Gregor W. Yeates

Gregor William Yeates, publishing as GW Yeates (19 May 1944 – 6 August 2012), was a New Zealand soil zoologist and ecologist. He was "considered the world's leading authority in soil nematode ecology, a subject of economic and ecological importance."
Scientific career and contributions.
Yeates's PhD (under Wally Clark) and DSc were both at the University of Canterbury.
He spent most of his working life at Soil Bureau, a division of DSIR, which became Landcare Research. He published over 200 papers and described over 100 species in genera including , , Hemicycliophora, and Dorylaimida.
Holotypes of Yeates's are the earliest in the National Nematode Collection of New Zealand.
As a student he counted Adelie Penguins st Cape Royds 1964–65 and 1965–66.
Yeates's early work on nematodes in sand dunes represented some of the first detailed work on nematodes in non-agricultural settings, and 'representing some of the most detailed assessments of nematode communities ever conducted in natural environments.'
He was awarded a Nuffield Foundation Commonwealth Travelling Fellowship to study at Rothamsted in 1977–1978.
He conducted long-term work on CO2 enrichment in pasture.
He studied the New Zealand flatworm "Arthurdendyus triangulatus" in its native environment, supporting work in the United Kingdom where it became established as an invasive pest.
Family and civic life.
Yeates was the son of Massey founding staff member John Stuart Yeates. He and wife Judy lived in Upper Hutt and Palmerston North, with two children. He was elected to the Rimutaka ward of the Upper Hutt City Council (1973–1977) and the Hutt Valley Drainage Board (1973–1977). He was later involved with Te Manawa in Palmerston North and the Royal Society of New Zealand at both a local and a national level.