Claudia Neuhauser
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
HHMI and Distinguished McKnight University Professor
Director, Center for Learning Innovation
Director of Graduate Studies, Biomedical Informatics and Computational Biology
University of Minnesota, Rochester
Ph.D., Cornell University, 1990
Contact Information
Phone: 612-624-6291
Fax: 612-624-6777
E-mail: neuha001@umn.edu
Graduate Faculty Memberships
Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; Mathematics; Conservation Biology;
Bioinformatics; Stream Restoration Science and Engineering.
Research Interests
Theoretical ecology; role of space in community dynamics; theoretical population genetics; coalescent theory.
Statement
I am an applied mathematician. My research interests are in two areas of biology: ecology and genetics. In ecology, I study the role of space in community dynamics, and in genetics, how selection affects genealogies. These investigations are theoretical, relying on mathematical models, analytical methods, and partially on computer simulations.
Most ecological models of communities do not take into account that individuals interact with each other in a spatial environment. I investigate how space affects community dynamics.
To interpret population genetic data, genealogical or coalescent methods have proved extremely valuable. This method allows one to estimate population genetic paramenter, such as mutation rate. My research focuses on how selection shapes the genealogical tree of sampled genes. In addition, I am a participant in the University's Center of Community Genetics.
Graduate Training
I am the Director of the IGERT training program
on Non-Equilibrium Dynamics across Space and Time: A Common Approach for Engineers, Earth Scientists and Ecologists.
This training grant will bring together scholars of ecology, civil engineering, and the earth sciences to study the
interplay between landscape changes and ecosystem processes across a wide range of spatial and temporal scales and
across interfaces, such as agroecoregion or urban boundaries, with an emphasis on non-equilibrium dynamics. It
recognizes the need for engineers to increasingly consider environmental constraints in addition to economic
constraints, and the need for ecologists to understand effects of physical processes and materials transport on
ecosystem dynamics.
Undergraduate Training
When I joined the School of Mathematics at the University of Minnesota in 1996, I developed a calculus course for
biology majors (MATH 1281 and MATH 1282). This resulted in a text book, Calculus for Biology and Medicine (Prentice
Hall), which is now in its second edition. When I moved from Mathematics into EEB, I wanted to continue my educational efforts. With support from the
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, I am now
developing ways to improve the quantitative training of biology majors by integrating mathematics and statistics
directly into biology courses.
Selected Publications
C. Neuhauser and S. Krone 1997. The Genealogy of Samples in Models with Selection. Genetics
145:519-534.
C. Neuhauser and S. Pacala 1999. An explicitly spatial version of the Lotka-Volterra model
with interspecific competition. Annals of Applied Probability 9:1226-1259
C. Neuhauser 2000. Mathematical Models in Population Genetics. In Handbook of Statistical
Genetics. Pp. 153-178. Wiley.
P. Chesson, S. Pacala, and C. Neuhauser 2002. Environmental niches and ecosystem functioning. In Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning. Pp. 213-245. Princeton.
C. Neuhauser, D.A. Andow, G. Heimpel, G. May, R. Shaw, and S. Wagenius 2003. Community
Genetics - A Synthesis of Community Ecology and Population Genetics. Ecology 84: 545-558.
C. Neuhauser and J. Fargione. 2004. A mutualism-parasitism continuum model and its application to
plant-mycorrhizae interactions. Ecological Modelling 177: 337-352
N. Lanchier and C. Neuhauser. 2006. Stochastic spatial models of host-pathogen and host-mutualist
interactions I. Annals of Applied Probability 16: 448-474.
Additional Links
Biocomplexity
IGERT Training Grant
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
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