Gerda de Vries facts for kids

Gerda de Vries is a Canadian mathematician. She studies how math can explain things in nature and the human body. This is called mathematical physiology. She also looks at how things change over time, which is known as dynamical systems.

Gerda de Vries is a professor of math at the University of Alberta. She used to be the president of the Society for Mathematical Biology. This group helps people who use math to understand biology.

Becoming a Mathematician

Gerda de Vries went to the University of Waterloo and finished her first degree in 1989. She then continued her studies and earned a special advanced degree called a doctorate (or PhD) in 1995. She got this degree from the University of British Columbia.

For her PhD, she wrote a big research paper. It was about how certain cells in the body, called pancreatic beta cells, create electrical signals. Her teacher for this important work was Robert M. Miura.

After getting her PhD, Gerda de Vries did more research. She worked with Arthur Sherman at the National Institutes of Health. In 1998, she started teaching at the University of Alberta. She became a full professor in 2008. This means she reached the highest level for a teacher and researcher at the university.

Awards and Leadership

Gerda de Vries has received several important honors. From 2011 to 2013, she was the president of the Society for Mathematical Biology. Later, in 2017, she became a special member, called a fellow, of this society.

In 2014, the Canadian Mathematical Society gave her an award for excellent teaching. This shows she is great at explaining math to students. In 2018, she was also named a fellow of the Canadian Mathematical Society. This is a big honor for mathematicians in Canada.