Mercedes Pascual Explained

Mercedes Pascual
Birth Place:Uruguay[1]
Field:Theoretical ecology and epidemiology
Work Institutions:University of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Maryland, Princeton University
Alma Mater:Universidade Santa Úrsula (USU), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC), Universidad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, New Mexico State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Doctoral Advisor:Hal Caswell
Awards:Robert H. MacArthur Award, James S. McDonnell Foundation Centennial fellowship

Mercedes Pascual is an Uruguayan theoretical ecologist,[1] and a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, where she leads the Laboratory for Modeling and Theory in Ecology and Epidemiology (MATE).[2] She was previously the Rosemary Grant Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.[3]

Pascual has developed systems models for the study of complicated, irregular cycles in ecosystems, using mathematical, statistical and computational approaches. She applies these models to the study of food webs,[4] [5] [6] ecology, and epidemiology, in particular the evolution of infectious diseases.

She has discovered relationships between El Niño climate patterns and the occurrence of cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh.[1] [7] [8] [9] [10] One of the patterns she reports is that El Niño episodes are becoming an increasingly-strong driver of disease outbreaks. Her work may be the first quantitative evidence to show global climate change effecting an infectious disease.[11] Other diseases that she studies include malaria[12] and influenza.[13] Her models can be used predictively in support of public health.[14] [15]

Education

Pascual was born in Uruguay and grew up in Argentina and Brazil.[16] Her father was a chemical engineer.[1] Pascual did undergraduate work in marine biology and mathematics at Universidade Santa Úrsula (USU, 1978–1979) and at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC, 1980). She received her Licentiate degree in biology from the Universidad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1985. She received an M.Sc. in mathematics from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1989.[17]

Pascual earned her Ph.D in biological oceanography from a joint program of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, attending from 1989–1995.[1] She worked with Hal Caswell.[1] Her thesis was on Some Nonlinear Problems in Plankton Ecology.[18] She did postdoctoral work at Princeton University from 1995–1997.

Career

In addition to other positions, Pascual held an assistant professorship at the University of Maryland from 1997–2000. She joined the University of Michigan[11] as an assistant professor in the newly-created department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2001.[19] She was an associate professor from 2004–2008, and the Rosemary Grant Collegiate Professor from 2008–2014. In addition, Pascual was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator from 2008 to 2015.As of 2015, Pascual became a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago.[20]

Awards and honors

In 1996, Pascual received the U.S. Department of Energy Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship to study at Princeton University.[21] She received a Centennial fellowship from the James S. McDonnell Foundation in 1999.[22] In 2002, Discover magazine recognized Pascual as one of the 50 most important women in science.[23] Pascual received the 2014 Robert H. MacArthur Award from the Ecological Society of America.[11]

Pascual is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and served on its board of directors from 2015–2019.[24] In 2019, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[25]

