Matt Carter

Matt Carter is a Professor of Biology at Williams College, where he has been faculty since 2013. He serves as Faculty Director of the Rice Center for Teaching and Chair of the Neuroscience Program.

His educational background:

• B.A. in Biology, Whitman College (2000)
• Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Stanford University (2010)

Professor Carter's research centers on elucidating the neural basis of homeostatic systems, investigating how the brain controls behaviors related to sleep, hunger, and thirst through neural circuits and networks. His lab employs integrative approaches combining mouse behavioral experiments with neuroanatomical, electrophysiological, optogenetic, and chemogenetic techniques to study how neural activity influences physiology and behavior, ultimately aiming to understand impacts on organismal health.

In academic leadership, he directs the Rice Center for Teaching to enhance pedagogical practices and chairs the Neuroscience Program overseeing curriculum development. He teaches advanced courses including Neural Systems and Circuits (BIOL/NSCI 311) and Neural and Hormonal Basis of Hunger (BIOL/NSCI 342), though these are not offered in 2025/26.

The Carter Lab actively investigates how the brain senses internal/external environments to produce homeostatic sensations like 'tired/awake' and 'hungry/full', focusing on neural mechanisms underlying innate behaviors such as eating and sleeping.