The investigator, a post-doctoral researcher, will work under the guidance of his faculty mentor to investigate the history of systems biology in the post World-War-II period, from 1945 to 1975 . The project will focus on models and projections of global population growth and resource utilization using the systems approach. The results of this project will enable further research and evaluation of particular systems applications and indicate whether the systems approach will be useful in these conditions.
There is a strong potential for broad impact on our understanding and implementation of contemporary systems thinking in other areas such as climate change and genomics. One potential source of improvement derives from understanding the causes of the apparent failures of systems biology in the period under investigation; an analysis of these apparent failures could be useful to current systems scholars. The results of this research will have practical value to policy planners and managers.
