Researchers from the Departments of Biology and Mathematical Sciences are creating an interdisciplinary program in mathematical biology to prepare undergraduate students for graduate study and future careers in the field. Key elements being introduced include: curriculum development, undergraduate mentoring by interdisciplinary teams of faculty, peer-to-peer interaction and mentoring, and extensive support and cultural activities (workshops, field trips, seminars, and group discussions). The centerpiece of the project is long-term, interdisciplinary research experiences that combine biological experimentation with mathematical monitoring. Teams of students are experiencing a complete research cycle including hypothesis formulation, model development and analysis, experimental design and execution, data analysis and hypothesis testing, manuscript development and submission, and formal presentations.
The research uses a single model system, Drosophila, and spans a variety of disciplines within biology including developmental biology, physiology, evolutionary biology, and population ecology. The research projects involve model conceptualization and construction (using differential equations, difference equations, and matrix algebra), parameter estimation, numerical analysis and stability analysis. Three major themes are being followed: 1. extension of transcriptional network models to eye development in Drosophila melanogaster; 2. consequences of Wolbachia infection to host incompatibility and life-history evolution in Drosophila simulans; and 3. modeling stable isotopes incorporation dynamics in Drosophila species following dietary shifts.
Intellectual Merit: The project employs a robust mentoring model that involves faculty-student, graduate student-undergraduate student, and several layers of peer-to-peer interactions (between advanced and beginning students, between students in different research groups, and, naturally, between students within research groups). Since the research projects involve currently active research areas and are not demonstration projects, the students, in collaboration with their faculty mentors, are expected to publish in peer-reviewed journals and to present at national meetings.
Broader Impacts: The project supports a new research and educational thrust within a large Hispanic serving institution. The lessons learned from the two formal mathematical biology courses being added to the current curriculum are fostering interactions between mathematicians and biologists on this campus and are serving as the springboard for an interdisciplinary mathematical biology degree program being developed by the two departments. In addition, on-going outreach activities are introducing a mathematical biology approach to local middle and high school biology students.
This project is partially supported by funds from the Directorate for Biological Sciences.
