Rate My Professor Frank Bailey

Dr. Frank C. Bailey is a Professor in the Department of Biology at Middle Tennessee State University, where he joined the faculty in 1994. He serves as Director of the Forensic Science Program since 2015, overseeing an accredited B.S. program that integrates biology, chemistry, and criminal justice, including facilities such as an animal body farm for practical training in decomposition and evidence analysis. Bailey obtained his PhD in Environmental Toxicology from Clemson University in 1994 and his BS from Rhodes College in 1987. His research focuses on the fate and effects of chemicals in the environment, encompassing uptake and biotransformation of metals by plants, impacts of aquatic plants on chemical movement and toxicity in sediments, benthic macroinvertebrates as water quality indicators, and determination of fecal bacteria sources in aquatic systems. Since assuming the directorship, his laboratory has pursued collaborations in forensic toxicology.

Bailey has co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications in leading journals. Key works include Klukowski, M., Bailey, F., Cobb, V., Pruett, J. (2024). Corticosterone, lactate, and circulating leukocyte responses of free-ranging cottonmouth snakes (Agkistrodon piscivorus) vary with sex, body condition, and duration of acute stressors (General and Comparative Endocrinology, in revision); Buffalini, C., Bailey, F., Reed, K. (2022). Student preparation for and perceptions of a newly accredited undergraduate forensic science program (Journal of Forensic Science Education); Barnett, I., Bailey, F.C., Zhang, M. (2019). Detection and Classification of Ignitable Liquid Residues (Journal of Forensic Sciences); Stallard, M.A., Winesett, S., Scopel, M., Bruce, M., Bailey, F.C. (2019). Seasonal Loading and Concentration Patterns for Fecal Bacteroidales qPCR Markers (Water, Air, & Soil Pollution); Cusaac, J.P., Kremer, V., Wright, R., Henry, C., Otter, R.R., Bailey, F.C. (2016). Effects of maternally-transferred methylmercury on stress physiology in Northern Water Snake neonates (Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology); and Chumchal, M.M. et al. (2011). Mercury Speciation and Biomagnification in the Food Web of Caddo Lake (Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry). Bailey and his students have presented at national and international meetings, advancing knowledge in environmental toxicology, water quality assessment, and forensic science.