Department of Biology

Four University of Washington faculty members are among the leaders in academia, business, philanthropy, the humanities and the arts elected as 2021 fellows of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies.

With a “supermoon” full moon coming early this week it’s likely that you’ll go to bed later and sleep less than on average. Research led UW biology professor Horacio de la Iglesia is quoted.

Biology professor and chair David Perkel and Biology Professor Jeff Riffell have been awarded research grants from the Human Frontier Science Program.

Biology Professor Carl Bergstrom has released a new paper discussing how scientific communication has the potential to spread misinformation.

Testing is still a valuable tool in our COVID-19 prevention toolkit, but the technologies and motivations behind it are shifting. We’ll also have to shift our understanding of test results and metrics. A tool developed by the UW's Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology, and Ryan McGee, a graduate student in biology, are quoted.

Carl Bergstrom, biology professor, explains that Easter travel will likely not bring the same surge in cases as past holiday season travel.

Scientists are struggling to explain why the gray whale population plummeted by nearly a quarter between 2016 and 2020. Sue Moore, affiliate professor of biology and of aquatic and fishery sciences, is quoted.

UW senior Ishira Parikh helped create an award-winning curriculum using what she'd learned through UW courses and volunteer activities. 

“Ever since early February, when some software volunteers debuted a website to help the public find COVID-19 vaccine appointments, they’ve had a unique window into the ebb and flow of what one engineer there dubbed ‘the spice.’ Who wants the vaccines, and who doesn’t? Where in the state are the shots snapped right up, and where are they left wanting?” writes columnist Danny Westneat. Jessica Chong, assistant professor of pediatrics in the UW School of Medicine, and Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, are quoted.

A 6-mile-wide space rock and colossal eruptions racked Earth at the same fateful moment. Scientists have tried for decades to determine the primary suspect behind the Cretaceous extinction. Gregory Wilson Mantilla, Burke Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology and professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

The term “herd immunity” has been thrown around frequently as vaccinations in the United States have ramped up, with many viewing it as the end goal for the COVID-19 pandemic. But as Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, detailed in a thread posted to Twitter, it may not be that simple.

As carbon dioxide continues to rise, multiple changes in the leaves of tropical plants may help these ecosystems perform better under climate change than previous studies had suggested.

Over 100 UW graduate and professional programs have been ranked by U.S. News & World Report to be among the top 35 in the nation.

The oldest known primate fossils were dated to just after the extinction event 66 million years ago —suggesting some primate ancestors lived even longer ago. Gregory Wilson Mantilla, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Halley Greg (who graduated from UW with a double degree in biology and psychology) is on this season of The Voice.