Dr Gavin Abernethy

I studied mathematics at the University of St Andrews, where I developed an interest in real and abstract analysis, fractal geometry and chaos and dynamical systems. Returning to Northern Ireland in 2015, I undertook a PhD in the artificial intelligence research group at Ulster University studying mathematical models of evolutionary food web development. This concerned developing population models and programming numerical simulations in Fortran 90.

In 2018, I joined Sheffield Hallam University as a lecturer in engineering mathematics, delivering applied mathematical techniques to engineering students while continuing research on ecological models with spatial and evolutionary elements, and applying similar techniques to epidemiological contexts. I also publish pedagogical discussions of undergraduate population modelling projects.

In September 2022 I joined the University of Stirling as a Lecturer in Mathematics.

My interests are generally concerned with simulations of dynamical systems on complex networks, and applying these to modelling primarily ecological phenomena. Particular interests include:

• Ecological and evolutionary modelling
• Food web dynamics and stability
• Agent-based modelling for traffic dynamics
• Ideological dynamics in social networks
• Epidemiological dynamics
• Mathematical pedagogy