Achievement

Biology Trainee, Andrew Hein, along with his interdisciplinary co-advisor, Scott McKinley, Mathematics, have continued their work on agent-based simulation of predator search behavior. Following the publication of their work, they extended their work to coupled models of population dynamics, replacing the classic descriptions of interaction kinetics, such as linear-couplings or 'ideal gas-like' behavior, with their approach where organisms use sensory information to make movement decisions. Their modeling approach yields drastically different predictions about interaction rates in ecological systems than classical models of predator-prey dynamics. Andrew was awarded a McDonnell postdoctoral fellowship which he will use to continue his research at Princeton University.