Creighton University Department of Mathematics Invites You to Attend
Department of Mathematics Colloquium
Friday, Dec. 6
11 a.m.
HLSB 522
“Integral Projection Models in Mathematical Biology”
Matt Reichenbach, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
PhD Candidate in Mathematics
In this talk, I will introduce the concept of integral projection models (or IPMs), which are a type of discrete-time model often used by biologists. They are like matrix models, which divide a population into stages like egg, larva, pupae, adult, etc. However, IPMs are most useful when the stages are a continuous variable, and are thus used when biologists want to track the size of individuals in the population. I will review matrix models, introduce some IPMs which model plants, and then finally I’ll discuss my work using IPMs to model fish populations. These are all linear models, but if time permits I’ll show plots of a non-linear IPM which incorporates decreased growth when there’s more competition for food. It will be helpful to know some linear algebra and the idea of an integral, but I will include lots of pictures!
