Mathematical Analysis of Biological Models

Catalog description

This course focuses on the mathematical methods used to analyze biological models, with examples drawn largely from ecology but also from epidemiology, developmental biology, and other areas. Mathematical topics include equilibrium and stability in discrete and continuous time, some aspects of transient dynamics, and reaction-diffusion equations (steady state, diffusive instabilities, and traveling waves). Biological topics include several "classic" models, such as the Lotka-Volterra model, the Ricker model, and Michaelis-Menten/type II/saturating responses. The emphasis is on approximations that lead to analytic solutions, not numerical analysis. An important aspect of this course is translating between verbal and mathematical descriptions: the goal is not just to solve mathematical problems but to extract biological meaning from the answers we find. Offered as BIOL 306 and MATH 376 . Prereq: Undergraduate Student and ( BIOL 300 or MATH 224 or MATH 228 ) or Requisites Not Met permission.