Will Wilson Associate Professor Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham NC 27708-0325 wgw@duke.edu Phone: (919) 660-7346 Fax: (919) 660-7293 Office: 250 Biological Sciences

General Research Overview:

New Academic Focus:Over the last few years, my service on the Durham City/County Open Space and Trails Commission (follow the link) posed interesting questions concerning urban ecology while pushing the planning department to develop an Urban Open Space Plan for the City of Durham. I'm now following those interests academically. On my website you'll find information and links from two recent projects: First, literature and course material from an "ecosystem services" seminar I held in 2006 as my research focus changed. At this point I consider that material, and any perspectives I present associated with that seminar, somewhat outdated. Second, over the last year I drafted a book, tentatively renamed "People, Plants, and Pollution: A Primer on Urban Environments", soon to be published by the University of Chicago Press by Fall 2010. I promise that the book will be available, in some format, for Fall 2010 courses. The Table of Contents is available through a link here, along with more information on urban ecology and ecosystem services. My book combines "urban ecosystem services" and "urban ecology," two concepts fundamentally tied to human-dominated ecological systems. (Please recognize that I value nature for nature's sake, and the science of ecology sans humans, but my new focus considers the undeniable role of humans.) I've also started a new website emphasizing my new focus, and updated more frequently than this one, at sciencetime.org.


My Past Academic Lives:


Former research studies: Over the last two decades I devoted my academic energy to theoretical evolutionary ecology. After my graduate training in theoretical physics, I turned my attention to population dynamics in spatial systems and trait evolution. Scaling interactions between entities at a microscopic level up to a macroscopic scale fascinates me, and both physics and ecology have challenging problems. As for techniques, I used a variety of simulation and mathematical methods to study these really hard ecological problems. However, after many frustrating years seeking research support and finding none, I've terminated that work (click here for more extensive rants). A tenured faculty position, with its academic freedom, represents a wonderful opportunity to change directions, study different things, and make new contributions. Of course, I still have no funding for my new studies either, but I'm doing what I can with the $300/year Duke provides my research program.

11/2/2009