Judge's Commentary 415 Judge's commentary: The Outstanding Zebra Mussel Papers Gary Krahn Dept of Mathematical Sciences United States Military Academy West Point NY 10996 ag2609@usma. edu Introduction The papers were assessed on their ability to transform the data into useful information the application of an appropriate modeling process; and the integration of environmental science to render appropriate recommen dations The judges appreciated the effort and valued the results of the papers. It was a very difficult problem that required a blend of science, mathematics, and conviction to solve a complex interdisciplinary problem during the four-day contest. It was clear that a solution was not going to jump out of the 40 pages of data; rather, it had to be pulled out skillfully The Problem Zebra mussels were introduced to North America in 1980. They are an eco logical"dead end, "since native fish do not eat them. Researchers are currently attempting to identify environmental factors that may influence the popula tion of zebra mussels within our waterways. Zebra mussels are now spread throughout the eastern waterways of the United States, causing tremendous problems for the ecosystem and the regional economies The UMAP Journal 22 (4)(2001)415-420. Copyright 2001 by COMAP, Inc. Allrights reserved Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial dvantage and that copies bear this notice. Abstracting with credit is permitted, but copyrights for components of this work owned by others than COMAP must be honored. To copy otherwise to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists requires prior permission from COMAP.Judge’s Commentary 415 Judge’s Commentary: The Outstanding Zebra Mussel Papers Gary Krahn Dept. of Mathematical Sciences United States Military Academy West Point, NY 10996 ag2609@usma.edu Introduction The papers were assessed on • their ability to transform the data into useful information; • the application of an appropriate modeling process; and • the integration of environmental science to render appropriate recommen￾dations. The judges appreciated the effort and valued the results of the papers. It was a very difficult problem that required a blend of science, mathematics, and conviction to solve a complex interdisciplinary problem during the four-day contest. It was clear that a solution was not going to jump out of the 40 pages of data; rather, it had to be pulled out skillfully. The Problem Zebra mussels were introduced to North America in 1980. They are an eco￾logical “dead end,” since native fish do not eat them. Researchers are currently attempting to identify environmental factors that may influence the popula￾tion of zebra mussels within our waterways. Zebra mussels are now spread throughout the eastern waterways of the United States, causing tremendous problems for the ecosystem and the regional economies. The UMAP Journal 22 (4) (2001) 415–420.
c Copyright 2001 by COMAP, Inc. All rights reserved. Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice. Abstracting with credit is permitted, but copyrights for components of this work owned by others than COMAP must be honored. To copy otherwise, to republish, to post on servers, or to redistribute to lists requires prior permission from COMAP