In August 1989 Crins gave an address to the Canadian Botanical Association/Association botanique du Canada (CBA/ABC).[4] As a naturalist, he has outstanding expertise in grasses, sedges, wildflowers, and birds.[1] He also has expertise in entomology, especially flower flies.[5] He was the first to scientifically describe the species Carex juniperorum.
Selected publications
Crins, William J.; Bohm, Bruce A.; Carr, Gerald D. (1988). "Flavonoids as Indicators of Hybridization in a Mixed Population of Lava-colonizing Hawaiian Tarweeds (Asteraceae: Heliantheae: Madiinae)". Systematic Botany. 13 (4): 567–571. doi:10.2307/2419202. JSTOR2419202.
Catling, Paul M.; Reznicek, Anton A.; Crins, William J. (1993). "Carex juniperorum (Cyperaceae), a New Species from Northeastern North America, with a Key to Carex sect. Phyllostachys". Systematic Botany. 18 (3): 496–501. doi:10.2307/2419421. JSTOR2419421.
Leblond, R. J.; Weakley, A. S.; Reznicek, A. A.; Crins, W. J. (1994). "Carex lutea (Cyperaceae), A Rare New Coastal Plain Endemic from North Carolina". SIDA, Contributions to Botany. 16 (1): 153–161. JSTOR41967090.
Proctor, Eleanor; Nol, Erica; Burke, Dawn; Crins, William J. (2012). "Responses of insect pollinators and understory plants to silviculture in northern hardwood forests". Biodiversity and Conservation. 21 (7): 1703–1740. doi:10.1007/s10531-012-0272-8. S2CID16054086.