Tools to aid in teaching ecology
Improving the communication of scientific principles and techniques is a widely desired goal in schools, universities and academic institutions. One of the key challenges in achieving this is in developing communication methods that are understandable and memorable to a varied audience. This project will explore the potential benefits of using small computational “toys” to demonstrate key ideas in scientific communication.
The following tools are currently available and new tools will be added in the future.
- Plant competition model tutorial
- Disease model simulator
- Lambda-Omega equations solver
- Density-dependent dispersal in cyclic populations simulator
People
Publications
- Matthew J. Smith, Jens D. M. Rademacher, and Jonathan A. Sherratt, Absolute stability of wavetrains can explain spatiotemporal dynamics in reaction-diffusion systems of lambda-omega type, in SIAM Journal of Applied Dynamical Systems, 8(3), 1136-1159, 27 August 2009
- Matthew J. Smith, Sandra Telfer, Eva R. Kallio, Sarah Burthe, Alex R. Cook, Xavier Lambin, and Michael Begon, Host-pathogen time series data in wildlife support a transmission function between density and frequency dependence, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(19), pp. 7905-7909, 12 May 2009
