Speaker
Description
This talk describes a junior-level interdisciplinary Math/Biology course that integrates mathematical modeling with community-engaged learning. Students explore complex social and environmental systems through project-based learning, applying modeling approaches from ecology, public health, conservation, and sociology. The course emphasizes modeling as a tool for understanding and addressing real-world issues and as a disposition for approaching complex problems. For the final project, students collaborate with local partners—such as a municipal landfill, a regional zoo, and conservation nonprofits—to propose data-informed solutions to problems. Examples from Spring 2023 and Spring 2025 illustrate how students engage with stakeholders, develop teamwork and communication skills, and connect mathematical modeling to civic and scientific contexts. The course builds on institutional support for community-engaged learning and draws on research in team science and project-based learning.
