Dr Simona M. Hapca

Dr Simona HapcaLecturer SIMBIOS

E: s.hapca@abertay.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1382 308695

General Information

Research interests

My research interests are in the area of theoretical biology and ecology, ranging from mathematical theory to empirical research, the emphasis being the development of general models motivated by the analysis of observational and experimental data. I am particularly interested in the development of analytical and stochastic theory related to the behaviour of dynamical systems, with applicability to the study of community dynamics of ecosystems in complex environments. In addition, I am interested in the development of statistical and probability models with applicability in a range of contexts, including performance in the higher education institutions (HEIs) and the evaluation of forensic evidence. Briefly, my research areas can be summarized as follows:

Ecological modelling:

  • Modelling the bio-control of agricultural pest, describing the community dynamics of entomopathogenic and slug-parasitic nematodes in soil systems.
  • Biodiversity regulation in soil systems enhanced by nematode - microbial interactions.
  • Modelling dispersal behaviour of heterogeneous populations.
  • Fractal analysis of movement patterns.
  • Co-kriging mapping of the chemical composition of soil based on the 3D physical structure.
  • Development of novel qualtitative techniques for the 3-dimensional image analysis of porous media

Applied Statistics:

  • Analysis of student retention in Scottish HEIs.
  • Statistical evaluation of foot ware evidence in forensic science.

PDE's analysis:

  • Qualitative analysis (i.e. existence, uniqueness, asymptotic behaviour of solutions)of non-linear evolution equations and reaction-diffusion systems.

Background

PhD in Applied Mathematics, Henri Poincare University, Nancy, France (2003), MSc in PDEs, Probabilities and Applications, Henri Poincare University, Nancy, France (2000), MSc in Evolution Problems and Dynamical Systems, University of Craiova, Romania (2001), BSc in Mathematics, University of Craiova, Romania (1999).

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Published Papers

2009

  1. Kruitbos, L., Heritage, S., Hapca, S., Wilson, M.J. The influence of habitat quality on the foraging strategies of the entomopathogenic nematodes Steinernema carpocapsae and Heterorhabditis megidis. Parasitology, accepted.
  2. Kruitbos, L., Heritage, S., Hapca, S., Wilson, M.J. Influence of Substrate on the Nictation Behaviour of Parasitic Nematodes, Nematology, accepted.
  3. Hapca, S., Crawford, Young, I., 2009. Anomalous diffusion of heterogeneous populations characterized by normal diffusion at individual level. The Royal Society Interface 6, 111-122.
  4. MacMillan, K., Haukeland, S., Rae, R., Young, I., Crawford J., Hapca S., Wilson, M., 2009 Dispersal patterns and behavior of the nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita in mineral soils and organic media, Soil Biology and Biochemistry 41(7),1483-1490.

2007

  1. Hapca, S., Crawford, J., MacMillan, K., Wilson, M., Young, I., 2007. Modeling nematode movement using time-fractional dynamics. Journal of Theoretical Biology 248, 212-224.
  2. Hapca, S., Budha, P., Crawford, J., Young, I., 2007. Movement of Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita nematode in heterogeneous structure. Nematology, 9(5), 731-738.
  3. Hapca, S., Crawford, J., Rae, R., Wilson, M., Young. I., 2007. Movement of the parasitic nematode Phasmarhabditis hermaphrodita in the presence of the slug Deroceras Reticulatum, Biological Control 41(2), 223-229.
  4. Benachour, S., Dabuleanu-Hapca S., Laurençot, Ph., 2007. Decay estimates for a viscous Hamilton–Jacobi equation with homogeneous Dirichlet boundary conditions. Asymptotic Analysis 51(3-4), 209-229.

2005

  1. Benachour, S., Dabuleanu, S., 2005. Large time behavior for a viscous Hamilton-Jacobi equation with Neumann boundary condition. Journal of Differential Equations 216(1), 223-258.
  2. Dabuleanu, S., 2005. Mixed Cauchy-Neumann Problem for a Viscous Hamilton-Jacobi Equation. Journal of Evolution Equations 5(1), 35-60.

2003

  1. Benachour, S., Dabuleanu, S., 2003. Mixed Cauchy-Dirichlet Problem for a Viscous Hamilton-Jacobi Equation. Advances in Differential Equtions 8(12), 1409-1452.
  2. Dabuleanu, S., Radulescu, V., 2003. Multivalued boundary value problems involving Leray-Lions operators and discontinuous nonlinearities. Rendiconti Circolo Matematico di Palermo LII, 57-69.

1999

  1. Dabuleanu, S., Motreanu, D. 1999. Existence results for a class of eigenvalue quasilinear problems with nonlinear boundary conditions. Advances in Nonlinear Variational Inequalities 2(2), 41-54.

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