The Physics & Astronomy Colloquium Series presents Ibiyinka (Yinka) Fuwape, Vice Chancellor, of Michael & Cecilia Ibru University, Nigeria, discussing "Global NetworkingDynamical Complexes in Tropical Climate and its Implications."

Fuwape was a visiting scholar at ther Physics & Astronomy Department in 2007-09, supported by Schlumberger's program “Faculty for the Future.”  She has a distinguished career in Nigeria and, since 2017, has served as Vice Chancellor of Michael & Cecilia Ibru University. She received numerous awards, including a recent American Physical Society (APS) Fellowship and APS Marshak Lectureship (among other recognitions) for her leadership in advancing women in physics in Nigeria and Africa.

Abstract: The intrinsic properties of natural time series is important for their modelling and forecasting.  Tropical regions of the world have the most diverse climate.  Over the last few years, we have investigated the dynamical complexity of tropical weather and their implications for climate change, telecommunication, and health. To achieve this, tools from control theory, statistical physics, and differential equation analysis were developed for time series analysis.   

Our results showed that there exist complex structures driven by both intrinsic and extrinsic perturbations. These have helped in understanding interactions between parameters, prediction horizon, and will help in developing modelling framework for the studied parameters.  In the near future, we plan to extend this research line by developing new approaches including but not limited to dynamical system reconstruction from time series, machine learning prediction for tropical weather, and extending the research into space physics.