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Undergraduate Research in Mathematical Epidemiology

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A Project-Based Guide to Undergraduate Research in Mathematics

Part of the book series: Foundations for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics ((FURM))

Abstract

The spread of diseases remains an important issue in public health. The use of mathematics in predicting and understanding epidemics is not new, but still relevant and useful. In this chapter we provide relevant resources and useful exercises for undergraduate students and their mentors. We describe two different modeling techniques which require different backgrounds. For agent based modeling, we suggest students who are either comfortable with programming or willing to learn and who have basic knowledge of probability. For the differential equation approach, we suggest students who have taken at least Calculus 2. Students with a differential equation background will advance faster and can do a more theoretical analysis of the system. A student who might be willing to spend more time working on this topic can model the same disease outbreak using different modeling techniques which will allow for comparison and much deeper analysis of both the mathematics and the biological and public policy implications. Additionally, we include a sample project, developed and written by an undergraduate student who co-authors this chapter. Finally, we provide four different projects that students and their mentors can work on.

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Acknowledgement

The authors would like to thank the Office of Research at Youngstown State University for their support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo, CA, USA

    Selenne Bañuelos

  2. Youngstown State University, Youngstown, OH, USA

    Mathew Bush & Alicia Prieto-Langarica

  3. North Central College, Naperville, IL, USA

    Marco V. Martinez

Authors
  1. Selenne Bañuelos
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  2. Mathew Bush
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  3. Marco V. Martinez
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  4. Alicia Prieto-Langarica
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alicia Prieto-Langarica .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mathematics, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, USA

    Pamela E. Harris

  2. Mathematics, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL, USA

    Erik Insko

  3. Mathematics, University of Portland, Portland, OR, USA

    Aaron Wootton

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Bañuelos, S., Bush, M., Martinez, M.V., Prieto-Langarica, A. (2020). Undergraduate Research in Mathematical Epidemiology. In: Harris, P., Insko, E., Wootton, A. (eds) A Project-Based Guide to Undergraduate Research in Mathematics. Foundations for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics. Birkhäuser, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37853-0_11

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