In the Field
and colleagues from 20 English and 12 French schools in
and beyond the Ottawa region. The main goal of this event
is to provide students with the opportunity to see a side of
mathematics and its applications that they don’t typically get
to see in a classroom setting.
Math Horizons Day
MANY STUDIES SHOW THAT ONE of the major difficulties
encountered by students is seeing the relevance of the
course they are taking. This can seriously affect their
motivation and their ultimate success. This effect seems to
be most pronounced in mathematics.
The 16th edition of the Math Horizons Day at the University
of Ottawa took place on Friday, April 28. This year, we had
record participation with high school students, teachers,
The day started with words of welcome from the mathematics
department Chair followed by two presentations: an English
presentation about the value and importance of formal
mathematical proof with some concrete examples, and
a French presentation on the theory and applications of
mathematical cryptography. Students had the chance to
practice on some interesting cryptography exercises. As
many students and teachers commented afterwards, the
presentations were an inspiration on the important role
mathematics plays in our modern society. The day continued
with team competitions, relays, and an individual competition.
Both students and teachers commented on the importance
of such enrichment activities to give students the chance to
sharpen their mathematical skills in a challenging but fun
environment.
— Joseph Khoury
Living on the Precipice
THE RESILIENCE OF COMPLEX SYSTEMS to disturbance
is a topic of long-standing and continuing interest in multiple
academic communities and has led to both insights into real-
world systems and policy improvements. However, significant
theoretical, empirical, and policy challenges remain. This
conference was convened on May 16 and 17 in Waterloo,
Ontario to take steps toward addressing some of these
challenges, with a special emphasis on natural, human,
and coupled natural-and-human systems. Coupled systems
include many important real-world systems such as the global
climate system and endangered ecosystems, but due to their
higher complexity, they also represent a significant challenge
in terms of their mathematical characterization and analysis.
The meeting attracted 87 participants from Ontario and the
US, and brought together mathematical modellers (including
the plenary speaker Alan Hastings, Distinguished Professor
of Environmental Science and Policy at the University of
California, Davis) and experts from biology, environmental
12
sciences, economics, and sociology. Events included a
plenary talk, 8 invited talks, a poster session, 16 contributed
talks in three parallel sessions, two workshops (one led by
grad students), a Maple software demonstration, and even
a group activity involving composition of haikus along the
theme of resilience.
The conference was a resounding success. As one invited
speaker commented, "although many of us regularly discuss
the benefits of embracing a multidisciplinary perspective, [this]
conference took things to a higher level". This conference
also laid the foundations for new collaborations, as several
participants agreed to continue their discussions and plan
future research. In a further example of impact, some graduate
students were inspired to incorporate resilience analysis into
their mathematical models of ecological dynamics.
— Madhur Anand