UNLV Undergraduate Biology & Mathematics Program
Core Research Projects
"Mathematics is not a careful march down a well-cleared highway, but a journey into a strange wilderness, where the explorers often get lost. Rigour should be a signal to the historian that the maps have been made, and the real explorers have gone elsewhere." -- W.S. Anglin. 1992. Mathematics and history. The Mathematical Intelligencer 14(4):6-12.
The ideas expressed in the above quote could apply to much of science as well and serve as a reminder to students starting out in research, that original research tends to be very different than the pre-arranged experiments in undergraduate lab courses.
The topics listed below are just meant to serve as examples of possible research areas. Other projects can be explored and a search of the faculty web pages may suggest possibilties.
Ecology
- Dynamics of Invasive Species - Students will focus on the biological principles of invasive species and population interactions. Mathematical models will include systems of differential equations along with the computer methods for solving these equations.
- Evolution of allocation and developmental plasticity - Students will learn to apply simple linear algebraic equations that model the allocation of available biomass during development of an organism. Such models can provide insight into the evolution of developmental plasticity.
Physiology
- Transport processes in plants - Students will learn the application of differential equation models of transport to problems associated with flow of water through plant tissues. Methods and computer software systems will be utilized in solving these models and increasing our understanding of how the properties of cells and tissues influence the transport process.
Biomechanics
- Physical principles underlying animal movement - Students will learn to apply mathematical approaches to the process of walking and running in animals. These models will provide insight into important structure-function relationships including characteristics of legs and joints that influence the process of movement.
Bioinformatics
- The prediction of gene responses to development and environment - Students will learn to apply mathematical methods such as Maximum Likelihood Estimation and Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation to understand the ways in which genes respond to environmental cues during development.
