Hamilton is currently Associate Dean for Student Success at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

Hamilton previously led the Honors College's efforts to enhance and refine its course and co-curricular offerings in ways that lead to even better outcomes for its students. He is a strong advocate for student-centered learning, especially as it involves educationally meaningful service to the community. He teaches courses in biology and civic engagement.

He has been recognized at the department, college, and university levels for teaching excellence and at the national level for leadership in academic innovation. Hamilton has published widely in evolutionary theory and biological classification, as well as on effective teaching. His most recent work in these areas can be found in The Evolution of Phylogenetic Systematics (University of California Press) and in Change magazine, as well as in From Groups to Individuals (edited by Bouchard and Huneman, MIT Press), Zookeys, and Systematics and Biodiversity.

Before coming to the University of Houston in 2012, he held appointments in the School of Life Sciences and the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, where he was also Director of the Biology Graduate Program and an Associate Director at the International Institute for Species Exploration.

Hamilton is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, Boston College, and Berea College.