Applied Maths Seminar: Everett -- From growing up to getting sick: modeling nutrient constraints on maturation and disease transmission

Rebecca Everett (Haverford College) is visiting us this semester, and will give a talk
in Carslaw 451 on Wednesday 21 October at 12pm.  Afterwards, we will go to lunch with
her (free for students).  

Title: From growing up to getting sick: modeling nutrient constraints on maturation and
disease transmission 

Abstract: Ecological processes depend on the flow and balance of essential elements such
as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus.  The balance of these essential elements in
ecological interactions is studied in the theory of Ecological Stoichiometry (ES).  The
integration of ES into population models has provided insights into understanding how
stoichiometric constraints affect food webs and nutrient cycles.  In this talk, we begin
by focusing on maturation, using stage-structured and delay differential equations to
model how high nutrient demands in juvenile daphnia create developmental bottlenecks.  I
will then switch to disease transmission, introducing mathematical models that explore
the implications of nutrient-mediated infectivity and host immunity on infection
outcomes.  Our findings show contrasting responses to pathogen performance with
increasing nutrients, revealing an optimum for pathogen transmission at intermediate
nitrogen supply.  Overall, these models show that nutrient balance controls aquatic
health, creating bottlenecks during development while causing pathogen transmission to
peak at intermediate nutrient supply.