This proposal will support U.S. participation in the activities of the Mathematics for Planet Earth 2013 thematic program in Canada focusing on Models and Methods in Ecology, Epidemiology and Public Health. U.S. researchers and students will participate in ten workshops and three summer schools. The first workshop will be held at the Centre de recherches mathématiques in Montréal in February 2013 and is entitled "Models and Methods in Ecology and Epidemiology." Mathematical models have a long tradition in exploring dynamical aspects of ecology and epidemiology on a number of different temporal and spatial scales. While ecological and epidemiological applications are often studied separately for historical reasons, both fields are faced with similar challenges of model complexity, model-data fitting and accurate predictions. Recently, advances in data collection (e.g. GIS), availability of large-scale simulation tools (e.g. agent-based modeling), development of statistical tools to fit mechanistic models, and new mathematical techniques (e.g. multiscale methods) have highlighted the many commonalities between ecological and epidemiological models. Successful applications of these models to pressing issues in population and ecosystem health combine techniques and insights from all fields.
The main goal of the pan-Canadian thematic year on Models and Methods in Ecology, Epidemiology and Public Health is to tackle pressing and emerging challenges in population and ecosystem health, to stimulate cross-disciplinary research between all the disciplines involved and to foster tighter links between the research community, government agencies and policy makers, and to train a new generation of researchers in this priority research area. The wide range of topics includes questions of how global change will impact vector-borne diseases and biodiversity, how aquatic ecosystems can be managed sustainably, or how modeling and surveillance can be integrated for public health decision-making. All of these questions are very active areas of research around the world; and the Canadian mathematics community plays a leadership role. The purpose of this pan-Canadian program is to bring together the international community of researchers who work on these topics in a series of workshops and to foster exchange between the different disciplines involved, to discuss perspectives and directions for future advances in the field, including new models and methods. In addition, several summer schools are aimed to train the next generation of researchers in the most recent tools and techniques and enable them to build novel tools in the future in these research areas. The funds from this grant will allow promising junior researchers from a diverse set of backgrounds, including early career professors, postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, from the United States to participate in the workshops and summer schools of this program. Understanding the mechanisms and effects of ecosystem function, ecosystem service, disease transmission and disease spread rests on mathematical models on different spatio-temporal scales. Effective and efficient management and policy decisions are based on these insights. Advancing research into the required tools, techniques and applications will provide us with better understanding and guidance for policy makers and management.
During the calendar year 2013, there were a large number of important workshops, conferences and summer schools in Canada that covered topics related to using mathematical ideas and approaches to investigate problems related to sustainability. The primary goal of the project was to provide opportunities for young researchers (defined as pre-tenure) to participate in these activities related to Mathematics of Planet Earth in Canada and then to participate in follow-on activities consisting of either conferences or joint work during calendar year 2014. This provided a variety of important educational opportunities for young researchers in mathematical biology at US Institutions. This capacity building is very important in developing the human resources necessary to solve a large number of environmental problems that require mathematical tools. Using mathematical approaches in this way remains a substantial challenge as there often is a gap with mathematically trained scientists not having the knowledge of the scientific issues underlying sustainability and scientists focusing on sustainability not having access to or knowledge of the mathematical tools. Thus, the activities supported under this project had at least three important outcomes: (1) Mathematically trained scientists received training in sustainability science, (2) scientists involved in sustainability received training and exposure to appropriate mathematical approaches, (3) collaborations were developed that crossed both disciplinary and other lines.
