Department of Biology

Because the ivory trade is illegal, its size worldwide is hard to pin down. Samuel K. Wasser, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington, calculated it was worth $264 million from 2000-2010.

Anti-poaching advocates will have to contend with the voracious appetite for accessories and art made from ivory in Asia - especially in China, which represents the largest market for illegal tusks and carvings, said Samuel Wasser

Researchers from the University of Washington Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences and Temple University have found the first evidence revealing a key aspect of the brain processing that occurs in babies to allow learning by observation.

In a letter to the editor, Eliot Brenowitz, professor of biology, comments on the intelligence of birds.

Undersea life is often plagued by disease outbreaks, according to University of Washington marine ecologist Robert Paine, even though their causes are seldom identified.

There are many ways genetic engineering can produce food that is unsafe to eat. But the human diet has always been fraught with the same kind of risks, said Toby Bradshaw, a plant geneticist and chairman of the Biology Department at the University of Washington.

UW's Conservation Canines are at it again. Learn more about their work with orcas.

To hear UW biology professor Michael Dickinson tell it, there is nothing in the world quite as wonderful as a fruit fly.

Zoos all around the world love penguins. But as carefree as they might look, zoo penguins are stalked by an unrelenting killer: malaria. Penguin expert Dee Boersma weighs in.

Biology professor Toby Bradshaw seeks to calm fears about genetically modified food.

A UW biology grad student is working to identify rays killed for medicinal purposes.

After retirement, UW professors emeriti continue to gain recognition for their work, as evidenced by recent awards to biologist Robert Paine and author Charles Johnson.

The University of Washington Department of Biology has been awarded a $24,950 grant from the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund (DWCF). The conservation grant recognizes the University's efforts to increase the Galapagos penguin population.

The notion of keystone species, the loss of which can reverberate throughout the food web, is a concept taken for granted today but was unheard of when University of Washington biologist Robert Paine pioneered it in the 1960s.

Could bumblebees be sending out good vibrations to tomato plants? One biology student thinks so and she is out to show declining bee populations could have a big impact on summer crops.