ECSAM - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team

Jacques Bélair is a biomathematician. Professor of Applied Mathematics at Université de Montréal, he obtained a PhD in applied mathematics from Cornell University and he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Physiology at McGill University. He has served as associate director of the Centre de recherches mathématiques (CRM), vice-dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, President of the Canadian Applied and Industrial Mathematics Society (CAIMS) (of which he is now Secretary), and co-chaired the Organizing Committee of the Annual Meeting of the Society for Mathematical Biology (SMB) in 2019. His research interests revolve around the mathematical modeling of dynamic regulatory processes in biology, with an emphasis on the influence of time delays, formulated most often as delay-differential equations. In the past, he has published on cardiac arrhythmias, motor and balance control, blood cell production (hematopoiesis) and the propagation of infectious diseases. He is a currently a member of the Canadian Mathematical Modeling of COVID-19 Task Force.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team
• Professor of Mathematics at the University of British Columbia ( UBC ) Okanagan

Rebecca Tyson is Professor of Mathematics at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Okanagan in Kelowna, BC, and president-elect of CAIMS/SCMAI. Her work lies mainly in the area of theoretical ecology, specifically population dynamics and dispersal of populations in variable landscapes. She has worked on questions related to predator-prey cycles, mountain pine beetle dispersal, pollination services of honeybees, and human-bear interactions in interface communities like Whistler, BC. The models she uses include ordinary and partial differential equations, as well as individual-based computational models. Recently, she has become interested in the dynamical interface between ecology and human opinions, as the latter is a critical component of conservation work in the former. The ecology/opinion dynamics interface is closely linked to the epidemiology/opinion dynamics interface, and so this second interface has emerged as an important thread in Dr Tyson's work.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Leadership Team

Shari Graydon has a BA in Theatre and an MA in Communications from Simon Fraser University, where she also taught. Through her work at Informed Opinions, she has trained and supported thousands of scholars in translating their research insights and academic expertise into accessible and engaging commentary and analysis to help the broader public understand the importance and relevance of their work. Prior to founding Informed Opinions, she was a newspaper columnist, TV producer and award-winning non-fiction children's author. In addition to responding to hundreds of media interviews, and delivering presentations to a wide variety of audiences herself, Shari has also written speeches for the Governor General, university presidents and several federal health ministers.