Dr Piel did his undergraduate degree in Biology at Cornell University and completed his PhD at Harvard University studying the systematics of spiders. Prior to joining Yale-NUS College, Dr Piel was a lecturer and postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University (1997-1998) and Leiden University (1999-2001), then Research Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo (2002-2006), and later Director of Informatics at the Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University.
Dr Piel studies how phylogenetic knowledge impacts biological questions. His research spans the bioinformatics of assembling and organising phylogenetic data, the visualisation and synthesis of this knowledge, and the analysis of key biological questions in a phylogenetic context. A current research interest for Dr Piel is the evolutionary convergence of key adaptations in orb-weaving spiders.
Research Specialisations- Phyloinformatics
- Arachnology
Dr Piel has published over 40 papers in the fields of arachnology, phylogenetics, and bioinformatics. The following is a sample of 10 papers that have appeared since joining Yale-NUS College.
Taucare-Rios, A. and W.H. Piel. 2020. Predation on the gecko Phyllodactylus gerrhopygus (Wiegmann) (Squamata: Gekkonidae) by the six-eyed sand spider Sicarius thomisoides (Walckenaer) (Araneae: Sicariidae). Revista de la Sociedad Entomológica Argentina, 79(2): 2020.
Foley, S., V. Saranathan, and W.H. Piel. 2020. The Evolution of Coloration and Opsins in Tarantulas. Proc. R. Soc. B., 287: 20201688.
Foley, S., T. Lueddecke, D.-Q. Chen, H. Krehenwinkel, S. Kuenzel, S. J Longhorn, I. Wendt, V. von Wirth, R. Taenzler, M. Vences, and W. H Piel. 2019. Tarantula phylogenomics: A robust phylogeny of multiple tarantula lineages inferred from transcriptome data sheds light on the prickly issue of urticating setae evolution. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 140: 106573.
Piel, W. H. and R. A. Vos. 2019. TreeBASEdmp: A Toolkit for Phyloinformatic Research. bioRxiv 399030; doi:10.1101/399030.
Piel, W. H. 2018. The global latitudinal diversity gradient pattern in spiders. Journal of Biogeography, 45: 1896-1904.
Cheng, D.-Q., and W. H. Piel. 2018. The Origins of the Psechridae: Web-building Lycosoid Spiders. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 125: 213-219.
Lamanna, C. et al. 2014. Functional trait space and the latitudinal diversity gradient. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 111(38): 13745-13750.
Oliver, J. C. et al. 2014. Nymphalid eyespot serial homologs originate as a few individualized modules. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 281: 20133262.
Boyle, B. et al. 2013. The taxonomic name resolution service: an online tool for automated standardization of plant names. BMC Bioinformatics, 14(16).
Oliver, J. C. et al. 2012. A single origin for nymphalid butterfly eyespots followed by widespread loss of associated gene expression. PLoS Genetics, 8(8): e1002893.
- Human Physiology
- Advanced Topics: Human Population Genomics
