Department of Biology

Biology professor Horacio de la Iglesia and biology postdoctoral researcher Leandro Casiraghi explain the results of their new study on the moon's effects on sleep.

Despite the option of “extending the end of the day” with artificial lighting in highly urbanized Seattle, UW biology professor Horacio de la Iglesia said UW students slept shorter hours in the days before a full moon, as did indigenous Argentinans with no electricity.

In a new study, a team of paleontologists analyzed tooth samples found in Montana and determined plesiadapiforms, an ancient taxon including primates’ oldest ancestor, likely emerged 65.9 million-years-ago and lived alongside dinosaurs. Gregory Wilson Mantilla, Burke Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology and professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Many scientists are expecting another rise in infections. But this time the surge will be blunted by vaccines and, hopefully, widespread caution. By summer, Americans may be looking at a return to normal life. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Researchers led by UW biology Professor Horacio de la Iglesia have found that whether you live in a rural or urban environment, your sleep patterns are affected by a full moon. On the nights leading up to full moon, people fall asleep later and sleep less overall.

The shapes of fossilized teeth from 65.9 million-year-old, squirrel-like creatures suggest that the branch of the tree of life that gave rise to humans and other primates flowered while dinosaurs still walked the earth. The UW’s Gregory Wilson Mantilla, Burke Museum curator of vertebrate paleontology and professor of biology, and Brody Hovatter, a graduate student in Earth and space sciences, are quoted.

Black-and-white tuxedos may be the conventional dress code in the penguin world, but one dashing individual is breaking the status quo with an à la mode yellow coat. Dee Boersma, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

In the contest over who could make the most accurate coronavirus forecast, it was global institutions versus a guy living with his parents in Santa Clara. Dr. Christopher Murray, director of the UW Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, is quoted. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is mentioned.

Amid an acrid national controversy, the CDC proposed detailed criteria for returning students to classrooms. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Professor of biology Carl Bergstrom is featured in this article for his popular course "Calling BS: Data Reasoning in a Digital World."

Optimism is tempered by the fact that while case numbers have been decreasing steadily, they are still much higher than they were during the first wave. And looming over all the recent progress is the threat of more contagious coronavirus variants that are already spreading rapidly in the U.S. — along with concerns that variants could pose problems for the current round of vaccines. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Just as the United States seems to have emerged from the worst of a surge in coronavirus cases that ravaged the country for months and peaked after Americans crowded indoors for the winter holidays, public health officials are concerned about another potential superspreader date: Super Bowl Sunday. Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Ecologists have shown that climate change has not been an equal opportunity stressor. As the Mojave Desert warmed by about 2°C over the past century, bird numbers and diversity declined dramatically, but small mammals like little pocket mice are holding their own. Lauren Buckley, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

"Suciasaurus rex has a leg up — OK, a femur — on other dinosaurs that might have fought tooth and claw to be named the Washington state dinosaur; there simply are no other dinosaur fossils known that could challenge S. rex for the honor," writes The Everett Herald Editorial Board. Christian Sidor, professor of biology at the UW, is referenced.

Research finds people stay up later and sleep less before full moon, and do the opposite before new moon. Horacio de la Iglesia, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.