Abstract

In this talk Nik will be giving an introduction to the work that he does with his research group. Nik’s research group uses mathematical analysis and computer simulations to understand the spread and particularly the control of plant and tree diseases. The theoretical work attempts to isolate the ways in which factors including host growth, host topography, pathogen dispersal, asymptomatic infection and biological control affect the pattern of spread. Nik’s research group has also been involved in developing large-scale, spatially-explicit, stochastic, simulation models that can be fitted to data on the real-world spread of pathogens of current regulatory concern. Examples include sudden oak death, Chalara ash dieback, Dutch elm disease, citrus canker and huanglongbing. This type of model can be used to accurately predict the risk of disease in a given region and/or to quantify the likely effect of any proposed control strategy, together with its inherent risk of failure.

Nik is a winner of many awards. The most recent one is Syngenta Award: https://www.apsnet.org/members/give-awards/awards/Syngenta/Pages/default.aspx

Information on the speaker: https://www.apsnet.org/members/give-awards/awards/Pages/2021_Cunniffe.aspx