National Institute for Modeling Biological Systems

04/20/2026

Starting April 28, 2026, there will be a brief interruption to NIMBioS' website and Rocky cluster as we physically move our computer resources to a new data center. Please see https://www.nimbios.org/rocky-and-website-downtime/ for more details.

From April 28 to April 30, 2026, NIMBioS’ website and access to our compute cluster, Rocky, will be offline (though we hope to get the website restored much sooner than April 30). This is part of an effort to move NIMBioS’ hardware to a different data center (with better cooling, more robust pow...

07/11/2025

We had a wonderful evening celebrating EDGE 2025 with a mid-program banquet aboard the Volunteer Princess! Students gathered for a night of good food, great company, and a scenic sunset cruise along the Tennessee River.

We look forward to seeing the continued success of each student and wish them all the best in their mathematical endeavors.

07/10/2025

As we enter the midst of the summer season and the academic calendar slows, Morsels from Numbers and Nature will be taking a brief pause. We look forward to returning in the fall with a new lineup of engaging talks, fresh perspectives, and the thoughtful discussions that have come to define this series. 🌊

This short break provides an opportunity to reflect, recharge, and prepare for the upcoming academic year. Whether you’re a previous participant or brand new to the series, we’re excited to welcome you back to our virtual community this fall! 🙌

In the meantime, we invite you to explore the archive of past talks on our YouTube playlist, a great source of inspiration and insight for the summer months! *Insert YouTube Link*

Interested in giving a talk this fall or later in the year? We’re actively scheduling future speakers and would love to hear from all of you. Please sign up here: *insert Google Form* and let us know if you have any questions: [email protected]

Thank you for being a part of our wonderful NIMBioS community.

07/09/2025

We’re excited to welcome Brian O’Meara as interim director of NIMBioS. A longtime member of the NIMBioS community, Brian brings expertise in mathematical biology, mentorship, and interdisciplinary research.

We also extend our sincere thanks to Nina Fefferman for her outstanding leadership over the past four years. Her dedication helped guide NIMBioS through a pivotal chapter, strengthening our programs and expanding the institute’s impact.

Over summer and early fall 2025, we are considering what our future should be. We are grateful for ongoing support from the College of Arts & Sciences and throughout the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, more generally, as well as our many local, state, federal, and international partners, funders, and collaborators.

As we begin this new phase, we’ll be reaching out for ideas and input—and we’d love to hear from you. Reach us anytime at [email protected]. Please visit https://www.nimbios.org/nimbios-welcomes-interim-director/ for the full announcement and statements.

07/09/2025

NIMBioS, NSF APPEX, and the UT Math Department are co-hosting a talk at UT by Vishwanath Varma from the Max Planck Institute. Join us on Monday, July 14 at 3 PM (4th floor, Ayres Hall) to hear about his research on how massive locust swarms (up to 15,000 in a single experiment!) transition between movement patterns.

From straight-line marches to circular milling, his work uses motion capture and computer vision to further understand collective behavior in active matter systems.

We look forward to seeing everyone there!

06/10/2025

Can you believe we’re already halfway through 2025? Time really does fly when we’re having fun, especially when we’re discussing mathematical biology and modeling through our Morsels from Numbers and Nature series! ⭐

This year’s talks have been inspiring, thought-provoking, and a testament to the creativity and curiosity of this incredible community. As we look ahead to the second half of the year, we’re excited to keep the momentum going and we’re looking for new speakers to join us starting in July 2025 and onward.

If you’re interested in presenting, we’d love to hear from you! Submit your application here with your preferred time slots, email, proposed talk title and topic, and 1–2 headshots for promotion. Time slots are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so don’t wait!

Please also help us spread the word! 📣 Share this opportunity with colleagues, departments, students, and anyone who loves engaging conversations about modeling, biology, and beyond. Know someone who’d be a great speaker? Nominate them by emailing us at [email protected].

Don’t forget that you can revisit our past talks on our YouTube playlist, where Morsels continue to reach new audiences well after the live talk. But there’s nothing quite like being there live with a curious crowd! Thanks for helping make this series such a success. 🤝

We’re excited to see what the rest of 2025 brings!

Application: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfTubFEjDgJPENJcLHCw822u1rzDIXc4L2RqnJqfJflS4wcpA/viewform

YouTube Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRyq_4VPZ9g-zYmXt9AgFYEzS2mMdTPOX&si=nCdtm9K5439cqlPu

06/09/2025

We're excited to share that the National Institute for Modeling Biological Systems (NIMBioS) is once again hosting the 2025 EDGE Summer Program this June!

For over 25 years, the EDGE Program has helped students prepare for PhD programs in the mathematical sciences. This summer, participants will engage in intensive workshops on algebra, analysis, measure theory, and computational topics—each designed to strengthen core foundations for graduate study.

Throughout this month, guest speakers and faculty will lead collaborative sessions, colloquia, and discussions that foster academic growth and a strong sense of community.

We’re honored to host this impactful program and look forward to a summer filled with learning and connection.

05/19/2025

We are excited to spotlight a recent publication by Dr. Nina Fefferman and Dr. Maggie Sullens titled "Budget Allocation and Illegal Fishing: A Game Theoretic Approach."

This study utilizes a game-theoretic framework, inspired by the Colonel Blotto game, to examine how conservationists can strategically allocate resources—monetary, non-monetary, and community support—to counteract poaching efforts in marine environments. By modeling this dynamic interaction, the work offers valuable insights into optimizing conservation strategies through informed resource allocation.

Congratulations to Dr. Fefferman and Dr. Sullens on this wonderful contribution to the field of conservation science! https://aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/mbe.2025049

05/08/2025

Dr. David Talmy, NIMBioS Affiliate and Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Tennessee, is leading an exciting project to explore the role of viruses in ocean food webs! This research investigates how these viruses, which infect microscopic life, are consumed by protist grazers in a process known as "virovory." By analyzing water samples from coastal and open ocean sites, the team aims to quantify this viral consumption and develop mathematical food web models to better understand viral dynamics on large scales in the ocean.

This research is key to understanding how ocean ecosystems function and how environmental changes impact marine life. Ocean phytoplankton, which form the base of marine food webs, regulate global carbon cycles and play a crucial role in industries such as biofuels and nutritional supplements. By quantifying the effects of viral infection on phytoplankton, Dr. Talmy and his team are building a foundation for predicting ecosystem responses to climate change and advancing industrial biotechnology.

Dr. Talmy is collaborating with Dr. Joaquín Martínez Martínez (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science) and Dr. Xavier Mayali (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory) on this project. "I am most excited about utilizing our findings from environmental and laboratory experiments to ground-truth simulation of viruses within ocean food-web models," says David.
To learn more about Dr. Talmy and his work, you can follow him on Twitter (dtalm) and Bluesky (dtalmy.bksy.social).

04/22/2025

We hope you've enjoyed learning about Dr. Strickland’s recent research on the collective behavior of small organisms like plankton and how this behavior interacts with filter feeders such as soft corals and jellyfish! We’ve had a great time collaborating with Dr. Strickland to share this exciting project with the mathematical biology community.

“It’s fascinating to see all the shapes and structures that coral will grow into in order to take advantage of how the water is flowing where they are located, and it really helps our work to see first-hand how these organisms naturally grow and move in their native environment,” says Dr. Strickland.

The team will continue this exciting work, with new updates, photos, and videos coming soon—plus the addition of a possible undergraduate researcher. Stay tuned for more updates this summer!