SCIENTIFIC PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES

Centre de recherches mathematiques
Fields Institute
Pacific Institute for the Mathematical Sciences

The Mathematics Behind Biological Invasion Processes

Models for invasions track the front of an expanding wave of population density. They take the form of parabolic partial differential equations and related integral formulations. These models can be used to address questions ranging from the rate of spread of introduced invaders and diseases to the ability of vegetation to shift in response to climate change.

In this talk I will focus on scientific questions that have led to new mathematics and on mathematics that have led to new biological insights. I will investigate the mathematical and empirical basis for multispecies invasions, for accelerating invasion waves, and for nonlinear stochastic interactions that can determine spread rates.

Audio & Slides of the Talk

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The Directors of the three Institutes, CRM, Fields and PIMS, are pleased to announce that Mark Lewis from the University of Alberta is the recipient of the 2011 CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize. Mark Lewis holds a Canada Research Chair in Mathematical Biology, and is the Director of the Centre for Mathematical Biology at the University of Alberta. His research involves mathematical modeling of biological processes, and is an example of the best interplay of science and mathematics, where ideas from each lead to advances in the other.
Mark Lewis's work develops techniques in stochastic processes, dynamical systems and partial differential equations and has led to significant advances, for example, in modeling territorial pattern formation in wolf populations, predicting population spread in biological invasions like the West Nile virus, and assessing the effect of habitat fragmentation on species survival.
The entire mathematical sciences community is invited to attend Mark Lewis's prize lecture at either the CRM, the Fields Institute or PIMS in 2011. The dates of the lectures will be announced shortly.

From left to right:
Prof. Peter Russell (Director, CRM),
Prof. Alejandro Adem (Director, PIMS),
Prof. Mark Lewis (CRM-Field-PIMS Award recipient),
Prof. Edward Bierstone (Director, Fields Institute)

Previous recipients of the prize are H.S.M. (Donald) Coxeter, George A. Elliott, James Arthur, Robert V. Moody, Stephen A. Cook, Israel Michael Sigal, William T. Tutte, John B. Friedlander, John McKay, Edwin Perkins, Donald A. Dawson, David Boyd, Nicole Tomczak-Jaegermann, Joel Feldman, Allan Borodin, Marton Barlow and Gordon Slade.
Established in 1994, the CRM-Fields Prize recognizes exceptional research in the mathematical sciences. In 2005, PIMS became an equal partner in the prize, and the name was changed to the CRM-Fields-PIMS Prize. A committee appointed by the three institutes chooses the recipient.