He is an applied mathematician who specializes in dynamic spatial models of general social processes, including epidemics, public health emergencies, refugee problems, population flows, economic collapse, ethnic cleansing, governmental dysfunction, and civil wars. Dr. Cobb has written numerous simulation models of societies in extreme distress; these models have been used for the past 15 years in international civil-militarypolice exercises in complex humanitarian emergencies, disaster relief operations, United Nations peacekeeping operations, and high-level national strategic planning.