Jill Yager is an American

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and

cave diver Cave-diving is underwater diving in water-filled caves. It may be done as an extreme sport, a way of exploring flooded caves for scientific investigation, or for the search for and recovery of divers or, as in the 2018 Thai cave rescue, other ...

. Yager's research is centered on the conservation of inland caves. She discovered a venomous

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

species, and she also named its

class Class, Classes, or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used d ...

. Yager was named Cave Scientist of the Year in 2000 and was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2000.

Education

Yager received her bachelor's degree from

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

, her Master's of Science degree from the

Florida Institute of Technology Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. Approxim ...

, and her Ph.D. from

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

Career

After reading ''Kon Tiki'' and ''Lady with a Spear'', Yager became interested in exploring underwater.

Jacques Cousteau Jacques-Yves Cousteau, (, also , ; 11 June 191025 June 1997) was a French naval officer, oceanographer, filmmaker and author. He co-invented the first successful open-circuit self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA), called the ...

, who raised public awareness about the ocean, had an impact on her. She was inspired by

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English zoologist, Primatology, primatologist and Anthropology, anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremo ...

, 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. In 1979, Yager discovered the venomous crustacean species '' Speleonectes lucayensis'' and she also named its

Remipedia Remipedia is a class of blind crustaceans, closely related to hexapods, found in coastal aquifers which contain saline groundwater, with populations identified in almost every ocean basin so far explored, including in Australia, the Caribbean Se ...

. Remipedia means "oar-footed". The crustaceans resemble

centipedes Centipedes (from Neo-Latin , "hundred", and Latin language, Latin , "foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', "lip", and Neo-Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphyl ...

. The class was originally known from the fossil species '' Tesnusocaris goldichi'' and '' Cryptocaris hootchi'', but they were not added to Remipedia until 1991. Yager found the crustaceans in an underwater cave that is connected to

Grand Bahama Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island is roughly in area and approximately long west to east and at it ...

, known as the Lucayan Cavern. 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". She participated in a Japanese documentary filmed in Mexico and worked on several specials for

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. During her trip to

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

in August 1999, Yager recorded a

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

television series titled ''Sea Stories''. Yager is a research associate at the

National Museum of Natural History The National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is a natural history museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., United States. It has free admission and is open 364 days a year. With 4.4 ...

and a Fellow of the

National Speleological Society The National Speleological Society (NSS) is an organization formed in 1941 to advance the exploration, conservation, study, and understanding of caves in the United States. Originally headquartered in Washington D.C., its current offices are in ...

. At Antioch College, Yager was the professor of zoology, ecology and environmental sciences from September 1989 to June 2007.

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. She received the Karst Waters Institute Award in 2000. In 1988, the cave shrimp species '' Yagerocaris cozumel'' was named after Yager.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yager, Jill Living people Colorado State University alumni Florida Institute of Technology alumni Old Dominion University alumni Antioch College faculty Smithsonian Institution people American women zoologists Cave diving explorers 20th-century American zoologists 20th-century American women scientists 21st-century American zoologists 21st-century American women scientists