Faculty Lecturer Honored

This year’s faculty lecturer was one of Antioch’s brightest faculty members – Dr. Jill Yager, Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences. Jill joined the faculty in 1989 after receiving her BS from Colorado State University, her MS from the Florida Institute of Technology and her Ph.D from Old Dominion University.

Jill began underwater cave diving over 20 years ago while teaching high school biology on Grand Bahama Island. Since then she has investigated hundreds of unexplored, underwater caves, and identified several new forms of life, including a new class of crustacean she named Remipedia. Before her discovery, scientists only recognized eight classes of crustacean. Now, thanks to Jill, they’ve had to extend their catalog.

Jill was inducted into the Women Divers Hall of Fame in 2000. The first honorary society of its kind, the Women Divers Hall of Fame was established to recognize women divers who have contributed significantly to the exploration, understanding, safety and enjoyment of the underwater world. This group places Jill among the most notable women leaders and innovators of the 20th century. Also in 2000, the Karst Water Institute named Jill as Cave Scientist of the year, only the second time that the Institute has bestowed the honor. Jill was a science consultant for the new MacGillivray Freeman IMAX movie called “Journey into Amazing Caves” which premiered in 2001. In recent years, Jill has been honored with several awards, which include receiving a Fulbright Garcia-Robles Fellowship for Research. This grant gave Jill the opportunity to do research of anchialine caves in Quintana Roo, Mexico during 2001-2002.

Jill’s lecture, “Cave Research with ‘The Enemy’: A Twenty Year Perspective on Cuba and Its People,” stemmed from expeditions and research in Cuba featured on National Geographic, The New Explorer with Bill Curtis, 3-2-1 Contact, and Smithsonian World.

Jill is an active scientist and a dedicated teacher. When asked recently to name her favorite course at Antioch, Jill replied: “I love every class that I teach!” Indeed, Jill is a student favorite due, in part, to her active engagement with her own work.

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