Date/Time
Date(s) - 31/01/2024
10:30 am - 11:30 am

Location: HH 312

Speakers: Chris Greyson-Gaito & Evan Mitchell (McMaster University)

Title: Theorists and Empiricists: A Discussion about Communication and Collaboration between the Two Groups

Abstract: Charles Elton, when reviewing Alfred Lotka’s book on the mathematics of populations, famously critiqued, “like most mathematicians, [Lotka] takes the hopeful biologist to the edge of the pond, points out that a good swim will help [their] work, and then pushes [them] in and leaves [them] to drown” (Elton 1935). In this week’s MathBio Seminar, we will review the article “An empiricist’s guide to using ecological theory”. We will discuss how mathematicians can better communicate to empiricists, what are some of the barriers that mathematicians and empiricists face when doing biology research together, and many other questions. We encourage you to read the article “An empiricist’s guide to using ecological theory” which can be found here: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/717206. The seminar will start with a brief summary of the main points of this paper, followed by some questions to start an open discussion on some of the points raised.