Mathematical ecology

1979 – Ph.D., Cornell University

Mathematical and computational ecology; environmental modeling and restoration; grid-computing and multimodeling of ecological systems linked to abiotic influences; spatial optimization and control in conservation ecology and natural resource management; theory for savanna systems; quantitative curricula and training for the life sciences.

Multimodeling and Everglades Restoration
In collaboration with Donald DeAngelis of the US Geological Survey, the staff of The Institite for Environmental Modeling and numerous colleagues, the ATLSS Project (Across Trophic Level Sytem Simulation) has been developed as one of the largest ecological modeling initiatives ever attempted, with the objective of providing a firm scientific basis for public policy decisions governing long-term water planning in South Florida. This is a multimodel, linking together models for biological components (species, functional groups) operating at differing spatial and temporal scales with physical system components. These provide a method for relative comparisons of the impacts of alternative hydrologic scenarios on various biotic components, meeting the diverse needs of numerous stakeholder groups involved in Everglades planning.

Spatial control of natural systems
I believe that most problems of applied ecology can be phrased as ones of spatial control: what to do, where to do it, how to implement it, and how to assess the implications of the actions taken. In collaboration with numerous colleagues, I have been developing both theoretical aspects of spatial control in application to natural systems, including spatial control for individual-based models, as well as very applied aspects such as methods for controlling certain invasive species and choosing locations for vaccination.

Modeling savanna systems
Forests and savannas make up approximately 40% of the land area of the world. Fires and other disturbances are critical to the maintenance of these natural systems in addition to having huge impacts on the resources the systems provide for human use and in contributing to ecosystem services. In a series of paper with several collaborators, I have developed models at several scales that elaborate impacts of disturbance in maintaining savanna systems.

Quantitative education in the life sciences
I have developed over the past two decades a variety of courses, modules, workshops and curricular materials to assist the mathematical and computational training of life science undergraduates. The entry-level mathematics sequence I developed was used as a case-study in the Bio2010 report, I have been an advisor and co-author of the Vision and Change project and am the co-author of a new textbook on math for life science students that incorporates the diversity of conceptual quantitative foundations that is encouraged by these reports.

Human Behavior Modeling and Climate Change

In collaboration with an interdisciplinary group of researchers who first started work on this as part of a Joint NIMBioS-SESYNC Working Group on Human Risk Perception and Climate Change in 2013, our general objective has been to incorporate models of human behavior with physically-based climate models to analyze the impacts on global temperature trajectories of linking human behavior to climate models. A list of papers and talks is at http://lgross.utk.edu/HumanBehaviorClimateChange.html

Books:

• Hastings, A. and L. J Gross (editors). Encyclopedia of Theoretical Ecology. University of California Press (2012).

• Bodine, E., S. Lenhart and L. J. Gross. Mathematics for the Life Sciences. Princeton University Press (2014).

Papers:

• Gross, L. J. 2013. Selective ignorance and multiple scales in biology: deciding on criteria for model utility. Biological Theory 8:74-79. 

  Gross, L. J. 2013. Some lessons from fifteen years of educational initiatives at the interface of mathematics and biology: the entry-level course. In: G. Ledder, J.P. Carpenter and T. D. Comar (eds). Undergraduate Mathematics for the Life Sciences: Models Processes and Directions. Mathematical Association of America, Philadelphia, PA.

   

  Stevenson, R. D., K. M. Klemow and L.J. Gross. 2014. Harnessing bits and bytes to transform ecology education. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 12: 306-307.

   

  Hilker, F. M., L. J. S. Allen, V. A. Bokil, C. J. Briggs, Z. Feng, K. A. Garrett, L. J. Gross, F. M. Hamelin, M. J. Jeger, C. A. Manore, A. G. Power, M. G. Redinbaugh, M. A. Rúa and N. J. Cunniffe. 2017. Modelling virus coinfection to inform management of maize lethal necrosis in Kenya. Phytopathology 107: 1-14.

   

  Bucini, G., B. Beckage, and L. J. Gross. 2017. Climate seasonality, fire and global patterns of tree cover. Frontiers of Biogeography 9(2): 1-15.

   

  Beckage, B., L. J. Gross, K. Lacasse, E. Carr, S. S. Metcalf, J. M. Winter, P. D. Howe, N. Fefferman, T. Franck, A. Zia, A. Kinzig and F. M. Hoffman. 2018. Linking models of human behavior and climate alters projected climate change. Nature Climate Change 8: 79–84.

   

  Hamelin, F. M., L. J.S. Allen, V. A. Bokil, L. J. Gross, F. M. Hilker, M. J. Jeger, C. A. Manore, A. G. Power, M. A. Rúa, N. J. Cunniffe. 2019. Co-infections by non-interacting pathogens are not independent and require new tests of interaction. PLoS Biol 17(12): e3000551. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3000551

   

  Taylor, R. T., P. R. Bishop, S. Lenhart, L. J. Gross, and K. Sturner. 2020. Development of the BioCalculus Assessment (BCA). CBE—Life Sciences Education 19 (1): doi.org/10.1187/cbe.18-10-0216

   

  Robeva, R. S., J. R. Jungck and L. J. Gross. 2020. Changing the nature of quantitative biology education: data science as a driver. Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 82:127.

   

  Beckage, B., K. Lacasse, J. M. Winter, L. J. Gross, N. Fefferman, F. M. Hoffman, S. S. Metcalf, T. Franck, E. Carr, A. Zia and A. Kinzig. 2020. The Earth has humans, so why don’t our climate models? Climatic Change https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-020-02897-x

   

  Srivastava, D. S., M. Winter, L. J. Gross, J. P. Metzger, J. S. Baron, N. Mouquet, T. R. Meagher, B. S. Halpern and V. D. Pillar. 2021. Maintaining momentum for collaborative working groups in a post-pandemic world. Nature Ecology & Evolution 5:1188–1189.

   

  Scott, S.M. and L. J. Gross. 2021. COVID-19 and crime: Analysis of crime dynamics amidst social distancing protocols. PLoS ONE 16(4): e0249414. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249414

   

  Moore, F.C., K. Lacasse, K. J. Mach, Y. A. Shin, L. J. Gross and B. Beckage. 2022. Determinants of emissions pathways in the coupled climate–social system. Nature 603: 103– 111. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04423-8

   

  Shin, Y., K. Lacasse, L. J. Gross and B. Beckage. 2022. How coupled is coupled human- natural systems research? Ecology and Society 27 (3):4. [online] URL: https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol27/iss3/art4/

   

  Gross, L. J., R. P. McCord, S. LoRe, V. V. Ganusov, T. Hong, W. C. Strickland, D. Talmy, A. G. von Arnim, G. Wiggins. 2023. Prioritization of the concepts and skills in quantitative education for graduate students in biomedical science. PLoS ONE 18(4): e0284982