William Wright

Dr. William Wright is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Chapman University's Schmid College of Science and Technology. He holds a PhD from the University of California, San Diego and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

His research spans neurobiological, ecological, and evolutionary levels of marine invertebrate behavior, focusing on sea hares, spiny lobsters, and intertidal limpets like the owl limpet Lottia gigantea. He investigates chemical and behavioral defenses, non-lethal effects of global warming, and learning/memory evolution in marine mollusks.

• Selected Publications (2025–2006): Behavioral ecology in owl limpets, predator-prey neurobiology in sea hares, climate change impacts on territoriality.
• Teaching: Courses on neuroethology, marine biology, biostatistics, and evolutionary ecology.
• Funding: National Science Foundation (2001–2005, 2007–2010).

He collaborates with institutions including Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Friday Harbor Laboratories, and Yale University, while maintaining memberships in the Society for Neuroscience, Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, and Western Society of Naturalists.