Jill Yager

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Jill Yager is an American zoologist and cave diver. Yager's research is centered on the conservation of inland caves. She discovered a venomous crustacean species, and she also named its class. Yager was named Cave Scientist of the Year in 2000 and was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2000.

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Education

Yager received her bachelor's degree from Colorado State University, her Master's of Science degree from the Florida Institute of Technology, and her Ph.D. from Old Dominion University. [1]

Career

After reading Kon Tiki and Lady with a Spear, Yager became interested in exploring underwater. Jacques Cousteau, who raised public awareness about the ocean, had an impact on her. She was inspired by Jane Goodall, whom she regards as "a true hero". Yager's research is centered on the conservation of inland caves, emphasizing that activities occurring above the caves, such as deforestation and pollution, can influence the caves themselves. She started her research in the mid-1970s while residing in the Bahamas. She began cave diving there while working as a high-school biology teacher. [2]

In 1979, Yager discovered the venomous crustacean species Speleonectes lucayensis and she also named its class as Remipedia. [3] [4] Remipedia means "oar-footed". [5] The crustaceans resemble centipedes. [6] The class was originally known from the fossil species Tesnusocaris goldichi and Cryptocaris hootchi , but they were not added to Remipedia until 1991. [7] Yager found the crustaceans in an underwater cave that is connected to Grand Bahama, known as the Lucayan Cavern. [2] Yager's discovery of the new crustacean appeared as part of David McCullough's third segment of the Smithsonian World television special "Where None Has Gone Before". [8] She participated in a Japanese documentary filmed in Mexico and worked on several specials for PBS. During her trip to Cuba in August 1999, Yager recorded a National Geographic television series titled Sea Stories. [2]

Yager is a research associate at the National Museum of Natural History and a Fellow of the National Speleological Society. At Antioch College, Yager was the professor of zoology, ecology and environmental sciences from September 1989 to June 2007. [2] [9]

Awards and recognition

Yager was named Cave Scientist of the Year in 2000, and was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2000. [2] She received the Karst Waters Institute Award in 2000. [10]

In 1988, the cave shrimp species Yagerocaris cozumel was named after Yager. [11]

References

  1. ↑ "Jill Yager". Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Rase, Karen (March 9, 2000). "Cave work earns Antioch professor national honors". Dayton Daily News . Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  3. ↑ Yager, Jill (May 2016). "Collecting and Processing Remipedes". Journal of Crustacean Biology . 36 (3): 405–407. Bibcode:2016JCBio..36..405Y. doi:10.1163/1937240X-00002433.
  4. ↑ Department of Housing and Urban Development--independent agencies appropriations for 1986. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1985. p. 431. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
  5. ↑ Dupuch, Jr, Etienne (January 1991). Bahamas Handbook, 1991. p. 382. ISBN   9780914755517 . Retrieved January 23, 2025– via Archive.org.
  6. ↑ Barlas, Robert (2000). Bahamas. Marshall Cavendish. p. 9. ISBN   9780761409922 . Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  7. ↑ Emerson, Michael J.; Schram, Frederick R. (July 1, 1991). "Remipedia Part 2 Paleontology". Proceedings of the San Diego Society of Natural History. 7.
  8. ↑ Unger, Arthur (October 7, 1985). "Smithsonian World' chronicles modern-day pioneers on voyages of discovery". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Jill Yager". ResearchGate. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
  10. ↑ "Previous KWI Karst Award Recipients". Karst Waters Institute. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
  11. ↑ Kensley, Brian (November 1988). "New Species and Records of Cave Shrimps from the Yucatan Peninsula (Decapoda: Agostocarididae and Hippolytidae)". Journal of Crustacean Biology]. 8 (4): 688–699. Bibcode:1988JCBio...8..688K. doi:10.2307/1548704. JSTOR   1548704 . Retrieved January 23, 2025.
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