 The students are working on algorithms and software tools for visualizing evolutionary trees. Biologists often have several hundred possible scenarios for the "family tree" of a set of species (a computer program runs for days or weeks, picking out the scenarios with the best score). For large family trees, there are very few effective tools for looking at the whole tree, much less several hundred trees. One current approach is to print out the tree (often 20 pages of paper), tape the pages together, and then have a biology graduate student trace through the lineages to determine if the tree is useful. This project will provide specialized visualization and data mining tools that will allow scientists to look at, and analyze, multiple complex data sets for large numbers of species, thus greatly speeding up the process of creating a "Tree of Life" for all living organisms. For more information on the project, visit: http://comet.lehman.cuny.edu/treeviz
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ehman computer science students and faculty are collaborating with faculty
and staff at the University of Texas at Austin on a $1.1 million grant from
the National Science Foundation. Their goal is to create new tools to help
biologists better understand how all living things have evolved. From left
to right is: Denise Edwards, a 2002 Lehman graduate now working on
her master's degree, Silvio Neris, a Spring 2002 graduate who will
enroll in the master's program this fall, Prof. Katherine St. John
of Lehman's Mathematics and Computer Science faculty, Prof. Nina Amenta
of the University of Texas at Austin, Jeff Klingner, a programmer
for the Center of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics at the University
of Texas, and Fred Clarke, a senior majoring in computer science
who will graduate this summer.