[PAST EVENT] Cissy Patterson Lecture & Mathematics Colloquium: Hans Kaper

April 11, 2014
2pm - 3pm
Location
Jones Hall, Room 301
200 Ukrop Way
Williamsburg, VA 23185Map this location
Abstract:
Climate is an emerging area of research in the mathematical sciences, part of a broader portfolio that addresses issues of complexity and sustainability. So far, the climate system has received relatively little attention in the mathematical sciences community, despite the fact that the stakes are high, decision makers have more questions than we can answer, and mathematical models and statistical arguments play a central role in assessment exercises. In this talk I will identify some problems of current interest in climate science and indicate how, as mathematicians, we can find inspiration for new applications.

Dr. Hans Kaper is an applied mathematician interested in the mathematics of physical systems. His research focuses on analytical and numerical methods for differential equations describing these systems. His current interest is in dynamical systems arising in climate science.

Dr. Kaper is co-director of the "Mathematics and Climate Research Network" {{http://www.mathclimate.org, Math Climate}}, an NSF-funded virtual organization to develop the mathematics needed to better understand the Earth's climate. He is the (co-)author of four books and more than 100 articles in refereed journals. His most recent book "Mathematics and Climate" (with Dr. Hans Engler) was published by the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) in October, 2013, and was named ASLI's Choice 2013? by the Atmospheric Science Librarians International (ASLI) as the best book of 2013 in the fields of meteorology/climatology/atmospheric sciences.

Dr. Kaper is a Corresponding Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), class of 2009. He is editor-in-chief of SIAM News and a member of the SIAM Committee on Science Policy, and served as Chair of the SIAM Activity Group on Dynamical Systems in 2012-13.

Dr. Kaper received his Ph.D. in Mathematics and Physical Sciences from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. After a postdoctoral position at Stanford University he spent almost 40 years as a staff scientist at Argonne National Laboratory (1969-2008), where he was Director of the Mathematics and Computer Science Division from 1988-1991. In 2001, Dr. Kaper joined the National Science Foundation, where he served as Program Director for Applied Mathematics and Computational Mathematics until 2008. Dr. Kaper is currently affiliated with Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
Contact

[[jxshix, Junping Shi]]