Mathematics of Planet Earth 2013, an international year of scientific and outreach activities, was initially launched by 13 North-American institutes, including CRM. It is endorsed by the International Mathematical Union (IMU), the International Council of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (ICIAM), and the International Commission of Mathematical Instruction (ICMI). MPE 2013 is an extraordinary platform to showcase the essential relevance of mathematics to planetary problems. It is an opportunity to network the Canadian and local research community in the mathematical sciences working in this area, together with researchers from other schools (veterinary, public health, ecology, etc.), for a long term and concerted research effort. It will allow coordinating with decision makers. It is hoped to attract new researchers to the area.

Mathematics of Planet Earth includes the following four themes:

I. A planet to discover: oceans; meteorology and climate; mantle processes, natural resources, celestial mechanics
II. A planet supporting life: ecology, biodiversity, evolution
III. A planet organized by humans: political, economic, social and financial systems; organization of transport and communications networks; management of resources; energy
IV. A planet at risk: climate change, sustainable development, epidemics; invasive species, natural disasters

MPE2013 at CRM

An important part of CRM thematic scientific activities in 2013 will be related to MPE 2013. CRM will also be involved in numerous outreach activities on the theme.

The pan-Canadian program on models and methods in ecology, epidemiology and public health will focus on globally emerging challenges in human and ecosystem health and integrity, with some emphasis on particularly Canadian issues such as aboriginal communities and arctic ecology. CRM will be hosting three workshops in this program - Models and methods in ecology and epidemiology - Major and Neglected Diseases in Africa - Biodiversity in a changing world

The thematic semester on biodiversity and evolution will focus on interdisciplinary approaches to a better understanding of the fundamental aspects of biodiversity: rise and decline of species in interaction with each other and with the environment; biodiversity as an integrated complex ecological system responding dynamically to human activities. These questions, which require the production and analysis of massive environmental, genetic and genomic data, will be revisited in view of the recent progress in the generation of genomic and other high-throughput data at low cost.
The program will have one summer school "Stochasticity in Biology: Is Nature Inherently Random?", Aisenstadt Chair lecturers, long term visitors and five workshops: - Mathematics for an Evolving Biodiversity
- Mathematics of Sequence Evolution: Biological Models and Applications
- Coalescent Theory: New Developments and Applications
- Branching Diffusion and Random Trees
- Biodiversity and Environment: Viability and Dynamic Games Perspectives

CRM will also participate in an international program in Celestial Mechanics. Inside this program it will organize one workshop: "Planetary Motions, Satellite Dynamics and Spaceship Orbits".

CRM will be involved in the Canadian Launch of MPE 2013 in December 2012 in Montreal. It will collaborate with CIRANO, CIRRELT, GERAD and NCM2 to the organizations of other scientific events related to MPE 2013 in Montreal. Several of the 2013 CRM Grandes conférences (public lectures) will be related to MPE 2013. CRM will also participate in the production and distribution of a special issue of Accromath, and liaise with the teachers associations in Quebec, which will hold their annual congress on the theme.