UBM-Group: Research Mentoring in Mathematical Biology at New Mexico State University

来自生物学和数学科学系的研究人员正在创建一个数学生物学跨学科计划，为本科生的研究生学习和未来的职业生涯做准备。 引入的关键要素包括：课程开发，由教师的跨学科团队，同行互动和指导，以及广泛的支持和文化活动（研讨会，实地考察，研讨会和小组讨论）本科生辅导。 该项目的核心是长期的、跨学科的研究经验，将联合收割机生物实验与数学监测相结合。 学生团队将经历一个完整的研究周期，包括假设制定，模型开发和分析，实验设计和执行，数据分析和假设检验，手稿开发和提交，以及正式演示。研究使用单一的模型系统果蝇，并跨越生物学中的各种学科，包括发育生物学，生理学，进化生物学和种群生态学。 研究项目涉及模型概念化和构建（使用微分方程，差分方程和矩阵代数），参数估计，数值分析和稳定性分析。 三大主题如下：1。转录网络模型在果蝇眼发育中的扩展; 2.沃尔巴克氏体感染对拟果蝇宿主不亲和性和生活史进化的影响; 3.模拟饮食变化后果蝇物种的稳定同位素掺入动力学。智力优势：该项目采用了一个强大的指导模式，涉及教师学生，研究生本科生，和几个层次的对等互动（先进的和开始的学生之间，在不同的研究小组的学生之间，当然，研究小组内的学生之间）。 由于研究项目涉及目前活跃的研究领域，而不是示范项目，学生，与他们的教师导师合作，预计将在同行评审的期刊上发表，并在全国会议上提出。更广泛的影响：该项目支持一个大型西班牙裔服务机构内的新的研究和教育推力。 从两个正式的数学生物学课程被添加到当前的课程中吸取的教训是促进数学家和生物学家在这个校园之间的互动，并作为跳板跨学科的数学生物学学位课程正在开发的两个部门。 此外，正在开展的外联活动正在向当地初中和高中生物学生介绍数学生物学方法，该项目部分得到生物科学局的资助。

Researchers from the Departments of Biology and Mathematical Sciences are creating an interdisciplinary program in mathematical biology to prepare undergraduate students for graduate study and future careers in the field. Key elements being introduced include: curriculum development, undergraduate mentoring by interdisciplinary teams of faculty, peer-to-peer interaction and mentoring, and extensive support and cultural activities (workshops, field trips, seminars, and group discussions). The centerpiece of the project is long-term, interdisciplinary research experiences that combine biological experimentation with mathematical monitoring. Teams of students are experiencing a complete research cycle including hypothesis formulation, model development and analysis, experimental design and execution, data analysis and hypothesis testing, manuscript development and submission, and formal presentations.The research uses a single model system, Drosophila, and spans a variety of disciplines within biology including developmental biology, physiology, evolutionary biology, and population ecology. The research projects involve model conceptualization and construction (using differential equations, difference equations, and matrix algebra), parameter estimation, numerical analysis and stability analysis. Three major themes are being followed: 1. extension of transcriptional network models to eye development in Drosophila melanogaster; 2. consequences of Wolbachia infection to host incompatibility and life-history evolution in Drosophila simulans; and 3. modeling stable isotopes incorporation dynamics in Drosophila species following dietary shifts. Intellectual Merit: The project employs a robust mentoring model that involves faculty-student, graduate student-undergraduate student, and several layers of peer-to-peer interactions (between advanced and beginning students, between students in different research groups, and, naturally, between students within research groups). Since the research projects involve currently active research areas and are not demonstration projects, the students, in collaboration with their faculty mentors, are expected to publish in peer-reviewed journals and to present at national meetings.Broader Impacts: The project supports a new research and educational thrust within a large Hispanic serving institution. The lessons learned from the two formal mathematical biology courses being added to the current curriculum are fostering interactions between mathematicians and biologists on this campus and are serving as the springboard for an interdisciplinary mathematical biology degree program being developed by the two departments. In addition, on-going outreach activities are introducing a mathematical biology approach to local middle and high school biology students.This project is partially supported by funds from the Directorate for Biological Sciences.