Olga Vasilyeva
Associate Professor
Program: Mathematics
Email: ovasilyeva@mun.ca
Phone: 709-639-2597
Office: AS 3014
Credentials
BSc in Applied Mathematics (1995), Novosibirsk State University, Russia
MSc in Applied Mathematics (2001), University of Notre Dame, USA
PhD in Mathematics (2011), University of Ottawa
Research interests
Mathematical Biology, Ordinary and Partial Differential Equations
Teaching
MATH 1000, 1001, 1090, 2260, 3132, 4191, 4292, 4950, 495A/B
Representative scholarly contributions
Peer-reviewed publications
1. Olga Vasilyeva, Dylan Smith, Frithjof Lutscher, Evolution of dispersal in river networks, Bulletin of Mathematical Biology, 86,140 (2024).
2. Abby Anderson, Olga Vasilyeva, Prevailing winds and spruce budworm outbreaks: a reaction-diffusion-advection model, Mathematics in Applied Sciences and Engineering, vol. 2 (4) (2021), 219-309.
Invited conference talks
2024 Winter Meeting of Canadian Mathematical Society
Vancouver, BC, November 29 鈥 December 2, 2024
Special Session 鈥淩ecent Advances in Differential Equations and Applications鈥, talk title: Steady states and evolution of dispersal in river networks
2024 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society of Applied
and Industrial Mathematics (CAIMS 2024)
Queen鈥檚 University, Kingston, ON, June 2024
Special Session 鈥淣ew challenges and new faces in mathematical ecology鈥, alk title: Steady states and evolution of dispersal in river networks
13th American Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) Conference
on Dynamical Systems, Differential Equations and Applications
University of North Carolina in Wilmington, NC, USA, June 2023
Special session 鈥淣onlinear Differential and Difference Equations
with Applications to Population Dynamics鈥
Talk title: Two examples of using phase plane analysis in nonlinear RDA models
2022 Canadian Mathematical Society Winter Meeting
Special Session 鈥淢athematical Modeling and Analysis in Spatial Ecology and Epidemiology鈥 Toronto, ON, December 2022
Talk title: Phase-plane analysis of steady states of a spruce budworm model with advection
Winter Workshop on Competition Dynamics in Biology
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA, December 2021 (online)
Talk title: Logistic reaction-diffusion-advection river network model: phase plane approach
2021 Canadian Mathematical Society 75th Anniversary Summer Meeting
Special Session 鈥淢athematical models for ecological dynamics鈥, June 2021, Ottawa, ON (online)
Talk title: Steady states of nonlinear reaction-diffusion-advection models: phase plane approach
Current research projects and grants
Individual Discovery Grant "Nonlinear population dynamics in rivers and river networks" from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) for the period 2017-2024, $14,000 per year.
Honours, graduate and post-graduate supervision
In the last 5 years:
Honours Theses (MATH 495A/B)
Ella Taylor, 鈥淒isease dynamics modeling via ordinary differential equations鈥, Fall 2025-present
Krystian Hall, 鈥淭wo-compartment reaction-diffusion-advection models鈥, Fall 2025 鈥 present
Parker Wiseman, 鈥淪pruce Budworm Population Models and Travelling Wave Solutions鈥,
Fall 2024 鈥 Winter 2025
Jordon Paddle, 鈥淒iffusion-Reaction Equations with a Finite Domain鈥, Fall 2024 鈥 Winter 2025
Senior Projects (MATH 4950)
Oscar Braun Ridsdale, 鈥淩eaction-Diffusion Equation: Numerical and Explicit Solutions (2024)
Taylor Wood, 鈥淓pidemiological Models: Modeling Covid-19 via Ordinary Differential Equations鈥 (2022)
Meghraj Mukhopadhyay, 鈥淢odelling Colon Cancer鈥 (2022)
Ian Anunda, 鈥淢athematical Modelling of the Spread of Infectious Diseases鈥 (2021)
Jasmine Penney, 鈥淢athematical Modelling of Infectious Diseases via Ordinary Differential Equations鈥 (2021)
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Parker Wiseman, 鈥淭ravelling wave solutions in reaction-diffusion
models with nonlinear reaction terms鈥,
NSERC USRA, Summer 2025
Parker Wiseman, 鈥淩eaction-diffusion models and traveling wave solutions鈥,
NSERC USRA, Summer 2024
Dylan Smith, 鈥淣onlinear population dynamics in river networks鈥,
supported by NSERC DG, Summer 2023
Steven Kendell, 鈥淧opulation dynamics modeling via differential equations鈥,
NSERC USRA, Summer 2022
Michael Willette, 鈥淩eaction-diffusion-advection competition models in river networks鈥,
NSERC USRA, Summer 2021
Dylan Smith, 鈥淧opulation Dynamics Modeling鈥,
supported by NSERC DG, May-August 2020, May 2021 - April 2022
Graduate co-supervision
Fall 2024 - present: co-supervisor (with Dr. Nguyen Lam) of Mi Thao Le, MSc in Mathematics
September 2018 - Winter 2021: co-supervisor (with Dr. Lakshman Galagedara) of Sashika Gayantha Perera, MSc in Boreal Ecosystems and Agricultural Sciences, Grenfell Campus,
MUN, thesis title 鈥淔orecasting of Potential Evapotranspiration, Total Precipitation and Water Balance for Major Agricultural Areas in Newfoundland鈥.