George Happ

George Happ is a biologist who have beeen priviledged to work with many research colleagues and students.

Since 1995, George and Christy Yuncker Happ have lived on 40 acres of permafrost taiga near Fairbanks, Alaska. Every summer for the first 21 years, we shared our cranberry bog with Millie and Roy, a nesting pair of sandhill cranes. Millie and Roy did not return in 2017 and other cranes vied for the territory throughout the summer.

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 crane behavior. 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
• 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
• Historical and modern neutral genetic variability in Mednyi Arctic foxes passed through a severe bottleneck    J. Zoology 289:68-72 (2013) with A. I. Ploshnitsa, M. E. Goltsman, D. W. Macdonald, L. J. Kennedy