Welcome to The Biology Department

Biology is the fundamental study of life and living systems.  It is a field that is interdisciplinary by nature and constantly evolving.  The educational goals of our curriculum are to foster student excitement about biology and promote science, as a process and way of knowing, not merely content knowledge.  We offer a strong foundation in biology to prepare for diverse and successful careers and to enrich our students’ lifelong engagement with the world in all its diversity and complexity.


“theBIOquilt” in Hopper (Photo credit: L.Banta)

Biology staff member Debra Rogers-Gillig, who has served as a technical assistant in the department for 31 years, created a stunning 10′ x 10′ quilt for the Hopper Science Center focal wall. Each quilt panel represents the lab courses in our curriculum.


News & Announcements

Williams lab publishes paper in Animal Behaviour

A new paper from work in the Williams lab has been published in Animal Behaviour – Clint Robins is a former honors student who received his Ph.D. in Wildlife Ecology from the University of Washington in 2023. His thesis data...

Honors & Summer Research Info session

Save the date! This year’s Honors & Summer Research Info session will be held in-person on Wednesday, January 17 at 7:00pm in TBL 112. Interested students can learn about honors research opportunities and/or summer research directly from faculty who will...

Swoap lab publishes paper

Williams alum Maia Hare ’19 published work this month in the Journal of Comparative Physiology B titled “Activation of oxytocinergic neurons enhances topor in mice”. Hare’s research showed that oxytocin neurons in mice are active during a bout of torpor,...

Gill lab publishes paper on research in Hopkins Memorial Forest

The Gill lab recently published a paper titled “Biophysical Controls on Soil Carbon Cycling in a Northern Hardwood Forest”, now available online at Ecosystems. The Gill Lab works to understand how carbon (C) and nutrients are stored and cycled across...
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