Seminar Series: Nonlinear Dynamic Methods for Resilience Studies (Boolean Networks)

This month's seminar discussed nonlinear dynamic analytic approaches to studying resilience. Each session will explore a single method, with a focus on the types of questions that can be addressed by a method rather than a tutorial on how to perform the necessary calculations. These sessions will present an overview of data requirements, underlying assumptions, expected outcomes, and the types of questions that can be answered using the method. Substantial discussion during each seminar will assist participants in assessing the usefulness of each method in their own research.
One important aspect of nonlinear research is to adopt a "root metaphor" for the research (Thelen, 1999). This seminar explored one such root metaphor, Boolean networks (Kauffman, 1995), for complex nonlinear systems and demonstrated how its adoption can guide data collection and lead to new research questions and new theories in resilience.