people - faculty - Yavitt

Joseph B. Yavitt
Associate Professor

16 Fernow Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
Ph: 607-255-6601
Fx: 607-255-0349
e.mail: jby1@cornell.edu
website
Joseph B. Yavitt

Ph.D - University of Wyoming - 1984
M.S. - University of Arizona - 1979
B.A. - University of California, Santa Barbara - 1977

Joseph Yavitt joined the Department of Natural Resources in 1988. He conducts research in Biogeochemistry and Earth System Science and pursues questions, such as: How does climate affect life, and vice versa? What maintains biodiversity? When does pollution affect life?

Professor Yavitt also advises in the environmental science major Science of Natural and Environmental Systems (SNES).

Research

His current research examines (i) methane production and cycling in northern peatlands, (ii) soil resources and the maintenance of plant species diversity in lowland tropical forests, and (iii) mercury pollution in forests and wetlands.

Teaching

Selected Publications

  • Kulkarni, M.V., P.M. Groffman, and J.B. Yavitt (2008) Solving the global nitrogen problem: it's a gas! Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6, 199-206.

  • Cadillo-Quiroz, H., E. Yashiro, J.B. Yavitt, and S.H. Zinder (2008) Characterization of the Archaeal community in a minerotrphic fen and Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism-directed isolation of a novel hydrogenotrophic methanogen. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74, 2059-2068.

  • Yavitt, J.B., and S.J. Wright (2008) Seedling growth responses to water and nutrient augmentation in the understorey of a lowland moist forest, Panama. Journal of Tropical Ecology 24, 19-26.

  • Demers, J.D., C.T. Driscoll, T.J. Fahey, and J.B. Yavitt (2007) Mercury cycling in litter and soil in different forest types in the Adirondack region, New York, USA. Ecological Applications 17, 1341-1351.

  • John, R., J.W. Dalling, K.E. Harms, J.B. Yavitt, R.F. Stallard, M. Mirabello, S.P. Hubbell, R. Valencia, H. Navarette, M. Vallejo, and R.B. Foster (2007) Soil nutrients influence spatial distribution of tropical tree species. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 104, 864-859.