Simons Foundation Presents: Going With the Flow

Simons Foundation, Gerald D. Fischbach Auditorium, 160 5th Ave, New York, NY 10010

*Please note that the entrance is on W 21st St between 5th and 6th Aves*

New York City is defined by movement, from its dozens of subway lines to the endless streams of people navigating the sidewalks. But this kind of intricate flow isn’t unique to the urban world. Inside our bodies, blood pulses through vessels while neurons fire across the brain. These are examples of living systems built on networks that constantly adapt, respond, ferry vital resources, and transmit signals to keep us alive. What parallels or insights might emerge when we take a closer look at these different kinds of flow?

Biophysicist Eleni Katifori of the Simon Foundation’s Flatiron Institute researches the dynamics of biological flow networks, revealing the hidden rules that govern how living systems maintain flow at every scale. Zhan Guo is an urban mobility expert at New York University who examines how New Yorkers’ travel behaviors interact with our city’s transportation systems — from our iconic subway to the beloved bike share program — and how intentional design can shape, guide and even nudge those behaviors to influence the flow and experience of urban life.

Join them as they sit down with Elizabeth Simolke, senior program manager in the Simons Foundation’s Science, Society & Culture division, for a conversation exploring how Katifori and Guo approach and understand “flow” in their work, from the systems inside our bodies to those shaping our everyday life in New York City.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Katifori obtained her Ph.D. degree in physics from Harvard, followed by a fellowship at the Center for Studies in Physics and Biology at Rockefeller University in New York. In 2012, she started a position as an independent group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization in Germany, and in 2015, she joined the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. Katifori is a recipient of a Burroughs Wellcome Career Award at the Scientific Interface, an NSF Career Award and the APS DSOFT Early Career Award. Her research interests are primarily theoretical and span broad areas, including soft-matter physics with a focus on biologically inspired physics, biological transport networks and thin-shell elasticity.

Guo studies individuals’ travel behavior and explores innovative ways to influence that decision-making process to produce better social outcomes, such as reduced congestion and carbon emissions. At the micro level, he focuses on how travelers perceive travel alternatives and attributes, the discrepancies between perception and reality, and the ability to reinforce, change, or even deceive that perception to promote certain behaviors. At the macro level, he is interested in the effects of regulations — such as parking and street standards, mandatory affordable housing and speed limits — on accessibility, equity and safety. Guo has conducted empirical work in Boston, London, Washington, D.C., New York City, San Francisco, and Hong Kong. Guo received a B.Arch. from Tianjin University, an MUD from Tsinghua University, China, and an MCP and a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Conversation Moderator: Simolke joined the Simons Foundation in 2019 as the outreach coordinator for the President’s Office before transitioning to the Science, Society & Culture team in 2021. As program manager, she leads the division’s Researcher Engagement Program and oversees both the Presidential Lectures and the Presents public event series. She also plays an integral part in advancing the division’s national initiatives, with a focus on programs that support science engagement in rural communities and small towns across the country. Prior to coming to the foundation, Simolke served as the administrative manager of the Global Business Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds bachelor’s degrees in public relations and Spanish from Appalachian State University and completed her master’s studies in communication at the University of Chile.