The UNM Department of Mathematics and Statistics funded my travel request to go to 2012 WNAR – Graybill June 17-20, 2012 at Colorado State University – Fort Collins, Colorado. I intend to participate with a talk on my trophic-level modeling in the “Biostatistics and systems biology” session, meet and discuss research with those working in similar areas, and look for opportunities for cross-collaboration for students at these other western universities.