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Brian Yurk has been teaching in the Department of Mathematics at Hope since 2009. He teaches a variety of courses, including courses in the Calculus sequence and applied mathematics courses like Mathematical Biology and Numerical Analysis.

Dr. Yurk is the advisor of Hope College亚洲色吧檚 chapter of Pi Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics honor society.

His research is focused on applying mathematics to solve problems in ecology and geology. Undergraduate students in his research group approach problems using a variety of techniques, including field work, analysis of remotely sensed data (satellite and drone imagery), and mathematical and statistical modeling.

Dr. Yurk亚洲色吧檚 field areas include the cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica, where he works with K. Greg Murray of Hope亚洲色吧檚 Department of Biology, and the sand dune complexes located along the southeastern shore of Lake Michigan. Dr. Yurk is part of the Hope College Dune Group, which includes several members of the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences.

Areas of Expertise

• Mathematical biology
• Applied mathematics
• Mathematical geology

Education

• Ph.D., mathematics, Utah State University, 2009
• B.S., mathematics and geology, Hope College, 2003

Grants, Honors and Awards

• 亚洲色吧淚dentifying Landslides and Canopy Gaps in the Cloud Forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica, Using High-Resolution Multispectral Satellite Imagery,亚洲色吧� Michigan Space Grant, 2019
• Lord Robert May Prize for best paper published in the Journal of Biological Dynamics in 2017 and 2018 (with co-author Christina Cobbold)
• 亚洲色吧淗omogenization Techniques in Ecological and Epidemiological Models,亚洲色吧� American Institute of Mathematics SQuaREs Program grant, 2016亚洲色吧�18

Selected Publications and Presentations

• 亚洲色吧淢apping Dune Vegetation Using Drones, Ground Photography, and Machine Learning,亚洲色吧� presentation with Jackson Krebsbach 亚洲色吧�22 at Joint Mathematics Meetings, 2020
• 亚洲色吧淚dentifying Canopy Gaps in the Monteverde, Costa Rica Cloud Forest Using Very High Resolution Satellite Imagery and Ground-Based Measurements,亚洲色吧� presentation at Geological Society of American annual meeting, 2019
• 亚洲色吧淗omogenization Techniques for Population Dynamics in Strongly Heterogeneous Landscapes亚洲色吧� (with C. Cobbold), Journal of Biological Dynamics, 2018
• 亚洲色吧淗omogenization Analysis of Invasion Dynamics in Heterogeneous Landscapes with Differential Bias and Motility,亚洲色吧� Journal of Mathematical Biology, 2017
• 亚洲色吧淗omogenization of a Directed Dispersal Model for Animal Movement in a Heterogeneous Environment,亚洲色吧� Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 2016
• 亚洲色吧淭he Role of Extratropical Cyclones in Shaping Dunes along Southern and Southeastern Lake Michigan亚洲色吧� (with E. Hansen et al.), Special Paper of the Geological Society of America, 2014

Outside the College

Dr. Yurk enjoys spending time with his family and their two border collies, especially engaging in outdoor activities. His favorite activities are trail running, mountain biking and canoeing, and he loves spending time in the sand dunes, especially during wind storms.