News & Announcements

It is preferable for students who plan to major in biology, or think they may be interested in doing so, to take Biology 101 and 102 during their first year at Williams. It is also possible to begin the Biology major during the sophomore year, although students should understand that… Continue reading »

Note:  If you are a first year student, you do not need advising at this time. Continue reading »

Biology Department FAQs Williams College has made the decision to convene an in-person semester for the fall of 2020. Your Biology faculty have been working hard all summer to adapt to our new circumstances, and we know you are eager to know more about what the coming year will look like. Continue reading »

For thesis students considering their decision about whether to return to campus, this table provides information about the options available in their labs. Continue reading »

Maroja’s project, titled “The Evolution and Maintenance of Variable Species Boundaries,” combines field work with new technology to increase understanding of how speciation—the process through which new species are formed and a fundamental driver of biodiversity—takes place. Working with a complex of field cricket species, with a focus on two local species, the project will also involve measurement of behavior and other traits related to mate choice as well as collection and analyses of genomic data. Continue reading »

Biology majors from the Class of 2020 were awarded their degrees on June 7 in a Zoom-based ceremony hosted by the Biology Department.  The ceremony includes 1) speeches by graduating seniors Chloe Henderson and Eugene Cho; 2) Biology highlights from the year from Biology Dept Chair Lois Banta; 3)… Continue reading »

This national scholarship recognizes “the nation’s next generation of leaders in science, engineering and mathematics.”  Ben plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology after graduating from Williams.  Ben’s mentors include Assistant Professor Pei-Wen Chen and Williams Biology Department alum Zuzana Tothova (’01), currently an investigator… Continue reading »

The Biology Department at Williams College, a premier liberal arts college with a long-standing tradition of excellence in the sciences, invites applications for a two-year visiting faculty position, to begin July 2020. We are especially interested in candidates who can contribute to the intellectual vibrancy and diversity of the academic… Continue reading »

Registration for Spring semester begins October 30 and runs through November 6. Click to see biology faculty advising hours. Continue reading »

Yocum GT, Turner DL, Danielsson J., Barajas MB, Zhang Y, Xu D, Harrison NL, Homanic GE, Farber DL, and Emala CW. 2017. GABAA receptor α4- subunit knockout enhances lung inflammation and airway reactivity in a murine asthma model. American Journal of Physiology Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology 313:L406-L415. Continue reading »

Local Adaptation in Trinidadian Guppies Alters Stream Ecosystem Structure at Landscape Scales despite High Environmental Variability. Troy N. Simon, Ronald D. Bassar, Andrew J. Binderup, Alex S. Flecker, Mary C. Freeman, James F. Gilliam, Michael C. Marshall, Steven A. Thomas, Joseph Travis, David N. Reznick, and Catherine… Continue reading »

To maintain energy homeostasis, orexigenic (appetite-inducing) and anorexigenic (appetite suppressing) brain systems functionally interact to regulate food intake. Within the hypothalamus, neurons that express agouti-related protein (AgRP) sense orexigenic factors and orchestrate an increase in food-seeking behavior. Continue reading »

​Bassar, R. D., J. Travis, and T. Coulson. In press. Predicting coexistence in species with continuous ontogenetic niche shifts and competitive asymmetry. Ecology. doi: 10.1002/ecy.1969. Continue reading »

Morales, M.A. and A.G. Zink.  2017. Mechanisms of aggregation in an ant-tended treehopper: Attraction to mutualists is balanced by conspecific competition. Continue reading »

Crab Apple Whitewater River Rafting Continue reading »

This year the biology department welcomes two new faculty members, Ronald Bassar and David Loehlin. Ron starts in the Fall 2017 semester as Assistant Professor.  Ron is an evolutionary ecologist and comes to us following post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford with Tim Coulson studying the ecological and… Continue reading »