G. Bard Ermentrout is an American mathematician and distinguished professor at

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

and a member of the Odor2Action research network. He uses nonlinear dynamics for the mathematical modeling of problems in

neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions and disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, development ...

. He explores patterns of activation in neural systems as they relate to biological problems such as

olfaction The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste. In humans, it ...

. Bard Ermentrout is known for his contributions to computational and mathematical neuroscience. His joint work with Nancy Kopell derived the

Ermentrout and Kopell canonical model The theta model, or Ermentrout–Kopell canonical form, canonical model, is a biological neuron model originally developed to model neurons in the animal Aplysia, and later used in various fields of computational neuroscience. The model is particu ...

, He and David Terman wrote the book ''Mathematical Foundations of Neuroscience''. He helped to develop the dynamical systems software XPPAuto. One approach he uses in the study of olfaction is to program a virtual creature, implement various movement strategies for tracking scents, and examine their success rate under a different conditions. This enables researchers to better understand olfactory navigation strategies such as

tropotaxis A taxis (; ) is the movement of an organism in response to a stimulus such as light or the presence of food. Taxes are innate behavioural responses. A taxis differs from a tropism (turning response, often growth towards or away from a stimulus ...

and klinotaxis and how they work in conditions such as high turbulence. Outside of work, he is fond of his many pets and has owned many pet parrots over the years. He most recently owns a galah and two corgis. He is also a lover of limericks.

References

Living people 20th-century American mathematicians 1954 births 21st-century American mathematicians {{US-mathematician-stub