Modeling microbiome dynamics. A productive week after EcoNet2023.

Following EcoNet2023, Johannes Nauta (postdoctoral researcher, Dept. of Physics, University of Padua, Italy) extended his stay in our lab for an extra week as part of our HFSP-funded collaboration project. Ying Jie and Johannes led intensive discussions and worked hard to model microbiome population dynamics under perturbations using different approaches. Johannes employed ODE systems in his modeling approach, while Ying Jie explored the domain of agent-based modeling. It was a productive week and we are looking forward to the results.

6th Symposium on Ecological Networks (EcoNet2023), September 4-7, 2023

This year, Shai hosted the EcoNet2023 workshop (Ecological networks from theory to application) at Ben Gurion University, Israel.

Seeing everything come together after all the planning and hard work was exciting. Shai’s hard work and dedication made this workshop a reality.

Four days are full of multiple kinds of activities from keynote talks to invited talks, posters, working groups, deep-dives, dinner, and a hike.

This mix of activities was designed to engage participants in discussions, develop new ideas, make valuable connections to form collaborations in the future, and learn new methods.
Hope that all participants took full advantage of this enriching opportunity.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars – EcoNet2025 will take place in Newcastle!

Our new paper on EcoEvoRxiv, “Practical guidelines and the EMLN R package for handling ecological multilayer networks.”

Our new paper introduces the EMLN R package, a tool for analyzing multilayer networks. It provides practical guidelines and detailed code examples, making it easier for researchers to handle ecological multilayer networks (EMLNs). The package standardizes data structures and enables easy conversion for downstream analysis with common packages. Additionally, it offers practice data sets to help researchers get started with multilayer network analysis confidently. Detailed explanations on workflows accompanied by examples for handling monolayer and multilayer data using emln are in the link. Take a look at the paper here.

Our NetSci 2023 experience: excellent talks and networking opportunities

In July 2023, our lab had the excellent opportunity to participate in the NetSci 2023 conference, organized by the Network Science Society, in the beautiful city of Vienna, Austria. Our lab made its mark with the excellent talks delivered by Shai, Sharon, Matan, and Tino. The conference was a productive venue for enhancing existing collaborations, initiating new partnerships, extending warm birthday wishes to Matan, and reconnecting with a former lab member.

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Our paper “Invasive species modulate the structure and stability of a multilayer mutualistic network” was accepted and published by The Royal Society publishing!

Our paper titled “Invasive species modulate the structure and stability of a multilayer mutualistic network” published on June 28th, 2023, in “THE ROYAL SOCIETY” under the DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.0132
Our model system and multilayer network analysis allow us to examine the broader consequences of disturbances, such as invasive species, on the structure and stability of multitrophic networks.

To read the paper, click on the link.

Dr. Shai hosts Prof. Darren Evans

A unique visitor marked the last weekend of April, Prof. Darren Evans from the UK graced the Department of Life Science as a special guest of Dr. Shai Pilosof. Prof. Darren delivered an exceptional seminar, enriching our academic community. It was an extraordinary opportunity for Shai’s students to engage with Prof. Darren, sharing their research and benefiting from his expertise. The Shai family opened their home, hosting a delightful Friday dinner for Prof. Darren and the lab.