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Dr. Ray Willis

Phone
Fax
N/A
Email
Title
Associate Professor
Department
Biology
Location
Bolin Hall
Room
206
Institution Degree Graduation Date
Texas Tech University PhD 2006
Tarleton State University MS
Tarleton State University BS
Employer Position Start Date End Date
Midwestern State University Assistant Professor 08/01/2012
University of Science and Artsw of Oklahoma Assistant Professor 08/01/2010 08/01/2012
Texas Tech U Health Sciences Center Postdoctoral Research Associate 01/01/2007 08/01/2010

Grants

2020    Funded            Small Mammal Survey on Fort Wolters Training Center, Mineral Wells, Texas. August 2020-August 2022. $60,707.

 

2020    Funded            Small Mammal Survey on Camp Swift Training Center, Bastrop Co. Texas. August 2020-August 2022. $64,113.

 

2018    Funded            National Science Foundation RUI: CSBR: Natural History Collections: Modernization and Consolidation of the Natural History Collections at MSU into the Xeric

Ecosystem Research Center (XERC). Sept 2018-Sept 2021. $472,804.

 

2017    Funded            TXMD; Small Mammal Survey on Camp Maxey Training Center, Lamar Co. Texas. June 2017-June 2019. $63,068.

           

2017    Funded            TXMD; Reptile and Amphibian Survey on Camp Swift Training Center, Bastrop Co. Texas. May 2017-April 2019. $34,224.

           

2015    Funded            Small Mammal Survey on Fort Wolters Training Center, Mineral Wells, Texas. Sept 2015-Jan 2017. $22,882.

           

2013    Funded            Internal Faculty Grant; Investigation of the Sodium-Potassium Pump In Non-Mammalian Vertebrates. $4,650.

            

2009    Not Funded     National Science Foundation; Organism-Environment Interactions-Genetic Variation and Salinity Acclimation in a Freshwater Serpent. $738,829.

           

2009    Funded            Collaborative Grant- Protein Kinase C Regulation of Pulmonary Vascular Smooth Muscle Tone (Co-PIs T.A. Pressley and J.F. Perez-Zoghbi). $184,000.

Publications

White, J. W., M. S. Husak, R. E. Willis. 2017. Geographic distribution  of the nonnative Mediterranean gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) in Oklahoma. Southwestern Naturalist. 61 (4): 338-41.

 

McAliley, L. R., R. E. Willis, C. Ivanyi and L. D. Densmore III. 2017. Captive breeding of the endangered San Esteban chuckwalla, Sauromalus varius. A decade of captive breeding and genetic diversity. Southwestern Naturalist. 61 (4): 279-284.

 

McAliley, L. R., R. E. Willis, P. A. Lavine-Murcio, and L. D. Densmore III. In Review. Microsatellite analysis of captive and wild populations of the San Esteban chuckwalla, Sauromalus varius. Occasional Papers, Museum Texas Tech University.

 

Fox, M. R., R. E. Willis. In Review. Chiropteran Seasonal Variation at the Dalquest Desert Research Station (Presidio and Brewster Co., Texas). Southwestern Association of Naturalists.

 

Fox, M. R., R. E. Willis. 2016. New Host Associations and State Records for Bat Ectoparasites in Texas. Southwestern Entomologists. 4 (4): 1199-1202.

Beck, K. G., R Soler-Gijon, J. R. Carlucci, R. E. Willis. 2016. Morphology and histology of Dorsal Spines of the Xenocanthid Shark Orthacanthus playpterus from the Lower Permian of Texas, USA: Paleobiological and Paleoenvironmental Implications. Acta Paleontologica Polencia 61 (1): 97-117.


Mukherjee, S, J. Trice, P. Shinde, R. E. Willis, T. A. Pressley, and J. F. Perez-Zogbi. 2013. Ca2+ oscillations, Ca2+ sensitization, and contraction activated by protein kinase C in small airway smooth muscle. Journal of General Physiology. 141(2), 165-178.

 

Willis, R. E.  2009. Transthyretin (TTR) intron 1 elucidates crocodylian relationships. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 53, 1049-1054.

 

Carr, D. L., J. A. Carr, R. E. Willis, and T. A. Pressley. 2008. A perchlorate sensitive iodide transporter in frogs. General and Comparative Endocrinology 156, 9-14.

 

Willis, R. E., L. R. McAliley, E. D. Neeley, and L. D. Densmore III. 2007. Evidence for placing the false gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii) into the family Gavialidae; Inferences from nuclear gene sequences. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 43, 787-794.

 

McAliley*, L. R. R. E. Willis*, D. A. Ray, P. S. White, C. Brochu and L. D. Densmore III. 2006. Are crocodiles really monophyletic?-Evidence for subdivisions from sequence and morphological data. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 39, 16-32.

(* Co-first authors)

 

McAliley, L. R., R. E. Willis, M. R. J. Forstner, T. Guerra, and L. D. Densmore III. 2006. Eight microsatellite markers for the San Esteban Chuckwalla, Sauromalus varius. Molecular Ecology Notes. 6, 759-761.

 

Willis, R. E. 2006. Phylogenetic inference of the extant crocodylians derived from nuclear gene sequences. Doctorate Dissertation. Texas Tech University.

 

Willis, R. E. 2003. The effects of prescribed burning on reptile utilization of upland habitats in Edwards County, Texas. Masters Thesis. Tarleton State University.