Overview

The planet on which we live and the challenges that we face on this planet become increasingly complex as ecological, economic and social systems are large intertwined networks governed by dynamic processes and feedback loops. Mathematical models are indispensable in understanding and managing such systems since they provide insight into governing processes; they help predict future behavior; and they allow for risk-free evaluation of possible interventions.

The goal of this thematic program is to tackle pressing and emerging challenges in population and ecosystem health, including understanding and controlling major transmissible diseases, optimizing and monitoring vaccination, predicting the impacts of climate change on invasive species, protecting biodiversity and managing ecosystems sustainably.

This pan-Canadian program will bring together the international community of researchers who work on these topics in a series of workshops to foster exchange and stimulate cross-disciplinary research between all scientific areas involved, to discuss perspectives and directions for future advances in the field, including new models and methods and to foster tighter links between the research community, government agencies and policy makers.

Three summer schools will introduce graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to the art of modeling living systems and to the latest tools and techniques to analyze these models.