NIMBioS has launched a new effort to showcase the multiple routes to success for graduate education in quantitative connections to the life sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. With 20 different research areas to explore and one of the world's largest collections of faculty in quantitative bioscience, UT has become a world-leader in quantitative bioscience disciplines. A new website highlights each of the research areas, details the various pathways for embarking on graduate study, and showcases successful students who have graduated in quantitative bioscience majors from UT.

A collaboration with former NIMBioS postdocs Angela Peace and Suzanne O'Regan, along with the University of Tennessee's Matt Gray, has culminated in a new study in Ecological Modeling that investigates the dynamics of a highly virulent ranavirus and helps to illustrate its threat to biodiversity in North America. Targeting only one transmission pathway is unlikely to thwart invasion, the study finds.

The activities of the Ecological Network Dynamics Working Group, which concluded this year, have culminated in a new R software package, now available, for analyzing the properties of large-scale ecological networks. EcoNetGen constructs and samples networks with predetermined topologies including network size and structure. The networks can represent communities varying in size and types of interactions. The software gives its users the ability to simulate the complete underlying structure of a network and compare it to the size and structure of a sampled network. A paper recently published in PeerJ details use of the software package.

Registration is underway for NIMBioS' 11th annual Undergraduate Research Conference at the Interface of Biology and Mathematics, to be held November 16-17, 2019 at the University of Tennessee Conference Center in Knoxville. The conference provides opportunities for undergraduates to present their research in talks and posters. Also included are a plenary speaker, a panel on career opportunities, a graduate school showcase, and other networking opportunities.  Registration deadline is October 16. Read more.

There is still time to request support for a short-term visit to NIMBioS. NIMBioS will support visits of up to one week for groups of one to six people working on projects that conform to the NIMBioS mission to foster interdisciplinary collaborations, research and education at the interface of the quantitative and life sciences. Visits must be concluded by August 2020. NIMBioS has more than a decade of success in providing the kind of environment and support for scientific collaboration that produces results. Apply for a short-term visit today and let us take care of the details!  

The National Institute for STEM Evaluation and Research (NISER), which was established as a part of NIMBioS in 2016, is now a core operation of the University of Tennessee’s lead research administration unit, the Office of Research & Engagement (ORE). With expertise in evaluation theory, design and implementation, NISER is capable of evaluating large-scale projects to optimize decision-making and to untangle the complexity of program dynamics in order to understand how and why a project meets or fails to meet its objectives. NISER’s success and its move to be part of ORE enhances UT’s reputation as one of the nation’s leading universities providing high quality program evaluation and builds on the highly interdisciplinary approach to science and education fostered by NIMBioS.

Crodelle J, Piltz SH, Hagenauer MH, Booth V. 2019. Modeling the daily rhythm of human pain processing in the dorsal horn. PLoS Comput Biol 15(6): e1007106. [from NIMBioS Research Collaboration Workshop for Women in Mathematical Biology]

de Aguiar et al. 2019. Revealing biases in the sampling of ecological interaction networks. PeerJ. DOI: 10.7717/peerj.7566. [from NIMBioS Working Group on Ecological Network Dynamics]

Hamelin FM et al. 2019. Co-infections by non-interacting pathogens are not independent and require new tests of interaction. bioRxiv. 2019 Jan 1:618900. [from NIMBioS Working Group on Multiscale Vectored Plant Viruses]

Peace A et al. 2019. A highly invasive chimeric ranavirus can decimate tadpole populations rapidly through multiple transmission pathways. Ecological Modelling 410:108777. [from NIMBioS Postdoctoral Fellowship]

Smith AB, Godsoe W, Rodríguez-Sánchez F, Wang HH, Warren D. 2019. Niche estimation above and below the species level. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 34(3):260-273. [from NIMBioS Investigative Workshop on Species' Range Shifts in a Warming World]

Results produced from NIMBioS research activities are important in measuring our success. Please report your publications and other products resulting from NIMBioS activities. Learn how to acknowledge NIMBioS. For the complete list of NIMBioS products, click here .