Mark Kot

Mark Kot earned a B.A. in Physics and Applied Mathematics from New College (Sarasota, FL) in 1977, an M.S. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) in 1979, an M.S. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) in 1984, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) in 1987. He was a faculty member at the University of Tennessee (Knoxville, TN) during 1987–1989 and 2000–2005 and first joined the Department of Applied Mathematics in 1990. His research lies at the interface between applied mathematics and ecology and evolutionary biology. He models the dynamics of biological populations and has focused, in recent years, on the behavior of integrodifference equations, i.e., on discrete-time, continuous-space models for the growth and spread of biological populations. These models are commonly used to model the spread of invasive organisms and to model the response of organisms to climate change. He is also the author of two book, Elements of Mathematical Ecology, published by Cambridge University Press, and A First Course in the Calculus of Variations, published by the American Mathematical Society.