Featured Speaker

Dr. Louis Gross

Louis J. Gross is a James R. Cox and Alvin and Sally Beaman Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Mathematics and Director of The Institute for Environmental Modeling at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He is also Director of the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), a National Science Foundation-funded center to foster research and education at the interface between math and biology. He completed a B.S. degree in mathematics at Drexel University and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics at Cornell University and has been a faculty member at UTK since 1979. His research focuses on applications of mathematics and computational methods in many areas of ecology, including disease ecology, landscape ecology, spatial control for natural resource management, photosynthetic dynamics, and the development of quantitative curricula for life science undergraduates. He has led the effort at UT to develop an across trophic level modeling framework to assess the biotic impacts of alternative water planning for the Everglades of Florida. In addition, he has co-directed several courses and workshops in mathematical ecology at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy. In 2006, he became a Distinguished Scientist awardee of the American Institute of Biological Sciences and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a long-time volunteer for Jubilee Community Arts and Community Shares, has hosted and produced folk music programs for WUOT-FM, performs with the Lark in the Morn English Country Dancers, and serves as house sound engineer for concerts at the Laurel Theatre in Knoxville.