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.
Caleb Axelrod joins department as Visiting Assistant Professor
Caleb Axelrod joins the Biology Department in January as a Visiting Assistant Professor in Ecology. Caleb will teach BIOL 305 (Evolution) in the spring term and conduct research in the Hopper Science labs. Caleb’s research interest falls into the following area: My lab is interested in understanding how organisms deal with variation in their environment. This question is more critical than ever, given how rapidly humans are changing the natural world. We primarily study freshwater fish, trying to understand how fish respond to changes and variation in their ecology. My lab focusses on two main characteristics that are critical in allowing fish to survive in the face of environmental change. The first is brain evolution. Brain form underlies fundamental animal characteristics like cognition and behavior, which are hypothesized to be particularly important during the early stages of adapting to environmental change. The second is phenotypic plasticity, or the ability for individuals to change within their lifetimes in response to their environment. My lab looks at the level of flexibility of fish traits and how that flexibility can influence responses to changing environments”.
New NSF grant supporting research of Savannah sparrow songs
William Dwight Whitney Professor of Biology Heather Williams and Associate Professor of Mathematics Julie Blackwood have received a three-year National Science Foundation grant to support their research into the cultural evolution of Savannah sparrow songs, including how learning and improvisation can result in both change and stability within the songs of a population.
Gill Lab receives NSF award; continues research in Hopkins Memorial Forest
The Gill lab recently received a National Science Foundation grant to investigate how soil nitrogen supply influences the formation and protection of soil carbon in forests. The group will use stable isotopes to track the movement of decomposing plant material into different soil carbon fractions, and identify the microbial and biogeochemical processes that influence carbon retention and turnover. The funding will support research experiences for Williams students and new instrumentation for the lab. We are also excited to welcome a new research technician to support the lab in September! Many thanks to the awesome Williams Biology students who laid the groundwork for this project – Patrick Hodgson ’22, Aaron Stanton ’22, Angela Hsuan Chen ’23, Molly Fraser ’23, Maddie Annis ’23, Katharine Cook ’24, Dan Lee ’24, Joanie Cha ’24, Diya Pandey ’25, Parker Hartnett ’25, and Ariana Oppenheimer ’26.
Professor Joan Edwards Receives National Teaching Award
The Charles Edwin Bessey Teaching Award is given annually by the Botanical Society of America to recognize an individual whose work has impacted botanical education at a regional, national and/or international level. This year the award went to Dr. Joan Edwards, of Williams College. The citation reads: