Ms. Rowena A. Japitana of the Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences attended an International Summer School program on Spatially-Explicit Modelling of Ecological Systems at the Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology in University of Würzburg, Germany on May 8-12, 2017. The program was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)and was attended by selected participants from Asia and Europe.
The objective of the program was to introduce mathematical and process-based modelling of complex ecological system to the next generation of ecologists. The activities that were done included learning computational programming (R language), and introducing spatial, process-based simulation models with gradual complexity from individuals, populations, to evolving communities.
Lectures about several ecological topics and practical exercises were conducted. Participants were asked to develop their own models from scratch and work on available models. All the lectures and exercises were given by the speakers from University of Würzburg and invited experts in ecology and ecological modelling from other universities in Germany.
The program ended with a symposium and a round table discussion regarding formulating potential research plans among all the participants. Ms. Japitana said that she was able to extend her networks with other colleagues working on ecological modelling which is a good preparation for any future joint researches. CMG
