Scott Duke-Sylvester

Scott Duke-Sylvester

1991 B.S. (Mathematics) University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC

1995 M.S. (Mathematics) University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, TN

2006 Ph.D. (Ecology & Evolutionary Biology) University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Knoxville, TN

I am a theoretical ecologist by training and much of my research applies mathematical techniques to reveal the mechanisms driving contemporary patterns of species distribution and abundance. My current research focuses on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases. The study of infectious diseases has emerged as an important and productive area for ecological and evolutionary research. Infectious diseases exhibit a wide range of interactions with their hosts and their study touches on many of the most basic and important ecological and evolutionary processes. Through the study of infectious diseases many important and interesting patterns and processes have been revealed. Examples of topics I am currently researching include the sources of periodic cycles in outbreak of infectious disease, the landscape ecology of diseases spread and the interaction between ecological and evolutionary processes that govern infectious disease dynamics.

My approach to research is strongly interdisciplinary and I make extensive use of both mathematical and computational modeling approaches. Modeling is a powerful tool for teasing apart the contribution of different mechanisms governing the spread of infectious diseases. I apply models to explore alternative hypotheses describing the origins of ecological and evolutionary patterns. I then use the theoretical results to design future experiments to support or falsify these hypotheses.

 Feel free to contact me at this address: