Mercedes Pascual

Mercedes Pascual is a Uruguayan theoretical ecologist,[1] and a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago, where she leads the laboratory for Modeling and Theory in Ecology and Epidemiology (MATE).[2][3] She was previously the Rosemary Grant Collegiate Professor at the University of Michigan and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator.[4]

Mercedes Pascual
Born
Uruguay[1]
Alma materUniversidade Santa Úrsula (USU), Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC), Universidad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, New Mexico State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
AwardsRobert H. MacArthur Award, James S. McDonnell Foundation Centennial fellowship
Scientific career
FieldsTheoretical ecology and epidemiology
InstitutionsUniversity of Chicago, University of Michigan, University of Maryland, Princeton University
Doctoral advisorHal Caswell[1]

Pascual has developed systems models for the study of complicated, irregular cycles in ecosystems, using mathematical, statistical and computational approaches.She applies these models to the study of food webs,[5][6][7] ecology, and epidemiology, in particular the evolution of infectious diseases.[8]

She has discovered relationships between El Niño climate patterns and the occurrence of cholera outbreaks in Bangladesh.[1][9][10][11][12] One of the patterns she reports is that El Niño episodes are becoming an increasingly-strong driver of disease outbreaks. Her work may be the first quantitative evidence to show global climate change effecting an infectious disease.[13] Other diseases that she studies include malaria[14] and influenza.[15] Her models can be used predictively in support of public health.[16][17]

Education

Pascual was born in Uruguay and grew up in Argentina and Brazil.[18] Her father was a chemical engineer.[1] Pascual did undergraduate work in marine biology and mathematics at Universidade Santa Úrsula (USU, 1978–1979) and at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC, 1980). She received her Licentiate degree in biology from the Universidad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1985. She received an M.Sc. in mathematics from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico in 1989.[19]

Pascual earned her Ph.D in biological oceanography from a joint program of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, attending from 1989–1995.[20][1] She worked with Hal Caswell.[1] Her thesis was on Some Nonlinear Problems in Plankton Ecology.[20] She did postdoctoral work at Princeton University from 1995–1997.[21]

Career

In addition to other positions, Pascual held an assistant professorship at the University of Maryland[22] from 1997–2000. She joined the University of Michigan[13] as an assistant professor in the newly-created department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2001.[23] She was an associate professor from 2004–2008, and the Rosemary Grant Collegiate Professor from 2008–2014. In addition, Pascual was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator from 2008 to 2015. As of 2015, Pascual became a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago.[2]

Awards and honors

In 1996, Pascual received the U.S. Department of Energy Alexander Hollaender Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship to study at Princeton University.[21] She received a Centennial fellowship from the James S. McDonnell Foundation in 1999.[22] In 2002, Discover magazine recognized Pascual as one of the 50 most important women in science.[24] Pascual received the 2014 Robert H. MacArthur Award from the Ecological Society of America.[13]

Pascual is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and served on its board of directors from 2015–2019.[8] In 2019, she was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[25]

