[3] He moved to Cornell University in 1956 in order to continue his research with millipede systematics for his doctorate, where he studied under Dr. Howard E. Evans.

Both students and faculty at Cornell University, as well as other scientists from around the world came and worked alongside William Keeton in his pigeon loft.

[3] Many scientists held speculative ideas about the techniques that pigeons might be using, including the use of the position of the Sun, the Earth's magnetic field, landmark recognition and olfactory navigation.

This notion led Keeton to question whether the pigeons were using the Earth's magnetic field to orient themselves and navigate home successfully.

Baldaccini's results showed that a deflection in the wind while the pigeons were young proved to have an effect on their initial orientation after being released.

Books and chapters Prior to his work on animal navigation, Keeton studied the systematics and taxonomy of millipedes.

His Master's thesis at Virginia Tech was a revision of the genus Brachoria, a Xystodesmid of the order Polydesmida.

He published a total of 13 works on millipedes, in which he named 19 new species, two new genera, and the new families Allopocockiidae and Floridobolidae, both of the order Spirobolida.

[2] He also studied development and morphogenesis,[7] and worked with Dr. Thomas Eisner on characterizing the defensive secretions of six species of the order Spirostreptida.

He is also the namesake of the Keeton Prize, established in 1991 and awarded by faculty to outstanding Cornell undergraduate students.