Babson College
Mathematics, Analytics, Science, and Technology Division
A winter morning view from Clingmans Dome in
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
BENJAMIN LEVY, PhD
​Associate Professor
Wellesley, MA
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My research is in biological modeling with an emphasis on population modeling, infectious disease modeling, and distribution modeling.
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Prior to Babson I held the following positions:
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Research Scientist with the Northeast Fisheries Science Center
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Associate Professor at Fitchburg State University
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Visiting Associate Professor at Bowdoin College
RECENT & UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Annual Science Conference
"Incorporating Geospatial Data into Mathematical Models- Ideas, Examples...Pictures!"
Keene, NH
November, 2022
UMass Dartmouth Quantfish Seminar Series
"Is Climate Change Biasing Survey Abundance Indices? A Simulation Starting Point"
Dartmouth, MA
October, 2024
Joint Mathematics Meetings AMS Special Session on Harnessing the Power of Mathematical
Models
"Analyzing the Impact of Climate Change on Fishery-Independent Biomass Estimates through
Simulation"
Seattle, WA
January 8, 2025
RECENT RESEARCH
Simulating Habitat Preferences and Stock Assessment of Atlantic Fish Under the Pressures of Climate Change
Fish stocks throughout the Northeast United States continental shelf are managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Due to a combination of climate change and shifts in circulation, the Northeast United States continental shelf has experienced rapid warming in recent decades, resulting in a shift in spatial distributions of many species. I currently serve as a Research Scientist with NOAA’s NEFSC to model the impact of climate change on the spatial preferences of fish stocks in our region and assess the ability of NOAA's bottom trawl survey to monitor population trends under these changing conditions.
A Vaccination Model for COVID-19 in South Africa
In the absence of a vaccine, governments mandated protocols such as social distancing, lockdowns, and other related policies to mitigate the spread of the disease. Our Masamu Advanced Study Institute (MASI) subgroup modeled the ongoing outbreak with a focus on how government policies and widely available vaccines can impact infection dynamics. Using our estimated parameters and resulting simulations in combination with the timing of government policies, we are able to assess the impact of certain non-vaccine intervention strategies.
