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May, 2018 - - - - Study shows artificial intelligence can help environmentalists combat invasive species - - - -

By marrying science, math and biology, a new study shows how artificial intelligence can protect Canadian waters from eco-invaders.

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May, 2018 - - - - Using AI to help manage Canada's invasive species - - - -

New tool brings power of machine learning to the battle against invasive species in Canadian waterways.

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September, 2015 - - - - Two professors earn Royal Society honours - - - -

Canada’s oldest scholarly institute recognizes outstanding contributors to mathematical biology and engineering.

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March, 2012 - - - - Mathematical biologist applies hard data to soft science - - - -

Mark Lewis was a twenty-something ecology student at the University of Victoria when a professor made a simple suggestion that would change the course of his life: enrol in some math classes.

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February, 2012 - - - - 2012 Killam Research Fellowship - - - -

The tide has begun to turn in the fight against invasive water-borne creatures.

University of Alberta researcher Mark Lewis, a leader in the field of mathematical modeling, received one of seven national 2012 Killam Research Fellowships, which will allow him to focus on the ongoing war in the water against harmful invasive animals like the zebra mussel.

The prestigious recognition comes with a prize of $70,000 a year for two years that enables recipients to dedicate all their time to research.

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January, 2012 - - - - Math in the Wild - - - -

Mark Lewis won Canada's top mathematics prize in 2011 for his models of animal movement and the sread of invasive species.

- - > YouTube video

 

February, 2011 - - - - Polar Bears - - - - Peter Molnar -- PhD 2009 - - - -
Péter's PhD Thesis involved developing energy budget models that link changes in the life history and demography of bears (e.g., reduced litter sizes, later age of first reproduction, reduced cub and adult survival) to climatic conditions.

In 2007, 2010 and again in 2011, Péter's research with Mark Lewis, Centre for Mathematical Biology, Andrew Derocher, Dept of Biological Sciences, and Tin Klanjscek, Dept for Marine and Environmental Research, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, Croatia, has been covered worldwide.
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January, 2010
- - - - Feature Alumni Raluca Eftmie – PhD 2008 - - - -
Working out the mathematics behind random behaviour
Raluca Eftmie has never been to the Serengeti, but she has discovered things about the animals there that biologists in the field had never known. Her special insights also extend beyond the African plains to answer questions about fish, birds and insects—even bacteria colonies—that have stumped experts who’ve spent their lives studying these organisms.
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2008
- - - - CAIMS/SCMAI Cecil Graham Doctoral Dissertation Award - - - -
The 2008 CAIMS/SCMAI Cecil Graham Doctoral Dissertation Award was awarded to Raluca Eftimie for her PhD Thesis, Modelling Animal Group Formation. This award was established by the Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society (CAIMS) to recognize and to publicize an outstanding PhD thesis in Applied Mathematics defended at a Canadian University during the calendar year prior to the year of the award.
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April, 2007
- - - - Ripple effect drives group action in animal world - - - -
U of A grad student Raluca Eftimie has found a formula for the united movement of flocks. A University of Alberta study is showing that 'mob mentality' in the animal kingdom is the product of a series of individual communications.

--> See also
Mathematician breaks down mob mentality: Model explains behaviour of schools of fish, flocks of birds



October, 2008 - - - - Lee Segel Prize - - - -
New awards established by Springer in association with the Society for Mathematical Biology. First Lee Segel Prizes awarded at the annual Society for Mathematical Biology Conference in Toronto.

In their winning paper, Tomas de-Camino-Beck, currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Pennsylvania State University, USA, and Mark Lewis, Senior Canada Research Chair in Mathematical Biology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada, present a newly discovered, simple method to calculate the net reproductive rate of a population using life cycle graphs.
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December, 2007 - - - - Sea Lice - - - -
Wild salmon on Canada's west coast are being driven to extinction by parasites from nearby fish farms, a study claims. Wild pink salmon around the Broughton Archipelago are declining rapidly and will die out within 10 years if no action is taken, say researchers. They say the data, published in Science, raises serious concerns about the global expansion of aquaculture. Sea lice from farms are known to infect wild salmon, but until now the impact on wild populations has been uncertain. "The impact is so severe that the viability of the wild salmon populations is threatened," said lead researcher Martin Krkosek from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. (BBC News)
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November, 2006 - - - - Why Yellowstone wolves stick close to home - - - -
Study uses mathematical modelling to determine why wolves slow to recolonize area.

--> See also A spatially explicit model for an Allee effect: . . .



July, 2006
Fagan, Lewis, and Neubert, Aumann, Apple, and Bishop's article
When can herbivores reverse the spread of an invading plant?: A test case from Mount Saint Helens.” recently won the President's Award from the American Society for Naturalists. This award is given to the paper deemed the best published in /American Naturalist/ in 2005.

--> See also Caterpillars keep volcanic slopes bare

October, 2005
In a recent article in the Edmonton Journal Caroline Bampfylde and Marjorie Wonham (amongst others) were interviewed about applications of mathematics to ecological problems. (local copy)


February, 2004
Mathematical Biology was the focus of February 2004's Next Wave and Science Magazine online and featured Prof. Mark Lewis, Dr. Frithjof Lutscher, and colleague Prof. Thomas Hillen.

Modelling of the spread of West Nile Virus published in 2004 PRSL-B generated a lot of media attention (see examples). This paper helped make Dr. Marjorie Wonham the UofA's top media expert for the past quarter in 2004, according to the Cormex report!

Carnivore territorial patterns (Salt Lake Tribune 05/07/1988).