Can maths help us respond to a pandemic?

Talk Description
Responding to a potential pandemic is full of difficult decisions. Should we close the border and put the country into lockdown? What if the threat never eventuates? Or should we wait for more evidence, only to discover it's too late?

In this talk, Professor Michael Plank will explore the challenges and uncertainties of responding to pandemics and other infectious diseases. We'll discover what mathematical models are, what they can and can't tell us, and how they help us make sense of data and navigate uncertainty.
Bio
Dr Michael Plank is a Professor in the School of Mathematics at the University of Canterbury whose research uses mathematical modelling to better understand complex biological and environmental systems, from infectious diseases to ecosystems. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he led the team of researchers providing modelling to support New Zealand's government response, work that contributed to the 2020 Prime Minister's Science Prize. A Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, Michael is passionate about using mathematics to solve real-world problems and inform public policy.