Publications

Notes and References

  1. Schmidt . Charles . Better than tea leaves . HHMI Bulletin . 2009 . May . 32–37, 56 . 11 May 2019.
  2. Web site: People . Modeling and Theory in Ecology and Epidemiology (MATE) . 11 May 2019.
  3. News: Pascual presented ESA's Robert T. MacArthur Award . 10 May 2019 . Ecology and Evolutionary Biology . Univeraity of Michigan . August 2014.
  4. Gao . Peng . Kupfer . John A. . Uncovering food web structure using a novel trophic similarity measure . Ecological Informatics . November 2015 . 30 . 110–118 . 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2015.09.013 . 11 May 2019.
  5. Book: Pascual, Mercedes. Ecological networks : linking structure to dynamics in food webs. Dunne, Jennifer A.. 2006. Oxford University Press. 978-0-19-977505-7. Oxford. 2005047788. 727944896. OL22725210M.
  6. Allesina . Stefano . Pascual . Mercedes . Food web models: a plea for groups . Ecology Letters . July 2009 . 12 . 7 . 652–662 . 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01321.x . 19453619 . 2027.42/75012 . free .
  7. Bradbury . Jane . Climate change linked to human disease . The Lancet Infectious Diseases . October 2002 . 2 . 10 . 588 . 10.1016/S1473-3099(02)00416-4 . 11 May 2019.
  8. Gale . P. . Drew . T. . Phipps . L.P. . David . G. . Wooldridge . M. . The effect of climate change on the occurrence and prevalence of livestock diseases in Great Britain: a review . Journal of Applied Microbiology . May 2009 . 106 . 5 . 1409–1423 . 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2008.04036.x . 19191974 . 7197753 .
  9. Rodo . X. . Pascual . M. . Fuchs . G. . Faruque . A. S. G. . ENSO and cholera: A nonstationary link related to climate change? . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . 12 September 2002 . 99 . 20 . 12901–12906 . 10.1073/pnas.182203999 . 12228724 . 130557 . 2002PNAS...9912901R . free .
  10. Pascual . M . Chaves . LF . Cash . B . Rodó . X . Yunus . Md . Predicting endemic cholera: the role of climate variability and disease dynamics . Climate Research . 30 April 2008 . 36 . 131–140 . 10.3354/cr00730 . 2008ClRes..36..131P . 18999257 . free .
  11. 2014 MacArthur Award Dr. Mercedes Pascual University of Michigan . Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 95. 331. October 2014 . 10 May 2019. 10.1890/0012-9623-95.4.318.
  12. Pascual . Mercedes . Climate and Population Immunity in Malaria Dynamics: Harnessing Information from Endemicity Gradients . Trends in Parasitology . November 2015 . 31 . 11 . 532–534 . 10.1016/j.pt.2015.08.009. 26422773 .
  13. Du . Xiangjun . Pascual . Mercedes . Incidence Prediction for the 2017-2018 Influenza Season in the United States with an Evolution-informed Model . PLOS Currents . 10 . 2018 . 10.1371/currents.outbreaks.6f03b36587ae74b11353c1127cbe7d0e . 29588875 . 5843489 . free .
  14. News: Thometz . Kristen . UChicago Scientists Develop Tool to Predict Severity of Flu Season . 11 May 2019 . WTTW . October 26, 2017.
  15. News: Early warning system provides 4-month forecast of malaria epidemics in northwest India . 11 May 2019 . Eureka Alert . 3 March 2013.
  16. News: Rucker . Philip . Howard Hughes charity giving $600 million to 56 scientists Hughes charity to offer $600 million to medical research . 11 May 2019 . The Washington Post . May 27, 2008.
  17. Web site: Regents Communication . The University of Michigan . 11 May 2019. July 17, 2008.
  18. Pascual-Dunlap . Maria Mercedes . Some Nonlinear Problems in Plankton Ecology . January 1995 . Massachusetts Institute of Technology . Cambridge, MA . https://web.archive.org/web/20190511031504/https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a305897.pdf. live. May 11, 2019. 10.1575/1912/5631. 1912/5631. Thesis . free .
  19. Web site: History of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and its ancestors – Department of EEB: 2001–Present . Ecology and Evolutionary Biology . University of Michigan . 10 May 2019.
  20. Web site: Mercedes Pascual, Ph.D. Professor . Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago . 10 May 2019 . 10 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190510020806/https://pondside.uchicago.edu/ecol-evol/people/pascual.html . dead .
  21. Book: 12th Experimental Chaos and Complexity Conference . May 16–19, 2012 . University of Michigan . Ann Arbor, Michigan . 24–25 . 17396416 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190302235332/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/abd6/0f90cc160d7887cdf534196b68d497333fa5.pdf . dead . March 2, 2019 .
  22. Web site: Ten Young Researchers Each Awarded $1 Million By McDonnell Foundation . James S. McDonnell Foundation . Eureka Alert . 10 May 2019 . 10 January 1999 . 10 May 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190510115919/https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/1999-01/JSMF-TYRE-280199.php . dead .
  23. News: Svitil. Kathy. The 50 Most Important Women in Science. 9 May 2019. Discover. 13 November 2002.
  24. Web site: Four UChicago faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences . 10 May 2019 . UChicago News . April 17, 2019. Louise Lerner. Jack Wang.
  25. News: Two UChicago scientists elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . 10 May 2019 . At the Forefront . University of Chicago Medical Center . April 22, 2019.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mercedes Pascual".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.