George James Kenagy (born 1945, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

) is known for his research in

ecophysiology Ecophysiology (from Greek , ''oikos'', "house(hold)"; , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , '' -logia''), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biological discipline that studies the response of an organism's physiology to enviro ...

and behavior of small mammals.

Education

Jim Kenagy graduated from

Crescenta Valley High School Crescenta Valley High School is a high school in La Crescenta, California. Around 2500 students attend the school, which serves North Glendale, unincorporated La Crescenta and Montrose, as well as a municipal neighborhood on the western boundary o ...

in 1963, and he graduated with a degree in

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

in 1967 at

Pomona College Pomona College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Claremont, California. It was established in 1887 by a group of Congregationalists who wanted to recreate a "college of the New England type" in Southern California. In 1925, it became ...

Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popul ...

. Then he achieved his Ph.D. in Zoology from the

University of California in Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

in 1972. He held postdocs in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(at the

Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology The former Max Planck Institute for Behavioral Physiology was located in Bulldern, Westphalia, Germany, moved to Seewiesen in 1957. It was one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society (Max Planck Gesellschaft). Background A working group was f ...

), at UCLA, and at

UC San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

. In 1976, he joined the Department of Zoology at the

University of Washington in Seattle The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

, which became the Department of Biology in 2002. In 1995, he also became Curator of Mammals at the

Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture The Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture (Burke Museum) is a natural history museum in Seattle, Washington, in the United States. Established in 1899 as the Washington State Museum, it traces its origins to a high school naturalist club fo ...

Career

As a postdoc at Max Planck, Kenagy investigated daily rhythms and seasonal reproductive patterns in desert rodents. Kenagy has conducted research in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, and the

University of California-Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant univ ...

Museum of Vertebrate Zoology The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology is a natural history museum at the University of California, Berkeley. The museum was founded by philanthropist Annie Montague Alexander in 1908. Alexander recommended zoologist Joseph Grinnell as museum director, ...

. His research has encompassed ecophysiology and behavior, and more recently has included

population biology The term population biology has been used with different meanings. In 1971 Edward O. Wilson ''et al''. used the term in the sense of applying mathematical models to population genetics, community ecology, and population dynamics. Alan Hastings us ...

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

, and

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

of mammals. His occupation revolves around the continual research of biogeography and evolution of mammalian populations, and training graduate students at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

and associate with the Burke Museum.

Present

As the curator of the Burke Museum in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, Kenagy oversaw the research of graduate students including projects in: *Biogeography of Pacific Northwest Mammals *Tracking the History of Northwest Mouse Populations with their Genetic Signatures *Local vs. Widespread Population Structure of Jumping Mice on the Olympic Peninsula *Desert Ground Squirrel Adaptation from

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

*Tracking a Rare Marsupial in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

's Southern Rain Forest *Mammals of

Sichuan Province Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Titles of selected publications

*Historical demography and genetic structure of sister species: deermice (

Peromyscus ''Peromyscus'' is a genus of rodents. They are commonly referred to as deer mice or deermice, not to be confused with the chevrotain or "mouse deer". They are New World mice only distantly related to the common house and laboratory mouse, ''Mu ...

) in the North American temperate rain forest *Genetic structure of desert ground squirrels over a 20-degree-latitude transect from Oregon through the

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

peninsula *Conservation genetics of endangered flying squirrels ( Glaucomys) from the Appalachian mountains of eastern North America *Historical biogeography and post-glacial recolonization of South American temperate rain forest by the relictual marsupial

Dromiciops gliroides The monito del monte or colocolo opossum, ''Dromiciops gliroides'', also called ''chumaihuén'' in Mapudungun, is a diminutive marsupial native only to southwestern South America (Argentina and Chile). It is the only extant species in the ancien ...

*Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA reveal contrasting evolutionary processes in populations of deer mice (

Peromyscus maniculatus ''Peromyscus maniculatus'' is a rodent native to eastern North America. It is most commonly called the eastern deer mouse; when formerly grouped with the western deer mouse (''P. sonoriensis''), it was referred to as the North American deermous ...

) *Influence of montane isolation and refugia on population structure of

Sorex palustris The American water shrew (''Sorex palustris'') or northern water shrew, is a shrew found in the nearctic faunal region located throughout the mountain ranges of the northern United States and in Canada and Alaska. The organism resides in semi-aq ...

in western North America *Biogeography and Population Genetics of Peromyscus maniculatus in the American West *Detecting Natural Selection in Pacific Northwest Deer Mice: An Integrative Approach *Journal of Mammalogy: Meanderings in the Bush. Natural History Explorations in Outback Australia.

References

2011). Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, retrieved October 2011 from http://www.burkemuseum.org/. enagy, Jim. (2010). Meanderings in the Bush. Natural History Explorations in Outback Australia. Journal of Mammalogy 91: 1528-1529. enagy, Jim; Yang, Dou-Shuan. (2006). Biogeography and Population Genetics of Peromyscus maniculatus in the American West. Peromyscus Newsletter 41: 20 enagy, Jim; Yang, Dou-Shuan. (2009). Detecting Natural Selection in Pacific Northwest Deer Mice: An Integrative Approach. Peromyscus Newsletter 44: 29. 2010–2011). University of Washington: Department of Biology. Retrieved October, 2011 from https://www.biology.washington.edu/people/profile/jim-kenagy. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenagy, Jim 1945 births Living people Scientists from California American mammalogists People from Corvallis, Oregon Pomona College alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of Washington faculty