Natural Sciences Division

The root cause of why we get less sleep now than our ancestors could come down to a very simple reason: artificial light.

To stop elephant slaughter in Africa, zoologist Sam Wasser spent years extracting DNA from elephant dung and tissue. Much of the world's poached ivory, he discovered, comes from just three places.

UW biologist Samuel Wasser's pioneering work is helping stop illegal ivory trade that's decimating the African elephant population.

Biologists estimate the business kills roughly one out of every ten African elephants each year.

Most illegally poached African elephant ivory can be traced back to just two areas of Africa, research shows.

The key to saving elephants from poachers could be locked up in the animals' DNA, according to the results of a new study.

Most illegal ivory comes from animals killed in two areas in Africa: Tanzania and a protected area that spans Gabon, Republic of Congo, Cameroon and the Central African Republic.

Investigators who collected DNA from the tusks of slain elephants have identified two large areas where the slaughter has been occurring

Biology Professor Keiko Torii and her team have identified a mechanism that some plant cells use to receive complex and contradictory messages from their neighbors.

Research from UW Biology Professor Tom Daniel and colleagues shows Hawkmoths see at dusk by slowing down visual processing in the brain.

A new video looks back on the outstanding work of our students, faculty, and alumni in 2015.

The boreal forest is one of the world’s largest storehouses of carbon and home to an abundance of animals and birds.

Biology graduate David Olsen fulfills a childhood dream in biology and medicine thanks to great supporters and educators along his journey.

Elephants are being killed at an alarming rate for their tusks and the illegal ivory trade can fuel terrorism. But Sam Wasser, a UW biology professor, has a solution that can track ivory back to it's source and help law enforcement catch criminals. 

Using high-speed infrared cameras and 3-D-printed robotic flowers, scientists have now learned how this insect juggles these complex sensing and control challenges.