Vasthi Alonso Chavez

Vasthi's main interests focus on the development of mathematical and epidemiological models for the monitoring, detection and control of diseases in plant, crops and tree diseases. Her background is diverse with a BSc and an MSc in physics and a PhD in applied mathematics. Her latest research focuses on trying to answer the question: what is the probability that a disease is present in a given crop even when it has not been detected through conventional means (for example, sampling). Also, Vasthi has been developing a model that links an epidemiological model to trade and sales to understand how the variability of market demand may contribute to the increased probability of the introduction of invasive diseases, and how to target this problem.