Leah B. Shaw
Assistant Professor of Applied Science
Dept. of Applied Science
College of William and Mary
P.O. Box 8795
Williamsburg, VA 23187-8795
Location: 303 McGlothlin-Street Hall
E-mail: lbshaw at wm.edu
(757) 221-1278
BS Physics and Mathematics, Virginia Tech. MS Mathematics, Virginia Tech.
PhD Physics, Cornell University. Postdoctoral research associate,
Nonlinear systems dynamics, Naval Research Laboratory.
Research Areas
We are interested in systems that are far from equilibrium, especially biological systems. As more quantitative data are collected for biological systems and more details about organisms' properties are discovered, opportunities abound for modeling. We are modeling dynamics of biological systems at multiple scales. At the scale of large populations of organisms, continuum approximations may hold. However, at the smaller scales of individual organisms or with a single cell, fluctuations are important and stochastic approaches are needed. We are interested in how microscale fluctuations affect macroscopic behavior.
Our research topics are at the interface of mathematics, physics, and biology. Our tool set includes methods from statistical mechanics, nonlinear dynamics, and numerical simulation. We frequently work on problems that are motivated by experimental data, so there are also opportunities for data analysis.
Current Projects
We currently have several projects related to the dynamics of epidemics. We are studying the spread of dengue fever, a multistrain disease, across space. Dengue is a mosquito-borne virus that infects about 50 million people worldwide per year. We are looking at the interaction between the different strains of a multistrain disease and the effects of spreading in a spatially extended region.
Another current project is the dynamics of epidemics on an adaptive network. People may change their network of social contacts in response to disease spread. The dynamics of the network and the dynamics on the network are interrelated. Adaptive networks are a new field, and there are many fundamental questions to be considered.
We have several research projects available for students. If these topics sound interesting to you, please consider applying for graduate school in Applied Science at William and Mary.
Publication list