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University of Cambridge > School of the Biological Sciences > Department of Plant Sciences

Dr Nik Cunniffe

University Lecturer

Fellow of Girton College

Epidemiology and Modelling Group

Correspondence Address:

Dept Plant Sciences,
University of Cambridge,
Downing Street,
Cambridge,
CB2 3EA,
U.K.

Telephone:

+44 (0) 1223 330954

Fax:

+44 (0) 1223 333953

Email:

njc1001 at cam.ac.uk

Brief c.v.

Research interests

Teaching

PhD Opportunities

Publications

Brief Curriculum vitae

Career

Official Fellow and College Lecturer, Girton College (2009-)
University Lecturer, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge (2008-)
Teaching and Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge (2007-2008)
Rothamsted Research, Research Assistant (2003)
Autonomy Corporation, European Research Manager and Principal Consultant (1998-2002)
Alphametrics, Analyst Programmer (1997-1998)

Education

PhD, Mathematical Biology, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge. (2004-2007)
MSc, Modern Applications of Mathematics, Department of Mathematical Sciences, Bath (2002-2003)
MPhil, Computer Speech and Language Processing, Darwin College, Cambridge (1996-1997)
MA (Hons), Mathematical Tripos, St. Catharine's College, Cambridge (1993-1996)

Research interests

Mathematical models of plant pathogens
Modelling biological control
Efficient computational implementation of epidemiological models
Small-scale models for the spread of soil-borne plant pathogens
The influence of seasonal disturbances on crop disease
Models for control of plant disease
Effect of realistic landscape heterogeneity and abiotic drivers on epidemics
Sampling for plant disease
Take-all and karnal bunt of wheat
Take-all decline and soil suppressiveness
Sudden oak death
Citrus diseases

Teaching

First year (Part IA)

Natural Sciences Tripos: Mathematical Biology
- Course Organiser
- Lectures: "Introduction to the Growth and Decline of Populations"
- Lectures: "Matrix Models"
- Practicals: "Introduction to the Growth and Decline of Populations"
- Practicals: "Matrix Models"
- Supervisions
Natural Sciences Tripos: Elementary Mathematics for Biologists
- Supervisions
Natural Sciences Tripos: Mathematics for Physical Scientists
- Supervisions

Second year (Part IB)

Natural Sciences Tripos: Plant and Microbial Sciences
- Lectures: "Epidemiology"
- Practicals: "Analysis of Scientific Data in R"
- Supervisions

Third year (Part II)

Mathematics Tripos: Mathematical Biology
- Supervisions
Natural Sciences Tripos: Plant Sciences
- Project supervision
- ''Trends'' essay
Natural Sciences Tripos: Zoology
- Lectures (Module M3: Population Biology) "Spatial Models in Ecology"

Fourth year (Part III)

Natural Sciences Tripos: Physics
- Project supervision
Natural Sciences Tripos: Systems Biology
- Lectures: "Differential Equations and Modelling"
- Practicals: "Introduction to Matlab"

Graduate

Wellcome Trust postgraduate course on Mathematical Models for Infectious Disease Dynamics
- Lecture: "Revision of Algebra and Functions"
- Lectures: "Compartmental Models of Epidemics"

Other

Open University
- Associate Lecturer: MST121, Using Mathematics
- Associate Lecturer: MS325, Computer Algebra, Chaos and Simulations

PhD Opportunities

I welcome enquiries from students interested in a PhD in mathematical plant epidemiology under my supevision. My research interests are detailed above, although this list is by no means exhaustive (see here for two examples of projects I would be interested in supervising). A suitably-qualified student would already hold, or be about to gain, an undergraduate degree with significant mathematical content (e.g. mathematics, physics or engineering). Fully-funded departmental studentships are available for UK and EU candidates.

Publications

Cunniffe, N.J. and Gilligan, C.A. (2008) Scaling from mycelial growth to infection dynamics: a reaction diffusion approach. Fungal Ecology 1(4):133-142. (doi)
Cunniffe, N.J. and Cook, A.R. (2009) Cruel and unusual punishment? An analysis of point deduction in European association football leagues. Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports 5(4). (doi)
Cunniffe, N.J. and Gilligan, C.A. (2010) Invasion, persistence and control in models of soil-borne plant pathogens: the effect of host demography. Journal of the Royal Society: Interface 7(44):439-451. (doi)
Parnell, S., Gottwald, T., van den Bosch, F., Cunniffe, N.J. and Gilligan, C.A. (2010) The effect of landscape pattern on the optimal eradication zone of an invading epidemic. Phytopathology 100(7):638-644. (doi)
Kovacs, K., Vaclavik, T., Haight, R.G., Pang, A., Cunniffe, N.J., Gilligan, C.A. and Meentemeyer, R.K. (2011) Predicting the economic costs and property value losses attributed to sudden oak death damage in California (2010-2020). Journal of Environmental Management 92:1292-1302. (doi)
Meentemeyer, R., Cunniffe, N.J., Cook, A.J., Filipe, J.A.N., Hunter, R.D., Rizzo, D. and Gilligan, C.A. (2011) Epidemiological modeling of invasion in heterogeneous landscapes: spread of sudden oak death in California (1990-2030). Ecosphere 2:17. (doi)
Demon, I., Cunniffe, N.J., Marchant, B., Gilligan, C.A. and van den Bosch, F. (2011) Spatial sampling to detect an invasive pathogen outside of an eradication zone. Phytopathology 101(6):725-731. (doi)
Cunniffe, N.J. and Gilligan, C.A. (2011) A theoretical framework for the biological control of soil-borne plant pathogens: identifying effective strategies. Journal of Theoretical Biology 278(1):32-43. (doi)
Cunniffe, N.J., Stutt, R.J.O.H., van den Bosch, F. and Gilligan, C.A. (2012) Time-dependent infectivity and flexible latent and infectious periods in compartmental models of plant disease. Phytopathology (available online)