Bill Hamilton Interviewed on CBS Evening News Segment The John T. Perry Professor in Research Science discussed tourist-animal interactions following a recent Bison attack in Yellowstone National Park.
Bill Hamilton, professor of biologyBill Hamilton, John T. Perry Professor in Research Science at Washington and Lee University, was recently interviewed for a CBS Evening News report after a visitor to Yellowstone National Park was attacked by an aggressive bison in July 2026.
Hamilton, a long-time researcher of animal, plant and soil interactions in Yellowstone and particularly in regard to the park’s famous bison heard, was asked about the dynamic between park-goers and the wild animal populations in the park during the report.
Hamilton has been conducting ecosystem research in Yellowstone National Park since 2005, extensively studying the effects that grazing herds (particularly bison) may have on the soils and grasslands. Each year, he selects three to four W&L students to join him in collecting data to measure soil health, plant growth, grazing intensity and plant community composition in the northern grasslands of Yellowstone.
Hamilton has been a member of the W&L faculty since 2001 and served as chair of the Biology Department from 2015 to 2025. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Syracuse University, a master’s degree in chemical ecology from State University of New York at Buffalo and a doctorate in ecology from Syracuse.
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