George Happ

George Happ grew up in downstate Illinois and attended grad school at Cornell. He taught courses in physiology, cell biology, and general biology at five universities.

George's research interests include behavior, chemical signals, cell and developmental biology, insect physiology, and infectious disease. Some of his collaborators and research students are pictured above.

In 1995, George and Christy Yuncker Happ retired to 40 acres of permafrost and taiga near Fairbanks, Alaska.

Christy's photographs have been featured in the Sandhill Crane Display Dictionary, the Alaska Airlines Magazine, Prairie Fire Newspaper, the International Crane Foundation Bugle, and the Michelin Guide to Alaska Travel.

George offers lectures on Sandhill Cranes and bird neurobiology (link to the left). He is an author on over 100 scientific papers and book chapters, several popular articles, and many blogposts. Recent publications include:

• Dancing through summer school - Sandhill crane youngsters in Alaska- Prairie Fire Newspaper, March 2013, with Christy Yuncker Happ, in press
• Is Sandhill Crane dance innate or learned?    Blogpost in How birds think Blog - October 1, 2012   
• Do cranes use sex pheromones?    Blogpost in Alaska Sandhill Crane Blog - October 9, 2010
• A Sandhill Crane Family Nesting in Alaska - Prairie Fire Newspaper, March 2012 with Christy Yuncker Happ
• H4N8 subtype avian influenza virus isolated from shorebirds contains a unique PB1 gene and causes severe respiratory disease in mice.    Virology 423:77-88 (2012) with  V. N. Bui, H. Ogawa, ...J. A. Runstadler, F. Huettmann & K. Imai
• Francisella genes required for replication in mosquito cells.   J. Med. Entomol. 45:1108-1116 (2008) with A. Read, S. J. Vogl, K. Hueffer, & L. A. Gallagher
• DLA-DRB-1, DQA1, and DQB1 alleles and haplotypes in North American gray wolves.   Journal of Heredity 98:491-499 (2007) with L. J. Kennedy, J. Angles, A. Barnes, L. E. Carmichael, A. D. Radford, & W. E. R. Ollier