News & Announcements

Please use this link to access the Spring 2024 application. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, November 28. Continue reading »

Professor Luana Maroja was recently part of a large collaboration looking at phenotypic variation across Gryllus firmus and G. pennsylvanicus (and hybrids) in the USA.  The researchers measured 4221 crickets across 337 localities and also looked at their life history and environments. Read the published work here: https://jor.pensoft.net/article/90713/… Continue reading »

Ward, Z., Upton, C., Iyer, M., and Williams, H. (2023)  Physiological constraints and cognitive chunking: Sequence organization in the songs of zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata).  J. Comp. https://psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/2023-97697-001.html The researchers asked whether zebra finches organize their songs around physiological constraints (pausing to take a breath) or cognitive… Continue reading »

Holland lab researchers Miriam Li ’23, Hisham Tadfie ’23, and Cameron Darnell ’25 have published a paper in the Journal of Biological Chemistry on a key enzyme in tryptophan production in plants. Their experiments connected enzyme structure to function and regulation in citrus, pistachio, walnut, mosses, and the model plant Arabidopsis. Continue reading »

Assistant Professor Ryan Nett, PhD will be on campus as the BIMO Class of 1960s Scholars seminar speaker. Dr. Nett is a member of the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University and will present a talk titled “Understanding and harnessing the complexities of plant metabolism.” The seminar… Continue reading »

The Loehlin lab has a new paper out that tests the hypothesis that different-sized duplications of the same gene will output the same expression level.  Georgia, Manting, Ria and Elise are all Williams undergraduate students that contributed to the paper in G3! Demonstration of in vivo engineered tandem… Continue reading »

Yale University Professor Elena Gracheva, PhD will be on campus this Friday as the Biology Class of 1960s Scholars seminar speaker. Dr. Gracheva will present a talk titled “Cellular, Molecular, and Physiological Adaptations of Hibernation: The Solution to Environmental Challenges.” The seminar begins at 1:10pm in TBL 112. Continue reading »

Associate Professor of Biology Matt Carter will discuss “Strategies for designing and delivering a scientific presentation.”  In this presentation, we will discuss three aspects of designing an outstanding scientific talk: (1) organizing complex scientific information into a clear narrative; (2) using software to visually communicate scientific concepts; and (3) improving… Continue reading »

  Charlotte Barkan is a neurobiologist interested in how brains generate behavior and evolve. Her research program explores how evolution tinkers with neural circuits to lead to behavioral diversity across species. The lab will investigate the evolution of vocal communication in… Continue reading »

Click here to view a recording of the information session covering Fall 2023 offerings. View the advising schedule and connect with a Biology faculty member about your course selections: REGISTRATION HOURS Fall23  … Continue reading »

The Biology Pre-Registration Info Session for majors, prospective majors, and students interested in taking Biology courses will take place Monday, April 24th at 12 noon in TBL 112.  Join us as we cover major requirements, course offerings (Fall23-Spring24), and the advising process. All are welcome – pizza will be available for attendees!… Continue reading »

The Biology Department welcomes Dr. Emily Hatch ’03 back to Williams as this week’s Class of 1960’s Scholars seminar speaker. As a member of the Fred Hutch Cancer Center in Seattle, Emily studies the nuclear envelope — the membrane that encases the nucleus of the cell — and how changes… Continue reading »

Save the date! This year’s Honors & Summer Research Info session will be on Wednesday, January 18 (time and location TBD). Biology Majors can learn about honors research opportunities and/or summer research directly from faculty who will be taking students.  The deadline to apply to the honors program… Continue reading »

Dr. Rebecca Dutch from the University of Kentucky will join us to speak about “Human metapneumovirus: Lessons from the virus you haven’t heard of”  Friday, November 18 @ 1:10pm in Thompson Biology 112 Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is a non-segmented, negative strand RNA virus that is a major cause of respiratory… Continue reading »

Please click here to watch a recording of the Pre-Registration Information session held Monday, October 31. https://williams.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=32b0d907-34d3-4a59-ad12-af3f0109d010… 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 »

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 »

Luo R, Chen PW, Wagenbach M, Jian X, Jenkins L, Wordeman L, Randazzo PA. J Biol Chem (2016).  Direct functional interaction of the kinesin-13 family member kinesin-like protein 2A (Kif2A) and Arf GAP with GTP-binding protein-like, ankyrin repeats and PH domains 1 (AGAP1).  doi:10.1074/jbc.A116.732479 Vitali T, Girald-Berlingeri S,… Continue reading »

Abstract Fireflies in the genus Photinus are well regarded for their luminescent nocturnal courtship displays. Here we report on a new firefly species, Photinus interdius, which is remarkable for its fully diurnal and luminescent courtship protocol. Continue reading »

Vicent, M.A., Borre, E.D. & Swoap, S.J. J Comp Physiol B (2017). Central activation of the A1 adenosine receptor in fed mice recapitulates only some of the attributes of daily torpo. doi:10.1007/s00360-017-1084-7… Continue reading »