Director and Curator of the Moore Laboratory of Zoology; Professor, Biology
B.S., University of Arizona; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Appointed In
2011
Office
Moore Laboratory of Zoology 250A
Dr. McCormack uses museum specimens and genomes to study the evolutionary history of birds, focusing especially on how both ancient landscape changes and more recent human-caused environmental changes affect birds’ distributions, appearance, and DNA. As Director of the Moore Laboratory of Zoology and Curator of its bird and mammal collection, he is a champion of museum collections and their potential for understanding and reversing the biodiversity crisis.
- ´¡ÌýÌý´Ú´Ç°ùÌýScientific AmericanÌýon Moore Lab's efforts to create 3D models for bird specimens
- Read hisÌýÌýon threats to public museums
- Travel along with the Moore Lab in Mexico in thisÌýÌýon their effort to resurvey disappearing birdlife
- Regional representative-at-large for theÌý
- Follow onÌýÌýfor posts about birds, museums, and genomes
- Follow the Moore Lab'sÌýÌýto get a behind-the-scenes look at museum science in action
Recent Publications (undergraduates underlined)
- For PDFs of papers prior to 2019Ìý
- Medina JJ, JM Maley, S Sannapareddy,Ìý NN Medina, CM GilmanÌý& JE McCormack. 2020.Ìý. PLoS One 15(8): e0236417
- Tsai WLE, ME Schedl, JM Maley & JE McCormack. 2019.Ìý.ÌýMolecular Ecology ResourcesÌý20: 1220-1227
- DeRaad DA, JM Maley, WLE Tsai & JE McCormack. 2019.Ìý.ÌýThe Auk: Ornithological AdvancesÌý136: 1-11.
- Tsai WLE, C Mota-Vargas, O Rojas-Soto, R Bhowmik,ÌýEY Liang, JM Maley, E Zarza & JE McCormack. 2019.Ìý.ÌýMolecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionÌý136: 29-34.
- Venkatraman MX, DA DeRaad, WLE Tsai, E Zarza, AJ Zellmer, JM Maley & JE McCormack. 2019.Ìý.ÌýBiological Journal of the Linnean Society: 126: 1-15.
Teaching
- Bio 280 - Evolutionary Biology - each Fall semester (required for Bio majors and great for non-majors)
- Bio 360 - Avian Biology - every other Spring
- Bio 326 - Molecular Phylogenetics - every other Spring
- Bio 310 - Museum Science - taught occassionally
- Bio 490 - Senior Seminar (Comps) - taught occassionally
- Bio 395 - Mentored Research - reach out by e-mail to inquire about research possibilities
Key Publications
- BC Faircloth, JE McCormack, NG Crawford, MG Harvey, RT Brumfield & TC Glenn. 2012.Ìý.ÌýSystematic BiologyÌý61: 717-726.
- JE McCormack, SM Hird, AJ Zellmer, BC Carstens & RT Brumfield. 2013.Ìý.ÌýMolecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionÌý66: 526-538.
- JE McCormack, WLE Tsai & BC Faircloth. 2016.Ìý.ÌýMolecular Ecology ResourcesÌý16: 1189-1203.
- JE McCormack, F Rodriguez-Gomez, WLE Tsai & BC Faircloth. 2017.Ìý. In: Emerging Frontiers in Collections-based Ornithological Research: The Extended Specimen. MS Webster, editor. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
- BT Smith, JE McCormack, et al. 2014.Ìý.ÌýNatureÌý515: 406-409.
- JE McCormack, H Huang & LL Knowles. 2009.Ìý. Pages 839-843ÌýinÌýEncyclopedia of Islands (Gillespie, RG and D Clague, eds.). University of California Press: Berkeley, CA
- JE McCormack, BC Faircloth, NG Crawford, PA Gowaty, RT Brumfield & TC Glenn. 2012.Ìý. Genome Research 22: 746-754.
NSF Grants
- Digitization PEN: oBird: 3D Photogrammetry of Museum Specimens for Phenomics across the Avian Tree of Life (DBI 2001652) |Ìý
- MRI: Launching an undergraduate-driven Genomics Center through acquisition of an Illumina MiSeq (DBI 1828738) |Ìý
- CAREER: Integrating undergraduate research, citizen science, and museum genomics to explore a century of change in North American birds (DEB 1652979) |Ìý
- RUI: CSBR: Natural History: Securing and digitizing the world’s largest Mexican bird collection (DBI 1349179) |Ìý
- RUI: Collaborative Proposal: Genomic approaches to comparative phylogeography in a biodiversity hotspot (DEB 1258205) |Ìý
- EAGER: RUI: The genomic architecture of speciation in an avian hybrid zone (DEB 1244739) |Ìý
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