Research

$30M Gift To Honor Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates
Online Exclusive
An alumna’s investment will establish Robert M. Gates Hall, transforming William & Mary’s academic landscape and supporting collaborative research with global impact.
VIMS Photo Contest
By & Large
Capturing the important work of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Applied Science
By & Large
Ph.D. students explain their cutting-edge research and the science equipment that makes it possible
It's Just Rocket Science
Tribe
William & Mary alumnus Russell “Buzz” Wincheski joins the NASA Inventors Hall of Fame
AidData Seeks Expanded Role in Global South
Online Exclusive
A $1.5-million grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation supports efforts to inform the design and delivery of foreign aid and credit to the Global South.
From Ideas to Impact
Online Exclusive
As the founding labs at William & Mary's Global Research Institute celebrate 20 years, we look back at how they came to be.
AidData Receives $1.7M To Advance Agriculture and Mining Research
Online Exclusive
Grants from The Hewlett Foundation will strengthen W&M's partnerships with African organizations and expand financing data.
History In Motion
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Preserving and interpreting the Williamsburg Bray School
How We Look at the World
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Anthropology and literature help us navigate the human experience
Cast Your Vote
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Meet your WMAA Board of Directors nominees
W&M Expands Global Reach Through $1.5M Gift
Online Exclusive
A new postdoctoral fellowship established by business executive Tom McInerney P ’07 will advance international research, teaching and mentorship through the university's Global Research Institute.
Consider Freedom of Speech
By & Large
Perspectives on how to hold difficult conversations with respect
What's Your &?
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Career Center campaign celebrates student ‘ands’
W&M’s AidData and Partners Receive $4.74M for Agriculture and Climate Research
Online Exclusive
A four-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will broaden the use of satellite imagery to evaluate projects in developing countries.
Bountiful Harvest
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The opening of the Acuff Aquaculture Center marks a new era in cutting-edge research at William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Ukraine, Russia and the Future World Order
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William & Mary’s Global Research Institute convened a panel of experts in March to discuss "Russia, Ukraine and the Future of Global Order"
W&M’s Global Research Institute Receives $1.9M to Tackle Pressing Challenges Around the World
Online Exclusive
New support for the GRI totaling $1.9 million will enhance the university’s ability to address critical international challenges through groundbreaking research, innovative teaching and strengthened connections between the academic world and policymakers.
Connecting People and Nature
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Professor Mara Dicenta and the Institute for Integrative Conservation seek to involve Indigenous voices in conservation
Making News
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Chinese development project puts AidData in international spotlight
‘Building a Future Together’
Online Exclusive
W&M Professor Andrea Wright, the first Jinlan Liu APIA Faculty Research Award recipient, will study the impact of green energy projects on people’s lives in India, Kuwait and Virginia.
Resistance (to Science) Is Futile
Feature
Mohamed Noor ’92 brings the science to science fiction as a consultant for “Star Trek: Discovery”
Bray School Uncovered
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Colonial Williamsburg joins William & Mary to research, relocate and interpret 18th-century Bray School for enslaved and free Black children
Transforming Primary Care
Online Feature
Through their fellowship this summer, Dena Bashri ’20 and Shivani Gupta ’20 are working on projects as diverse as ensuring the homeless have access to telehealth to tracking the supply chain of COVID-19 testing kits.
Changing the World
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W&M launches Institute for Integrative Conservation
geoLab Examines the World's Data
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William & Mary is home to a unique undergraduate research program: the Geospatial Evaluation and Observation Lab, or geoLab.
A Deeper Dive: Saving the Shoreline
VIMS scientists seek to better understand the impact of global change at a local and regional level so that we can help coastal communities become more resilient.
A Deeper Dive: Deploying Bots on the Bay
Learn how VIMS students and scientists are using state-of-the-art technology to better understand the impact of harmful algal blooms on marine ecosystems.
A Deeper Dive: Responding to Plastics Pollution
Plastic pollution in our marine environment not only spoils the beauty of our waters, it harms marine life and may affect human health as well. Is it simply a fact of life, or is this a problem we can solve? Take a deeper dive and find out what VIMS is doing behind the scenes in Responding to Plastic Pollution.
A Deeper Dive: Forecasting Tidal Flooding
By using tide gauge data and advanced computer models, VIMS is providing coastal residents with accurate 36-hour predictions to help prepare for flooding.
A Deeper Dive: Modeling Storm Surge
A sophisticated modeling platform developed by VIMS is providing a detailed, accurate picture of the effects of storm-related flooding in our communities. Take a deeper dive to learn how it is being used to build more resilient communities and improve the economic strength of coastal towns and counties.
A Deeper Dive: Surveying the Sea Floor
While a Ph.D. student at VIMS, Kersey Sturdivant '11 developed a camera system that changed the way scientists view the seafloor. Take a deeper dive to see how his "Wormcam" is being used to evaluate environmental impact on the seafloor and its inhabitants.
Global Research Institute: Liberia Summer Fellows
Global Research Institute: Center for African Development
W&M Research: Junk DNA and the Strawberry Genome
The old-fashioned strawberry is having a renaissance thanks to new genetic research.
Global Research Institute
W&M’s Global Research Institute empowers teams of students and faculty to make a difference in the world. We are a multidisciplinary hub that brings together academics, practitioners, and students to apply research to real world issues. This is a community of problem solvers, delivering applied research at the highest levels. Big ideas live here.
A Deeper Dive: Shaping Leaders Who Shape the World
Not everyone who earns a Ph.D. in marine science goes on to work in a lab or a classroom. Take a deeper dive to find out how VIMS alumnus Ike Irby is using his degree on Capitol Hill.
Big Ideas Live Here
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The Global Research Institute was born out of questions from students.
A Deeper Dive
Online Feature
Researchers at W&M’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science are saving the Bay and helping build more resilient communities.
The advice Jefferson never received
Online Exclusive
I walked in to the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze on a June day in 2015 with one goal in mind, and emerged with something completely unexpected transcribed on my laptop: a lost letter written to Thomas Jefferson by Filippo Mazzei, Italian patriot of the American Revolution.
Living Color
By & Large
Research in Action - A cutting-edge collaboration blends art and science
W&M Research: Tracking ‘Fugitive Pigments’ Through Chemistry
Time changes everything, and time can be especially hard on paintings executed with the natural pigments used by painters of yesteryear.
W&M Research: Oysters Past and Present, & the Future of the Chesapeake Bay
The fossil record provides us with a glimpse into the world of Chesapeake Bay oysters before humans—emphasizing a range of management solutions and providing new hope for the future of the Chesapeake Bay.
W&M Research: Saving Birds with Sound Waves
Acoustic Lighthouse and Sonic Net with Professor John Swaddle
Restoring Underwater Prairies
In the 1930s, disease and a deadly hurricane wiped out the eelgrass that had flourished in the shallow bays along Virginia's Atlantic coast. The abundant bay scallop population, deprived of its habitat, collapsed as well. The coastal waters lay barren for decades.
W&M Spring 2023 Tack Lecture "Everything is AI Awesome: Rise of the Machines"
“Everything Is AI-awesome: Rise of the Machines,” explored the future of artificial intelligence and the radical changes that AI promises to bring to the world as we know it.