people - faculty - Yavitt

Joseph B. Yavitt
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 is an ecosystem ecologist, and his general scientific interest is in the ecological causes and consequences of changing climate, biodiversity, and pollution.

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

Research

His current research examines (i) microbial methane production and cycling in northern peatland ecosystems, (ii) soil resources and the maintenance of plant species diversity in lowland tropical forests, (iii) mercury pollution in forests and wetlands, and (iv) the impact of non-native earthworms on forest nutrient cycles.

Teaching

Selected Publications

  • Cadillo-Quiroz, H., J.B. Yavitt, and S.H. Zinder (2009) Methanosphaerula palustris gen. nov., sp. nov., a hydrogenotrophic methanogen isolated from a minerotrophic fen peatland. International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology 59, 928-935.

  • 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.

  • 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.