Mathematical Modeling in Biology: A Research Methods Approach

Mathematical Modeling in Biology: A Research Methods Approach is a textbook written primarily for advanced mathematics and science undergraduate students and graduate-level biology students. Although the applications center on ecology, the expertise of the authors, the methodology can be imported to any other science, including social science and economics. The aim of the book, beyond being a useful aid to teaching and learning the core modeling skills needed for mathematical biology, is to encourage students to think deeply and clearly about the meaning of mathematics in science and to learn significant research methods. Most importantly, it is hoped that students will experience some of the excitement of doing research.

Features

• Minimal pre-requisites beyond a solid background in calculus, such as a calculus I course.
• Suitable for upper division mathematics and sciences students and graduate-level biology students.
• Provides sample MATLAB codes and instruction in Appendices along with datasets available on https://bit.ly/3fcLF3D

Shandelle M. Henson is Professor of Mathematics and Professor of Ecology at Andrews University, Michigan, USA. She uses dynamical systems theory and bifurcation theory to study nonlinear population dynamics and the effects of climate change on marine organisms. Shandelle earned a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and did several years of postdoctoral work at the University of Arizona. She serves as editor-in-chief of the journal Natural Resource Modeling and is a coauthor of the book Chaos in Ecology: Experimental Nonlinear Dynamics (Academic Press 2003) which documented chaotic dynamics in laboratory populations of insects.

James L. Hayward is Professor Emeritus of Biology at Andrews University, Michigan, USA. He earned a Ph.D. in zoology from Washington State University, and he has studied the behaviors and population dynamics of marine birds and mammals in the Pacific Northwest of North America since he began graduate studies in 1972. In addition, Jim has studied the behavior of marine iguanas and flightless cormorants on the remote and uninhabited island of Fernandina, the westernmost island in the Galapagos. He also is a recognized expert in the fossilization of eggshell in birds and dinosaurs.

Shandelle and Jim, a wife-husband research team, are widely published in both the technical and popular literature, and both have won awards for their teaching. They have applied mathematical methods to the behavioral dynamics of seabirds at Protection Island National Wildlife Refuge in the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Washington, USA since 2002. They reside in Niles, Michigan, USA and they have a daughter, son-in-law, and four grandsons. They enjoy hiking, geology, art, music, and literature.