Publications
  • Pascual, Mercedes; Dunne, Jennifer A. (2006). Ecological networks : linking structure to dynamics in food webs. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195188165.
  • Pascual, Mercedes (2001). "Scales that matter: untangling complexity in ecological systems". In Fitzpatrick, Susan M.; Bruer, John T. (eds.). Carving our destiny : scientific research faces a new millennium. Washington, D.C.: J.H. Press. ISBN 9780309068482.
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References
  1. Schmidt, Charles (2009). "Better than tea leaves" (PDF). HHMI Bulletin (May): 32–37, 56. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  2. "Mercedes Pascual, Ph.D. Professor". Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  3. "People". Modeling and Theory in Ecology and Epidemiology (MATE). Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  4. "Pascual presented ESA's Robert T. MacArthur Award". Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Univeraity of Michigan. August 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  5. Gao, Peng; Kupfer, John A. (November 2015). "Uncovering food web structure using a novel trophic similarity measure". Ecological Informatics. 30: 110–118. doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2015.09.013. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  6. Pascual, Mercedes; Dunne, Jennifer A. (2006). Ecological networks : linking structure to dynamics in food webs. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977505-7. LCCN 2005047788. OCLC 727944896. OL 22725210M.
  7. Allesina, Stefano; Pascual, Mercedes (July 2009). "Food web models: a plea for groups" (PDF). Ecology Letters. 12 (7): 652–662. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01321.x. hdl:2027.42/75012. PMID 19453619.
  8. Louise Lerner; Jack Wang (April 17, 2019). "Four UChicago faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences". UChicago News. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  9. Bradbury, Jane (October 2002). "Climate change linked to human disease". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2 (10): 588. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(02)00416-4. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  10. Gale, P.; Drew, T.; Phipps, L.P.; David, G.; Wooldridge, M. (May 2009). "The effect of climate change on the occurrence and prevalence of livestock diseases in Great Britain: a review". Journal of Applied Microbiology. 106 (5): 1409–1423. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2672.2008.04036.x. PMC 7197753. PMID 19191974.
  11. Rodo, X.; Pascual, M.; Fuchs, G.; Faruque, A. S. G. (12 September 2002). "ENSO and cholera: A nonstationary link related to climate change?". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 99 (20): 12901–12906. Bibcode:2002PNAS...9912901R. doi:10.1073/pnas.182203999. PMC 130557. PMID 12228724.
  12. Pascual, M; Chaves, LF; Cash, B; Rodó, X; Yunus, Md (30 April 2008). "Predicting endemic cholera: the role of climate variability and disease dynamics" (PDF). Climate Research. 36: 131–140. Bibcode:2008ClRes..36..131P. doi:10.3354/cr00730.
  13. "2014 MacArthur Award Dr. Mercedes Pascual University of Michigan" (PDF). Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. 95: 331. October 2014. doi:10.1890/0012-9623-95.4.318. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  14. Pascual, Mercedes (November 2015). "Climate and Population Immunity in Malaria Dynamics: Harnessing Information from Endemicity Gradients". Trends in Parasitology. 31 (11): 532–534. doi:10.1016/j.pt.2015.08.009. PMID 26422773.
  15. Du, Xiangjun; Pascual, Mercedes (2018). "Incidence Prediction for the 2017-2018 Influenza Season in the United States with an Evolution-informed Model". PLOS Currents. 10. doi:10.1371/currents.outbreaks.6f03b36587ae74b11353c1127cbe7d0e. PMC 5843489. PMID 29588875.
  16. Thometz, Kristen (October 26, 2017). "UChicago Scientists Develop Tool to Predict Severity of Flu Season". WTTW. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  17. "Early warning system provides 4-month forecast of malaria epidemics in northwest India". Eureka Alert. 3 March 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  18. Rucker, Philip (May 27, 2008). "Howard Hughes charity giving $600 million to 56 scientists Hughes charity to offer $600 million to medical research". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  19. "Regents Communication" (PDF). The University of Michigan. July 17, 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  20. Pascual-Dunlap, Maria Mercedes (January 1995). Some Nonlinear Problems in Plankton Ecology (PDF) (Thesis). Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. doi:10.1575/1912/5631. hdl:1912/5631.
  21. 12th Experimental Chaos and Complexity Conference (PDF). Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan. May 16–19, 2012. pp. 24–25.
  22. James S. McDonnell Foundation (10 January 1999). "Ten Young Researchers Each Awarded $1 Million By McDonnell Foundation". Eureka Alert. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  23. "History of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and its ancestors – Department of EEB: 2001–Present". Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. University of Michigan. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  24. Svitil, Kathy (13 November 2002). "The 50 Most Important Women in Science". Discover. Retrieved 9 May 2019.
  25. "Two UChicago scientists elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences". At the Forefront. University of Chicago Medical Center. April 22, 2019. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
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