Dr Samik Datta

Population Modeller

Qualifications
  • Ph.D.: 
    • 'A mathematical analysis of marine size spectra'
    • Department of Biology, University of York, UK (2008 - 2011)
  • M.Sci:
    • 2.1 (Hons) 
    • Natural Sciences (Maths with Chemistry), University of Durham, UK (2003 - 2007)
Location
Wellington

Contact Details

Biography

Overview

I am a senior scientist based at NIWA Wellington in the Population Modelling group since 2017. I have also been group manager of Population Modelling since October 2019.

My area of focus is mathematical modelling and simulation of biological systems. This involves a combination of analytical mathematical methods and simulation-based studies. My experience lies largely in:

  • - modelling marine ecosystems (particularly size-based methods, including the R package mizer),
  • - modelling the spread of infection and disease over space and time (epidemiology), and
  • - fisheries analyses (e.g., characterisations, CPUE analyses, stock assessments).


My marine work covers a broad range of topics, including fisheries, multi-species marine ecosystem modelling, spatial movement, invasive species, future predictive modelling and management strategy comparisons.

I also have conducted many epidemiological studies since coming to NIWA, based on my work as a postdoctoral research fellow in infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Warwick (2011 - 2017). I have been on the peer review panel and modelling team for Covid-19 Modelling Aotearoa, and currently have two grants (Marsden and Te Niwha) around the inclusion of ethnicity in epidemiological models.

Background

My background is in mathematical modelling and simulation.

  • 2008 - 2011: I completed my Ph.D. in the Biology Department at the University of York (UK), developing size-based models of marine ecosystems.
  • 2011 - 2017: I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Warwick, applying mathematics to the spread of infectious diseases (epidemiology), to predict how different infections transmit, and testing the effectiveness of different control strategies. This was applied to both honeybee diseases and human infections including human papillomavirus (HPV) and whooping cough

Research Outputs

The impacts of warming on shallow and deep-water fisheries in New Zealand

Datta S., Beran H. and Rogers, A

The impact of Covid-19 vaccination in Aotearoa New Zealand: A modelling study

Datta S., Vattiato G., Maclaren O.J., Hua N., Sporle A. and Plank M.J.

Modelling the impact of the Omicron BA. 5 subvariant in New Zealand

Lustig A., Vattiato G., Maclaren O., Watson L.M., Datta S. and Plank M.J.

From data compilation to model validation: comparing three ecosystem models of the Tasman and Golden Bays, New Zealand

McGregor V.L., Horn P., Dutilloy A., Datta S., Rogers A., Porobic J., Dunn, A. and Tuck, I.

External Profiles