Ian Dewan

Research

I’m currently a postdoctoral researcher with Hildegard Uecker, working on mathematical models of the population genetics of extrachromosomal genetic elements (which was previously the subject of my PhD thesis, also in the group of Hildegard Uecker). I’m interested in elucidating the unique role played by extrachromosomal genetic elements in a variety of biological systems, and I’ve worked on models of the roles of multicopy plasmids in bacteria and extrachromsomal circular DNA in yeast in adaptation to sudden environmental change. A common motivating example is the contribution of multicopy plasmids to the evolution of multiple-drug resistance.

My general research interests are in applications of mathematics, particularly probabilistic and stochastic models, to problems in ecology and evolution. I previously did an MSc with Tom Sherratt working on models of optimal predator behaviour under uncertainty.

Publications

• Dewan I & Uecker H (2025). “Evolutionary rescue of bacterial populations by heterozygosity on multicopy plasmids.” Journal of Mathematical Biology 90(3). doi:10.1007/s00285-025-02182-4
• Sherratt TN, Beatty CD, Dewan I, Di Iorio K, Finkelstein I, Loeffler-Henry K, Miller M, Para F, Raposo M, & Sherratt F (2025). “Territorial-sneaker games with non-uniform interaction and female mate choice.” Behavioral Ecology 36(2). doi:10.1093/beheco/araf002
• Dewan I & Uecker H (2024). “Is the distribution of plasmid lengths bimodal?” Plasmid 129. doi:10.1016/j.plasmid.2024.102721
• Dewan I & Uecker H (2023). “A mathematician’s guide to plasmids: an introduction to plasmid biology for modellers.” Microbiology 169(7). doi:10.1099/mic.0.001362
• Sherratt TN, Dewan I, & Skelhorn J (2023). “The optimal time to approach an unfamiliar object: a Bayesian model.” Behavioral Ecology 34(5), pp. 840–849. doi:10.1093/beheco/arad032
• Han KY, Kröger L, Buchholz F, Dewan I, Quaas M, Schulenburg H, & Reusch TBH (2023). “The economics of microbiodiversity.” Ecological Economics 204. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2022.107664
• Beauvais-Feisthauer J, Blute R, Dewan I, Drummond B, & Jacqmin P-A (2020). “Finiteness spaces, étale groupoids and their convolution algebras.” Semigroup Forum 101(2), pp. 243–258. doi:10.1007/s00233-020-10096-4
• Dewan I, Garland T, Hiramatsu L, & Careau V (2019). “I Smell a Mouse: Indirect Genetic Effects on Voluntary Wheel-Running Distance, Duration and Speed.” Behavior Genetics 49(1), pp. 49–59. doi:10.1007/s10519-018-9930-2

Conference Presentations

Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology (July 2024)

Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution 2024

Stochastic Models and Experiments in Ecology and Biology 2024

Adaptation through copy number variation of eccDNA in yeast

Mathematical Models of Evolutionary Rescue (June 2023)

Rescue of bacterial populations by plasmid-mediated heterozygosity

Modelling Resistance Evolution — Theoretical Methodology Symposium (April 2023)

Evolution of multidrug resistance from plasmid-mediated heterozygosity

Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution 2022

Plasmid-mediated heterozygosity, multidrug resistance, and evolutionary rescue in bacteria

Mathematical Models in Ecology and Evolution 2019

Run Away! Optimal Predator Responses to Startle Displays

Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology Symposium 2019

Run Away! The Adaptive Advantage of Being Startled

Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution Meeting 2018

Too Close for Comfort: Modelling Predator Generalization of Prey Palatability

Wild Animal Model Biennial Meeting 2017

IGEs and Voluntary Wheel Running in Mice