James Powell

Professor, Applied Mathematics & Biology

Professional Preparation

• Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics, 1990, University of Arizona.
• B.S. in Mathematics, 1985, Colorado State University.

Research Specialties

• Mathematical Fields: Applied Mathematics, Asymptotic Methods, Nonlinear Evolution PDE, Dynamical Systems, Model Fitting and Competition.
• Areas of Application:
  • Ecology – dispersal and demographics of organisms, formation of spatial patterns
  • Entomology – developmental phenology and dynamic aspects of adaptations to the environment
  • Modeling – population dynamics, energetics of organisms, industrial chemical reactions, market pricing of derivatives
  • Continuum Physics -- fluid mechanics, nonlinear optics

Current Projects

• Linking mechanistic dispersal PDE with statistical point-process models to estimate landscape movement properties of mule deer and Canada Lynx populations (with Marti Garlick, SD School of Mines and Technology, and Mevin Hooten, USGS Assistant Unit Leader, Colorado State University).
• Dispersal and outbreak behavior of Mountain Pine Beetle in North America (with B.J. Bentz, USDA Forest Service RMRS, Logan Forestry Sciences Lab, J. Duncan, PhD student and L. Gordillo )..
• Studying the seasonality of poikilothermic organisms and influence of temperature on ovipositional cycles using dynamical systems theory (with B.J. Bentz, USDAFS RMRS, Anne McManis, MS student, Biology).
• Large-scale dispersion of pinyon and juniper depending on small-scale vertebrate dispersal (with Ram Neupane, PhD student and TC Edwards, USGS Assistant Unit Leader, Utah State University).
• Laboratory Experiences in Mathematical Biology (LEMBS)- using the Biology/Applied Math Instructional Model (with Brynja Kohler, Mathematics, Andrea Bruder, Mathematics, Colorado College, and Matt Lewis, PhD student, Math \& Stats).
• Mathematics of the Zombie Apocalypse! Mathematical modelling of disease behaviors observed during Humans vs. Zombies at USU (with Lizzie Spencer, undergraduate researcher, Mathematics)

Selected Recent Publications

Here is a Complete Vita for Jim Powell, with a full listing of publications.

Homogenization and Modeling Animal Dispersal

• Neupane, RC and JA Powell. 2015. Invasion Speeds with Active Dispersers in Highly Variable Landscapes: Multiple Scales, Homogenization, and the Migration of Trees . Journal of Theoretical Biology (in press).
• Hooten, MB, MJ Garlick and JA Powell. 2013. Computationally Efficient Statistical Differential Equation Modeling Using Homogenization . J. Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics 18: 405-428.
• Garlick, M.J., J.A. Powell, M.B. Hooten and L. Macfarlane. 2011. Homogenization of large scale movement models in ecology . Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 73:2088-108.
• J. Powell and N. Zimmermann 2004. Multi-Scale Analysis of Active Seed Dispersal Contributes to Resolving Reid's Paradox . Ecology 85(2) 490-506.

Mountain Pine Beetle and Phenology

• Powell, JA and BJ Bentz. 2013. Phenology and Density-Dependent Dispersal Predict Patterns of Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae) Impact . Ecological Modeling 273: 173-185.
• Powell, J.A. and B.J. Bentz. 2009. Connecting Phenological Predictions with Population Growth Rates for an Outbreak Insect . Landscape Ecology 24:657–672.
• Régnière, J, J Powell, B Bentz and V Nealis. 2012. Effects of Temperature on Development, Survival and Reproduction of insects: Experimental Design, Data Analysis and Modeling . Journal of Insect Physiology 58:634-647.
• J.A. Powell and J.A. Logan. 2005. Insect Seasonality – Circle Map Analysis of Temperature-Driven Life Cycles . Theoretical Population Biology 67: 161-179.
• J. Logan and J. Powell. Ghost Forests, Global Warming and the Mountain Pine Beetle . American Entomologist, Fall 2001, pp. 160-172.

Mathematical Biology Education

• Lewis, M. and J. Powell. 2015. Modeling zombie outbreaks: A problem-based approach to improving mathematics one brain at a time . PRIMUS (submitted).
• Powell, JA, B Kohler, JW Haefner and J Bodily. 2012. Carrying BioMath Education in a Leaky Bucket . Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 74: 2232-2264.
• Kohler, B.R., R. Swank, J.W. Haefner and J.A. Powell. 2010. Leading Students to Investigate Diffusion as a Model of Brine Shrimp Movement . Bulletin of Mathematical Biology 72: 230-257. (Winner of the Lee Segel Prize)
• J. Powell, J. Cangelosi, AM. Harris. Games to Teach Mathematical Modelling . SIAM Review , 40, no. 1 March 1998, pp. 87-95.

Laboratory Experiences in Mathematical Biology (LEMBs)

Over the past three years we have worked on an NSF-funded project to develop LEMBS for use in post-secondary math classes. LEMBs are mathematical modeling/problem-solving experiences driven by student-collected data. Students manipulate and interact with real-world biological mechanisms, construct their own mathematical descriptions and gain a deeper understanding of underlying mathematical relationships.

• The Disease Game
• The Leaky Bucket
• Yeast Population Dynamics Lab

Professional Positions

• Block Visitor, Colorado College, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, 2014, 2015.
• Associate, USU Ecology Center, 2010-present.
• Professor, Department of Biology, Utah State University, 2008-present.
• Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, 2006-09
• Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, 2003-present.
• Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, 1997-present.
• Visiting Researcher, Theoretical Production Ecology Lab, Wageningen University, the Netherlands.
• Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Utah State University, 1991-1997.
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Arizona Center for Mathematical Sciences, University of Arizona, 1990-1991. Supervisor: Jerome V. Moloney.
• Graduate Research Assistant/Teaching Assistant, University of Arizona, 1985-1990. Advisor: Alan C. Newell.
• Student Researcher, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Colorado State University, 1983-1985. Supervisor: William R. Cotton.

Contact Information