Department of Biology

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Scientists studied how ratfishes, also known as chimaeras or ghost sharks, ended up with one of evolutions most bizarre appendages. Research by Karly Cohen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washingtons Friday Harbor Labs, is mentioned.

The male spotted ratfish a shark-like fish native to the northeastern Pacific Ocean sports rows of teeth outside of its mouth. Karly Cohen, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Washingtons Friday Harbor Labs, is quoted.

Its been seven years since Pacific Seafood stopped trying to grow oysters on a particular mudflat on the Washington coast. Two years since the Washington Department of Natural Resources last experimented with killing the shrimp infesting it by compacting the sediment with an amphibious, tracked vehicle known as the Marshmaster. Jennifer Ruesink, professor of biology at the UW, has been monitoring the ground ever since. But the latest round of funding for the project will be drying up at the end of the month, and this trip will be her last. Haleh Mawson, research scientist in biology at the UW, is also mentioned.

What was the Permian Period like? What creatures thrived there before the period came to an abrupt end? Thanks to efforts by an international research team, 17 years of fossils collected in Africa may help us paint a better picture of this time period before the Great Dying event altered life on our planet. Christian Sidor, curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Burke Museum and professor of biology, is quoted.

Video shows a wayward penguin swimming and diving among beachgoers along Brazils most iconic shoreline. It might be following fish, a penguin expert says. P. Dee Boersma, professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Meet the four new graduates honored as College of Arts & Sciences Dean's Medalists for 2025. 

Once an eight-mile network of caves with an entrance in the lower part of Paradise Glacier, the Paradise ice caves were the most-visited tourist spot for decades before glacial melting caused large chunks of ice to begin to fall from the ceiling, endangering visitors and pushing officials to close access. Now, the caves are gone. Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, affiliate professor of biology at the UW, is quoted.

Lindsay Schwarz, '03, received the highest honor handed out by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers in independent research. Schwarz graduated from the UW with a bachelor’s degree in cell and molecular biology.

The College of Arts & Sciences is home to many distinguished researchers, faculty, and students. Their work and contributions have been featured in media outside of the UW and across the country. Take a look at some ArtSci features from this past Spring Quarter. From AI to nature's poets, ArtSci in the Media has something for everyone!

The College of Arts & Sciences celebrates undergraduate and graduate students from across all four divisions, who are recognized for making the most of their time at the UW. 

Alejandro Rico Guevara is one of the foremost researchers on hummingbird bills. He has spent years studying how hummingbirds use their beaks to feed and fight. But his latest research looked at how human actions seem to be driving a high-speed example of evolution in hummingbird bills.Rico-Guevara, assistant professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is interviewed.

WRF planning grant fuels effort to unify and elevate research on the brain across the university.

"The new executive order allows political appointees to undermine research they oppose, paving the way for state-controlled science," co-writes Carl Bergstrom, professor of biology at the UW.

Many bird enthusiasts like to hang bright red feeders filled with homemade sugar water to attract hummingbirds to their gardens. Now, new research suggests this common practice may be driving rapid evolutionary change in one species in California. Alejandro Rico-Guevara, assistant professor of biology at the UW and curator of birds at the UW Burke Museum, is quoted.