| Date: | October 12, 2020 |
| Time: | 6:30pm |
| Location: | ZOOM |
| Speaker: | Dr. Emma Goldberg, Theoretical Biology group at Los Alamos National Lab |
| Title: | Inferring COVID-19 Epidemiology from the Phylogenetic Tree of Viral Relationships |
| Abstract: | As a virus spreads from person to person, mutations arise in its genome and are transmitted to newly-infected people. This mutational trail of clues can be interpreted as a tree of relationships among viral samples taken from different people. The field of "phylodynamics" uses this type of data and applies mathematical models of viral growth and spread to estimate properties of an epidemic. I will discuss our efforts at phylodynamic modeling for the virus that causes COVID-19, focusing especially on identifying introductions of the virus into New Mexico and clusters of local spread within the state. By combining applied mathematical modeling with genetic sequencing technology and public health data, our team is uncovering actionable information about the spread of this virus. |
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| Date: | November 9, 2020 |
| Time: | 6:30pm |
| Location: | ZOOM |
| Speaker: | Dr. Marylesa Howard, DOE Nevada National Security Site |
| Title: | Emerging Scientific Research Opportunities in Nuclear Security |
| Abstract: | The Department of Energy (DOE) employs scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and technicians to work on problems ranging from renewable energy resources to global climate change. However, unbeknownst to many people is the fact that the DOE is also the nation’s overseer of nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear emergency response, and nuclear power for the U.S. Navy. Furthermore, the DOE also oversees our nuclear weapons program, where the safety, security, and reliability of our nuclear stockpile are governed through scientific modeling, simulation, and experimentation, and decisions about the nuclear stockpile program are driven by data analysis. In light of this, it is imperative that analysis methods be mathematically justifiable, the data obey the assumptions of the method, and the information extracted from each diagnostic’s data be useful and relevant to the questions posed. Statistical methods are absolutely necessary in the analysis of data from each diagnostic to estimate quantities of interest and to help us understand corresponding uncertainties. In this presentation, some of the scientific research interests of the DOE will be highlighted, including work of Postdocs, Graduate students, Co-Op students, and summer interns, with a focus on measurement diagnostics and analysis for subcritical experiments in support of the Stockpile Stewardship Program at the Nevada National Security Site, the nation’s premier explosives laboratory. |
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| Date: | November 16, 2020 |
| Time: | 6:30pm |
| Location: | ZOOM |
| Speaker: | Eric Tovar, TAMU |
| Title: | Mathematical and Computational Issues in Coastal Hydrodynamics |
| Abstract: | https://tamu.zoom.us/j/91296884302 (Meeting ID: 912 9688 4302)
As urbanization is encroaching more and more on flood prone regions and paved surfaces are ever expanding, more catastrophic flash floods occurring in urban
environments are expected in the near future. These risks are compounded by global changes in the climate. Mathematics can help better predict and understand
these situations through modeling and numerical simulations. The aim of this talk is to discuss current mathematical and computational issues in modeling of shallow
water flows with applications in coastal hydraulics, large-scale oceanography, and river and estuary hydraulics. The talk is split into two parts. First, we discuss the
work on coastal hydraulics being conducted at the US Army Engineer Research and Development. Second, we give an overview on the work done on dispersive
shallow water waves here at TAMU and highlight some numerical results. |
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