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Welcome! » Faculty » Gary F. McCracken


Gary F. McCracken

Research Interests

Population biology, molecular ecology, animal behavior, conservation biology, and the ecology of infectious diseases. 

My research concerns the distribution of animals in space, their behavior and interactions, and resulting impacts on genetic population structure. Currently, the organisms are bats, insects, and viral pathogens. The projects in my lab involve field studies combined with molecular assays, and ongoing collaboration with The Institute for Ecological Modeling at UTK to better inform data collection and to provide predictive analysis and interpretation.

Our research on the ecological influences on rabies infections in bats strives to better understand the factors that influence the circulation of rabies virus within bat populations.  Efforts involve field surveillance for rabies exposures and active infections in natural populations of bats that differ in population structure, behavior, and their associations with man.  The research includes field and lab-based immunological assays, experimental studies conducted in collaboration with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and individually-based modeling efforts that are conducted in collaboration with Dr. Tom Hallam. 

A second project investigates the resource distributions and foraging behaviors of bats over habitats that include conventional and transgenic field crops of corn and cotton. These efforts employ a variety of field techniques that include acoustic studies of bat foraging behavior, video monitoring of bats and insects, and molecular assays of the diets of bats.  Collaborative research with the US Department of Agriculture on the aerial dispersal, population dynamics, and availability of major insect pests allows us to assess the ecosystem services provided by insect-eating bats over agricultural landscapes.

Education

  • 1976 - Ph.D., Cornell University

Selected Publications

  • Lee, Ya-Fu and G.F. McCracken. 2005. Dietary variation of Brazilian free-tailed bats links to migratory populations of pest insects.  J. Mammal. 86: 67-76.
  • Russell, A., R.A. Medellin, and G.F. McCracken. 2005. Genetic variation and migration in the  Mexican free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis mexicana).  Molecular Ecology 14: 2207-2222.
  • Cleveland, C.J., Betke, M., Federico, P., Frank, J.D., Hallam, T.G., Horn, J., Lopez, J.D. Jr, McCracken, G.F., Medellin, R.A., Moreno-Valdez, A., Sansone, C.G., Westbrook, J.K., and T.H. Kunz. 2006. Estimation of the economic value of the pest control services provided by the Brazilian free-tailed bat in the winter garden region of south-central Texas.  Front. Ecol. Envir. 4(5): 238-243
  • Gillam, E.H., N. Ulanovsky, and G.F. McCracken. (2006) Rapid jamming avoidance in biosonar.  Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 274:651-660.
  • Gillam, E.H. and G.F. McCracken. 2007. Variability in the echolocation of Brazilian free-tailed bats, Tadarida brasiliensis: effects of geography and local acoustic environment.  Animal Behaviour 74:277-286.
  • Dimitrov, D.T., T.G. Hallam, C.E. Rupprecht, A.S. Turmelle, G.F. McCracken, 2007. Integrative models of bat rabies immunology, epizootiology and disease demography. J. Theoretical Biology, 245:498-509.
Gary F. McCracken

Contact Information

Gary F. McCracken
Professor
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
569 Dabney Hall
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-1610

Phone: (865) 974-2371
Fax: (865) 974-3067
Email: gmccrack@utk.edu