EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

University of Tennessee, B.A., 1974
University of Tennessee, M.A., 1976
University of Wisconsin, M.S., 1978
University of Wisconsin, Ph.D.,1982

TEACHING ACTIVITIESS

2013 Spring Semester

• Mathematics 363 - Introduction to Statistical Methods
• Mathematics 596a - Quantitative Biology Colloquium
• SONGS - Statistics on Next Generation Sequencing

Contact information

• Office: Room 522 of the Mathematics Building
• Office phone: 621-5245
• E-mail: jwatkins at math.arizona.edu
• Office Hours:
  • 12:00 - 1:30 Monday, 220 Mathematics
  • 10:30 - 12:00 Friday, 522 Mathematics

2012 Fall Semester

• Mathematics 363 - Introduction to Statistical Methods

2009 Fall Semester

• Mathematics 564 - Theory of Probability

2008 Spring Semester

• Mathematics 466 - Theory of Statistics

In addition, I often teach

• introductory statistics,
• graduate courses in probability and statistics

  Notes for

  • Introduction to the Science of Statistics
  • Probability Theory
  • Discrete Time Stochastic Processes
  • Continuous Time Stochastic Processes
  • Theoretical Statistics

  RESEARCH INTERESTS

  My mathematical training is in probability theory and stochastic processes. I now apply this to problems in stochastic modeling of biological phenomena. Here are some examples research projects:

  • Collaboration with the Mike Hammer's lab on human evolution

    Michael F. Hammer, August E. Woerner, Fernando L. Mendez, Joseph C. Watkins, Murray Cox, and Jeffrey D. Wall (2010) The ratio of human X chromosome to autosome diversity is positively correlated with genetic distance from genes. Nature Genetics 42, 830-831.

    Michael F. Hammer, August E. Woerner, Fernando L. Mendez, Joseph C. Watkins, and Jeffrey D. Wall (2011) Genetic evidence for archaic admixture in Africa. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 108, 15123-15128.

    Krishna R Veeramah, Daniel Wegmann, August Woerner, Fernando L Mendez, Joseph C Watkins, Giovanni Destro-Bisol, Himla Soodyall, Leslie Louie, Michael F Hammer (2012) An early divergence of KhoeSan ancestors from those of other modern humans is supported by an ABC-based analysis of autosomal re-sequencing data. Molecular Biology and Evolution 29, 617-630.

    Fernando L. Mendez, Joseph C. Watkins, and Michael F. Hammer (2011) Global genetic variation at OAS1 provides evidence of archaic admixture in Melanesian populations. Molecular Biology and Evolution 29, 1513-1520.

    Fernando L. Mendez, Joseph C. Watkins, and Michael F. Hammer (2012) A haplotype at STAT2 introgressed from Neandertals and serves as a candidate of positive selection in Papua New Guinea. American Journal of Human Genetics. (in press)

  • Work with Steve Lansing in the Anthropology Department and Mike Hammer's lab on Austronesian Societies: Reading Social Structure from the Genome. This project was funded by an National Science Foundation Human and Social Dynamics Program.

    Joseph C. Watkins (2010) Convergence Time to the Ewens Sampling Formula. Journal of Mathematical Biology 60, 189-206.

    J. Stephen Lansing, Joseph C. Watkins, Brian Hallmark, Murray P. Cox, Tatiana M. Karafet, Herawati Sudoyo, and Michael F. Hammer (2008) Male dominance rarely skews the frequency distribution of Y chromosome haplotypes in human populations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 105, 11645-11650.

    Joseph C. Watkins (2007) Microsatellite Evolution: Markov Transition Functions for a Suite of Models Theoretical Population Biology 71, 147-159.

    J. Stephen Lansing, Murray P. Cox, Sean S. Downey, Brandon M Gabler, Brian Hallmark, Tatiana M. Karafet, Peter Norquest, John W. Schoenfelder Herawati Sudoyo, Joseph C. Watkins, and Michael F. Hammer (2007) Coevolution of languages and genes on the island of Sumba, eastern Indonesia, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 104 16022-16026.

    Tatiana M. Karafet, J. S. Lansing, Alan J. Redd, Joseph Watkins, I. W. Ardika, S. P.K. Surata, Laura Mayer, Michael Bamshad, Lynn Jorde, Michael F. Hammer (2005) Balinese Y Chromosome Perspective on the Peopling of Indonesia: Genetic Contributions from Pre-Neolithic Hunter-Gatherers, Austronesian Farmers, and Indian Traders, Human Biology 77.1, 93-114.

    Joseph C. Watkins (2004) The Role of Marriage Rules in the Structure of Genetic Relatedness, Theoretical Population Biology 66, 13-24

    J.S. Lansing, A.J. Redd, T. M. Karafet, J.Watkins, I.W. Ardika, S.P.K. Surata, J.S. Schoenfelder, M. Campbell, A.M. Merriwether, M.F. Hammer (2004) An Indian Trader in Ancient Bali? Antiquity 78, 287-293.

  • Theoretical population genetics

    Xavier Didelot, Jesse E. Taylor, Joseph C. Watkins (2008) A duality identity between a model of bacterial recombination and the Wright-Fisher diffusion. Markov Processes and Related Topics: A Festschrift for Thomas G. Kurtz Intstitute of Mathematical Statistics Collections 4, 315-324.

  • Models for moderate sized structured populations with applications to flour beetles.

    Joseph C. Watkins (2000) Consistency and Fluctuation Theorems for Discrete Time Structured Population Models Having Demographic Stochasticity, Journal of Mathematical Biology 41, 253-271

  • Through the Flinn Foundation and the National Science Foundation sponsorship of the Biology, Mathematics and Physics Initiative, Kevin Anderson completed a dissertation on historical processes in bacterial colonies.

    Mendelson, N.H., A. Bourque, K. Wilkening, K.R. Anderson, and J.C. Watkins. (1999) Organized Cell Swimming Motions in Bacillus subtilis Colonies: Patterns of Short-Lived Whirls and Jets. Journal of Bacteriology 181, 600-609.

    Kevin R. Anderson, Neil H. Mendelson, and Joseph C. Watkins. (2000) A New Mathematical Approach Predicts Individual Cell Growth Behavior using Bacterial Population Information, Journal of Theoretical Biology 202, 87-94.

  • Work with Gloria Degrandi-Hoffman of the Carl Hayden Bee Research Center on queen development times and the Africanization of the honey bee population and on the dynamics of swarms. We are also examining the interaction of honey bees and native bees.
    

    Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, Joseph C. Watkins, Anita M. Collins, Gerald M. Loper, Joseph H. Martin, Marias C. Arias, and Walter S. Sheppard, (1998) Queen Development Time as a Factor in the Africanization of the European Bee (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Populations, Annals of the Entomological Society of America 91, 51-58.

    Gloria DeGrandi-Hoffman, and Joseph C. Watkins, (2000) The foraging activity of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) and non-Apis bees on hybrid sunflowers (Helianthus arruus L.) and its influence on cross-pollination and seed set. Journal of Apicultural Research 39, 37-45.

  SERVICE
  • Chair - Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Statistics
  • Chair- HHMI Biomath Committee
  • Executive Committee - Computational and Mathematical Modeling of Biomedical Systems

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    Joseph C. Watkins / Department of Mathematics / Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Statistics/ Interdisciplinary Program on Applied Mathematics
    University of Arizona / last revised July 6, 2012.