics based on differential flammability of trees
Bill Platt is collaborating with Brian Beckage (NIMBioS Sabbatical Visitor) and Louis Gross (NIMBioS) to develop a stochastic model for vegetation-fire feedbacks in savannas as well as a general conceptual model for fire that incorporates short- and long-term feedbacks involving vegetation at local, regional, and global scales. These models will be developed to provide new insights into the role of fire in maintaining grasslands and savannas.
Visit Dates: June 21-25, 2010
Sanjukta Hota (Fisk Univ.)
Project Title: HIV research discussion and partnership visit
Sanjukta Hota is collaborating with Suzanne Lenhart (NIMBioS) and Hem Raj Joshi (Xavier Univ.) to develop a mathematical epidemic model of HIV with inclusion of controls through educational information and treatment. The goal is to develop an optimal strategy that minimizes the number of infected and the cost of implementing the controls.
Visit Dates: May 17-21, 2010
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| (From left) Scott Duke-Sylvester, Chris Ellingwood, Brian Beckage |
Beckage et al.
Project Title: Spatial modeling of Everglades plant community response to natural and anthropogenic disturbance
The collaborative team of
Brian Beckage (Univ. of Vermont),
Chris Ellingwood (Univ. of Vermont),
Louis Gross (NIMBioS) and
Scott Duke-Sylvester (Univ. of Louisiana-Lafayatte) is working on a project to model Everglades plant community dynamics. The model projects potential changes to Everglades plant communities in response to altered patterns of fire and hydrology. The model is being used to evaluate the impact of climate change and alternative hydrologic scenarios on the distribution of plant communities in the Everglades.
Visit Dates: May 10-14, 2010
Kerrie Anne Loyd (Univ. of Georgia)
Project Title: A stochastic modeling approach to feral cat management and prey take
Kerrie Anne Loyd's project examines the effect of alternative feral cat management options on cat populations, prey take and predation on a focal species over a 10-year period.
Click here to view the NIMBioS video interview: What to do about feral cats?.
Visit Dates: May 10-14, 2010
Jeremy Van Cleve (Santa Fe Institute)
Project Title: Exploring two-tier models of social behavior in structured populations
Jeremy Van Cleve is collaborating with Erol Akçay (NIMBioS) to explore two-tier models of social behavior in structured populations.
Visit Dates: March 24-31, 2010
Judith Canner (North Carolina State Univ.)
Project Title: The effects of climate change on ant population dynamics and ant-plant mutualisms
To understand the factors controlling the seasonal abundance of ants, Judith Canner is collaborating with Sharon Bewick (NIMBioS) and Katie Stuble (Univ. of Tennessee) to develop a stage-structured model of colony dynamics.
The goal is to understand how temperature, which alters the developmental and mortality rates of eggs, larvae and pupae, can influence the seasonal abundance of workers in the colony and, ultimately, colony survival.
Visit Dates: March 14-19, 2010
Hoeksema et al.
Project Title: Production economics of mutualism: Rhizobial bail-outs to the domatia bubble
The collaborative team of Jason Hoeksema (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); Erol Akçay (NIMBioS); James Umbanhower (Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill); Sarah Richardson (DePaul Univ.); Ellen Simms (UC Berkeley); Antonio Golubski (Univ. of Toronto); and Miro Kummel (Colorado College) is developing a general framework for using economic theory to model how mutualisms evolve and how they create and respond to ecological change.
Visit Dates: Feb. 19-21, 2010
Ellen Simms (Univ. of California, Berkeley)
Project Title: Modeling nodulation dynamics of legumes
Ellen Simms is collaborating with Erol Akçay (NIMBioS) to develop a model of the nodulation process and its regulation, based on available empirical evidence, and embed the partner choice and negotiation models into this dynamic framework.
Visit Dates: Jan. 27-31, 2010
Visitors work on-site at NIMBioS and may link the visit with a Working Group or other activity at NIMBioS. Visitors receive reimbursement for travel and housing expenses as well as a per diem.
Applications can include any type of interdisciplinary synthesis project, but NIMBioS particularly welcomes collaborative projects. Such collaborations might involve NIMBioS resident researchers or staff or local researchers; joint applications from two or more researchers to spend time together at NIMBioS; or applications from participants in other NIMBioS activities to work on their project with NIMBioS computational science staff.
Applications are considered four times a year, with deadlines on March 1, June 1, September 1, and December 1. Applications are evaluated in terms of both the scientific value of the project and the qualifications of the applicant. Particular priority is given to students and junior researchers.
For more information about short-term visits and how to apply, click here.
Visitor Archive: 2009
