Professor David Williams is the new head of the Botany Department

Professor David Williams was appointed as the new head of the Botany Department. He holds joint appointment in the Departments of Botany and Ecosystem Science & Management.  He is also Faculty Director of the Stable Isotope Facility in the Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center and is on the faculty in the Program in Ecology.

David Williams grew up in central Texas in Austin. He developed a fascination for nature and botany working in the nursery business and exploring the karst landscape of the Texas Hill Country. He earned a BA with a major in Botany at the University of Texas in Austin in 1985 and MS in Rangeland Ecology at Texas A&M University in College Station in 1988. He then moved to Pullman, Washington to continue his graduate studies at Washington State University where he earned his PhD in Botany in 1992.  Following postdoctoral studies at the University of Utah, Professor Williams joined the faculty at the University of Arizona in 1995 where he served as Assistant and Associate Professor in the School of Renewable Natural Resources.  He joined the faculty at the University of Wyoming in 2003.

Professor Williams has authored or co-authored over 80 peer reviewed journal articles and book chapters in plant biology and ecology. His research investigates plant-environment interactions in terrestrial environments of the world with particular focus on savannas, grasslands and deserts. Major research questions of societal importance address the potential responses of water-limited ecosystems to changes in climate, atmospheric chemistry and vegetation composition.

He is happily married (25 years now) to Rene¹ Williams, a former CPA turned artist and tennis addict. David and Rene¹ have three sons: Austen (23), Tanner (21) and Cullen (17), who all love Wyoming and the outdoors.