Gregor William Yeates, publishing as GW Yeates (19 May 1944 â 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."
As a student Yeates counted Adélie penguins at Cape Royds in 1964âÂÂ65 and 1965âÂÂ66. His PhD (under Wally Clark) was on nematodes of dune sands, and was completed in 1968 at the University of Canterbury. His DSc was also at the University of Canterbury. 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.'
Yeates 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 his are the earliest in the National Nematode Collection of New Zealand. He was awarded a Nuffield Foundation Commonwealth Travelling Fellowship to study at Rothamsted in 1977âÂÂ1978. He conducted long-term work on CO<sub>2</sub> 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.
Yeates was the son of Massey University 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 (1973âÂÂ1977) and the Hutt Valley Drainage Board (1973âÂÂ1977). 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.