Announcements

The University of St. Thomas will host the MAA-NCS Spring Meeting, April 23-24. More information will be posted here as it becomes available. For more information on contributing a paper or a poster (for students) click here (deadline is April 9). The North Central Section NExT will meet at the same site immediately prior to the spring section meeting. A program for the Spring 2010 meeting will be posted on this website prior to the meeting.
The MAA-NCS Fall Meeting will be held at the University of Sioux Falls, October 22-23.
The problems and solutions for the 13th MAA-NCS Team Competition are posted. Team results and the report are now available!
Congratulations to the three teams tied for first place with perfect scores of 100. They are the Carleton College team CARL-B, with team members Linghao Chen, Shunji Li, and Sen Zhao; the UMNTC team Burgundy, with team members Minna Chen, Nathan Fox, and Guangcong Luo; and the UMNTC team Loons, with team members Peter Lofgren, Matthew Coudron and Xin Jin.
The University of North Dakota hosted the MAA-NCS Fall Meeting October 23-24.
The minutes from the Fall 2009 meeting can be found here (Business Meeting) and here (Executive Committee).

The program for the Fall 2009 meeting is posted here.

Pictures from the Fall 2009 meeting is posted here.

Fall 2009 MAA-NCS Newsletter Still Available!

Fall 2009 Speakers and Abstracts

Voting in Agreeable Societies

Francis Edward Su (bio)

Harvey Mudd College

Abstract: When do majorities exist? How does the geometry of the political spectrum influence the outcome? What does mathematics have to say about how people behave? When mathematical objects have a social interpretation, the associated theorems have social applications. We give examples of situations where sets model preferences, and show how extensions of classical theorems on convex sets can be used in the analysis of voting in "agreeable" societies. This talk also features research with undergraduates.

Math, Moths and Mice:
Using Math to Help Solve a Biological Riddle

Brett Goodwin (bio)

University of North Dakota (Department of Biology)

Abstract: It is increasingly being argued that the interaction between math and biology will have a huge impact on both fields. As an example of how math can inform a biological investigation I will describe a recent ecological investigation that was only possible via mathematical tools. Gypsy moths are an invasive species in North America that have persisted and spread over the last century or so. During part of their life cycle gypsy moths are preyed upon by white-footed mice to such an extent that mice should drive the moths extinct. Hence, the riddle of how moths persist in the face of ferocious mouse predation. Piecing together biological information using computer simulations and mathematical models my collaborators and I have demonstrated how spatial patterns of mouse predation and details of moth movements can lead to an intrinsically unstable species interaction persisting.