MPDEE-22 (June 13-17, 2022, Torino, Italy)

First announcement

Models in Population Dynamics, Ecology and Evolution – MPDEE-22 (June 13-17, 2022, Torino, Italy)

Main Organizers:

Ezio Venturino (Torino, Italy)   Sergei Petrovskii (Leicester, UK)

Synopsis

Humankind, as well as life on Earth more generally are presently facing unprecedented challenges. Habitat fragmentation and biological invasions, exacerbated by the global climate change, result in elevated species extinction rates coupled with an accelerated loss of biodiversity and new threats posed by alien exotic species invasions of previously virgin territories, especially in the Earth temperate belts, with a huge impact on the entire system for food production. Indeed, human population growth brings the need of a more efficient and sustainable agriculture. The spread of insects from the tropical areas carrying viruses causing outbreaks of new or rare diseases poses another threat. Efficient, sustainable solutions to these problems can only be found though a rigorous scientific approach. There is an urgent need for ground-breaking ideas and better understanding in life sciences, ecology and environmental science. Direct communication and exchange of ideas between experts in relevant research fields is one way to facilitate it. An interdisciplinary forum where knowledge from these different fields can be exchanged would be a first step on the way of addressing these problems hovering over humanity. Precision agriculture requires tools that go beyond the purely biological/ecological settings and mathematical modelling, being widely recognized as a powerful research approach to problems arising in natural sciences, would provide such an instrument. MPDEE 2022 aims to contribute to this debate by bringing together leading researchers in theoretical and mathematical ecology, digital agriculture, evolutionary ecology, mathematical epidemiology and related fields.

The conference is planned to take place IN PERSON, although we may be able to accommodate online presentations as well.

The scope of the conference is outlined by (but not restricted to) the following topics:

·        Population dynamics and ecological complexity

·        Evolutionary and collective dynamics

·        Biological control of invasive pests

·        Models for precision agriculture

·        Ecoepidemiology

·        Climate changes, habitat fragmentation and pattern formation

Confirmed plenary speakers:

Donald De Angelis (US Geological Survey)

Alberto d’Onofrio (Trieste, Italy)

Jean-Christophe Poggiale (Marseille, France)

Vincenzo Capasso (Milan, Italy)

Vitaly Volpert (Lyon, France)

Andrew Morozov (Leicester, UK)

Advisory Scientific Committee:

Edward Codling (Essex, UK)

Ulrike Feudel (Oldenburg, Germany)

Jose Fontanari (USP Sao Carlos, Brazil)

Henri Laurie (Capetown, South Africa)

Diomar Mistro (Santa Maria, RGS Brazil)

Andrew Morozov (Leicester, UK)

Antoine Perasso (Besançon, France)

Luiz Rodriguez (Santa Maria, RGS Brazil)

More information will soon be available on the conference website at

https://sites.google.com/view/mpdee2022

For any inquiries, please contact the conference organizers at mpdee2022@gmail.com (preferably), or ezio.venturino@unito.it (Ezio) and sp237@le.ac.uk (Sergei)

Preregistration is open on the website, with the deadline on March 6th.

Early bird registration (before April 24): 230 Euros to participate in person, 180 Euros to participate online. Details on how to make the payment will be posted soon.