Jonathan Potts

Professor Jonathan Potts holds the position of Professor of Mathematical Biology at the University of Sheffield, serving as Subject Group Head for Mathematics and Statistics and Head of the Mathematical and Statistical Modelling Research Cluster. His research focuses on ecological questions such as predicting the impact of environmental change on animal populations, inferring animal interaction mechanisms from movement data, and understanding emergent population patterns. His work bridges mathematics and ecology through models of animal movement, spatial memory, and nonlocal advection-diffusion systems. Key contributions include developing step selection frameworks and analyzing territorial behavior using mechanistic models. Funded by grants such as NERC NE/X000680/1, his research addresses conservation challenges and anthropogenic effects on ecosystems. He teaches MAS108 Mathematical Modelling and collaborates on interdisciplinary projects within the Mathematical Biology research group.

Research Interests:

• Prediction of environmental change impacts on animal populations
• Inferring animal interaction mechanisms via movement data
• Emergent patterns from movement and interaction dynamics
• Nonlocal advection-diffusion models in ecology

Grants:

• Current: NERC grant NE/X000680/1 (Measuring resource acquisition)
• Previous: EPSRC grant (Multi-species aggregation equations)
• NERC grants for studies on dispersal in social birds and multi-species interactions

Teaching: Leads MAS108 Mathematical Modelling, integrating theoretical concepts with ecological applications.

Labs/Teams: Heads the Mathematical and Statistical Modelling Research Cluster and collaborates with the Mathematical Biology group.