Bi-Monthly News from NIMBioS
January-February 2018
2018 Brings New Initiatives to NIMBioS

W e have welcomed 2018 with exciting new initiatives at NIMBioS, including a reformatted, fully streamlined, mobile-friendly website . We've rolled out the new Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity (DySoC) . Under the leadership of Sergey Gavrilets, DySoC researchers use mathematical and computational methods to address interdisciplinary challenges in human social systems. DySoC adds to our growing portfolio of NIMBioS-affiliated centers, including:
  • NISER (the National Institute for STEM Evaluation and Research), which has already built a national reputation in evaluation of diverse research and education projects, including several that are national in scope. Under the leadership of Pamela Bishop, NISER has become the go-to group for high quality program evaluation for major NSF projects.
  • SAL (the Spatial Analysis Laboratory), which offers spatial data collection, visualization and analysis for cross-disciplinary efforts on biological, geographic, and socio-economic processes. Under the leadership of Mona Papeş, SAL's drone and LiDAR capabilities are expected to benefit many projects.
  • Coming Soon! MMCC (the Mathematical Modeling Consulting Center), under the leadership of Nina Fefferman, will provide support to University of Tennessee faculty members and others developing proposals and conducting research that requires the expertise of top mathematical modelers.
To date, NIMBioS has hosted more than 7,000 participants from over 900 institutions and 56 countries and all US states in activities that have produced more than 700 publications in peer-reviewed journals. The success of NIMBioS in fostering novel results is evident from the diverse collection of significant research products that have arisen, the many new collaborations that have flowered and the opportunities NIMBioS has offered to encourage new researchers to appreciate the potential for benefit to science and society for work at the interface of mathematics, life science, computational science and social science. We look forward to continuing to build, with the help of many researchers at the University of Tennessee and elsewhere, a future that expands these successes.
New & Noteworthy
New Initiative
Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity (DySoC)
At the leading edge of research in quantitative evolutionary aspects of human social systems, the Center for the Dynamics of Social Complexity (DySoC) promotes connections and collaborations between different researchers from diverse disciplines. Focusing on various aspects and levels of human social behavior, DySoC researchers use theoretical and empirical methods at the interface of mathematical, biological, social, and computational sciences. Find out more
Featured Science
Curbing Climate Change
Humans may be the dominant cause of global temperature rise, but they may also be a crucial factor in helping to reduce it, according to a new study that for the first time builds a novel model to measure the effects of behavior on climate.
Drawing from both social psychology and climate science, the new model investigates how human behavioral changes evolve in response to extreme climate events and affect global temperature change. Lead author Brian Beckage explains. Find out more
New Look
NIMBioS Website
The award-winning NIMBioS website has undergone significant changes over the last year, and we're pleased to roll out the final touches. The more streamlined, mobile-friendly site still has all your favorites: research & training opportunities, science features, video, educational resources, and more. Since 2008, NIMBioS has been at the forefront of the interface of mathematics and biology—check out how we impact , innovate and inquire .
Postdoc Spotlight
Meet Nicholas Panchy
Nick Panchy is exploring the role and regulation of intermediate epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) cell-types by modeling gene regulatory networks controlling expression across EMT. In this Q&A, Panchy explains that the best part about being a bioinformatician is being able to collaborate with scientists from a variety of fields. He thinks that bioinformatics can become more accessible to other researchers simply by reducing jargon and teaching skills that have immediate application to a student's current goals. Find out more
Research & Training Opportunities
NIMBioS Investigative Workshop
Bio-acoustic Structure
This workshop aims to make progress on the promise of using acoustics to characterize population structure . Bio-acoustic experts on multiple taxa, along with mathematicians and computer scientists with expertise in classification, clustering, and information theory, are invited to develop a unified approach.

Dates: June 25-27, 2018
Application deadline: March 5

NIMBioS Tutorial
Applications of Spatial Data: Ecological Niche Modeling
This tutorial will teach the concepts of ecological niche modeling, introduce select analytical techniques, and present methods to help apply and interpret spatial analyses. Commonly used and new online spatial data resources will be shared.

Dates: May 16-18, 2018
Application deadline: Feb. 15

NIMBioS/NISER Monthly Webinars
Series for NSF INCLUDES
These free evaluation-focused webinars help develop evaluation plans to meet the needs of INCLUDES projects. Topics will be of interest to those involved in current or upcoming INCLUDES projects, those considering collaborating in such projects, and STEM educators considering inclusion of formal evaluation in their projects.

Dates: various through June
Next webinar: March 1 on Program Models as a Tool for Scaling Up

Educational Offerings
Summer Research Experiences
The application deadline for the 2018 Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates program is fast approaching. Participants receive free university apartment-style housing, a stipend, and support for travel to/from Knoxville. Full project details at the link.

Dates: May 29 - July 20, 2018
Application deadline: Feb. 14

Selected Recent NIMBioS Publications

Lam AR, Stigall AL, Matzke NJ. 2018. Dispersal in the Ordovician: Speciation patterns and paleobiogeographic analyses of brachiopods and trilobites. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 489: 147-165.

LaRiviere J, Kling D, Sanchirico JN, Sims C, Springborn M. 2017. The treatment of uncertainty and learning in the economics of natural resource and environmental management. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy. rex021.

Sgouralis I, Nebenfuhr A, Maroulas V. 2017. A Bayesian topological framework for the identification and reconstruction of subcellular motion. SIAM Journal on Imaging Sciences 2(10): 871.

Vulinec et al. 2017. Buckyballs and bats: trace evidence points to trophic interactions. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 15: 108.

Results produced from NIMBioS research activities are important in measuring our success. 
 NIMBioS is sponsored by the National Science Foundation through NSF Award #DBI-1300426, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville.