This project is developing a five-year program of extended interdisciplinary research experiences for cross disciplinary teams of undergraduates mentored by cross disciplinary teams of faculty from mathematics and biology. Projects represent a wide array of biological and mathematical subdisciplines and expose all participants to a broad spectrum of research modes and techniques (i.e., molecular, cellular, organismal, and population/community level questions within biology; and analytic, modeling, visualization, and statistical questions within mathematics). Each student faculty team pursues interdisciplinary research questions and engages in a series of programmatic activities designed to foster both intellectual independence and professional and social interaction within the cross disciplinary student cohort and to establish long-term collaboration among mathematics and biology faculty.
Intellectual Merit: The project is motivated by the national need for professionals capable of working at the intersection of the mathematical and biological sciences. It makes available a set of long term interdisciplinary research experiences for undergraduates that address topics at all hierarchical levels of biological organization. Teams organize and create conceptual maps of microarray data, study and model plastron respiration in ticks, model the effect of structural characters of pollen on flight dynamics, improve mathematical models used in bioacoustic surveys of bat populations, and develop habitat suitability models for a species of conservation concern. Each of these projects advances knowledge in the biological sciences. Together, they call upon a wide range of mathematical and quantitative tools, skills, and approaches. Faculty mentors for these projects have considerable experience in mentoring and in interdisciplinary inquiry.
Broader Impacts: The program advances discovery and understanding in the biological sciences. By creating resources for and promoting the integration of research and teaching in mathematics and biology, it provides an invaluable opportunity for faculty to practice the pedagogy of research and develop their skills mentoring interdisciplinary student inquiry. By making an exciting area of study available to more students, the program has great potential to increase enrollment in mathematics and biology. Partnering with existing programs ensures that underrepresented groups participate in the program and information is effectively disseminated.
