Jim Yoder

Jim is the current program director for the Biology, Chemistry and Environmental Science programs.  He advises Environmental Science and biology majors and primaryly teaches in the areas of evolution, ecology and conservation biology. He earned his Ph.D. from the Ohio State University and his primary research interests include conservation biology, landscape ecology, behavioral ecology and GIS (Geographical Information Systems). Past research has focused on population and behavioral responses of species to habitat fragmentation. His dissertation research at The Ohio State University was in collaboration with the Ohio Division of Wildlife and examined the effects of fragmented habitat on the dispersal and population dynamics of ruffed grouse in southeastern Ohio.

In 2006 he began a longterm collaborative study working with Shenandoah National Park research botanist, Wendy Cass. The research is being conducted by 2-3 EMU undergraduates per year (including summers) as well as SNP personnel. The project includes intense on-site field sampling as well as mapping and analysis of exotic plant spread and impact using GIS. The project addresses two specific research questions that focus on the exotic plants invading the Shenandoah National Park: 1) What is the rate of spread of the three most threatening exotic species beginning to invade the Big Meadows Swamp Natural Heritage area and 2) What is the impact of these exotics on the continued viability of the eight rare plant species located within the area?

In the fall of 2014, Jim began a stream restoration and monitoring project in the German River and Crab Run watersheds near Bergton, VA. This is also a long-term collaborative project with initial funding provided by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant that includes partnering with EMU colleague Dr. Doug Graber Neufeld, Brian Wagner of Ecosystem Services, LLC., Tom Akre at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and EMU’s Center for Justice and Peace. The immediate goals of the project are to conduct a watershed assessment and restore two sections of stream as well as assess potential strategies to encourage adoption of best management practices by community members. His students are specifically working on stream macroinvertebrate monitoring of restoration impacts and long-term population trends of Wood turtles in the watersheds.

More recently he has become involved in nitrogen footprint tracking, becoming a member of the Nitrogen Footprint Working Group centered at the University of New Hampshire Center for Sustainability and the University of Virginia.  Current projects involve tracking carbon and nitrogen footprints at both EMU and for the City of Harrisonburg and working on footprint reduction scenarios and goal setting. Additionally, he is working on research projects related to Saw-whet owl migration data collected locally over the past 20 years as well as a project focusing on factors affecting STEM major retention at EMU over the past 8 years. 

Jim is also heavily involved in study abroad education and has lead cross-cultural trips to New Zealand in the summer of 2010 (6 weeks), fall 2012 (full semester) and summer of 2015 (6 weeks) with his wife Kathy Yoder. The trips focused on sustainability issues related to tourism, natural resource conservation, and agriculture as well as indigenous Maori culture, restorative justice and New Zealand history. He also co-led two 3 week summer cross-cultural trip to Navajo Nation in Arizona focusing on similar themes with the Navajo and Apache peoples, first with Dr. Gloria Rhodes (2017) and most recently with Kathy Yoder (2021). In March of 2023 he led a 3-week alumni cross-cultural trip to New Zealand and in summer of 2023 a research trip to Mareeba, Queensland, Australia with 6 students from EMU, Bridgewater, and JMU.  This wass his 2nd research trip to Queensland with research students of Dr. Matt Siderhurst, recipient of a NSF grant to fund research experiences overseas for undergrad students.  Jim and Matt are collaborating on a Queensland fruit fly project, tracking movements using harmonic radar to better model outbreaks and dispersal of this agricultural pest.

In addition to teaching, Jim is the curator of the D. Ralph Hostetter Museum of Natural History and was recently the faculty resource person and chair of the implementation team for the Peace With Creation Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), a 5 year initiative drawing together EMU students, faculty and staff around the theme of sustainability and how it relates to Anabaptist beliefs concerning creation care, peace and social justice.

• Nitrogen Footprint Tracking: From University to Community. J. Yoder. 10th Americas RCE Meeting 2021: Creating an Ongoing Learning Space for Sustainable Development in the Americas. Virtual, October 2021
• Headwaters of the North Fork of the Shenandoah Restoration Project: Stream Restoration, Monitoring and Community Engagement to Increase Watershed Health. J. Yoder, D. Graber Neufeld, J. Docherty, B. Wagner. Mid-Atlantic Stream Restoration Conference, Baltimore, MD. September 2017.

• Nutrient loading, sedimentation and overall watershed health assessment in the headwaters of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River. J. Reist, T. Denlinger, D.S. Graber Neufeld, and J.M. Yoder. Virginia Academy of Science Annual Meeting, Fredericksburg, VA. May 2016.

• Ecological watershed monitoring in the headwaters of the north fork of the Shenandoah River using macroinvertebrate and turtle surveys. D. Mendoza, S. Stoner, R. Keiner, D. S. Graber Neufeld & J.M. Yoder, Virginia Academy of Science Annual Meeting, Fredericksburg, VA. May 2016.

• An Integrated Ecological and Water Quality Assessment of the Headwaters of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River, B. Yoder, J. Parker, D. G. Neufeld and J. Yoder. Virginia Academy of Science Annual Meeting, Harrisonburg, VA. May 2015.

• Changing Agricultural Impacts on Shenandoah Headwaters. Yoder, J.M., Graber-Neufeld, D., Wagner, B., Docherty, J.. Chesapeake Bay Agriculture Networking Forum. Cumberland, MD. November, 2014

• Measurement Of Invasive Plant Cover Changes To Prioritize And Assess Exotic Plant Control Efforts In A Rare Virginia Wetland. Yoder, J.M., Shenk, A., and Cass, W.. Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Ecological Society of America. Blacksburg, VA. April 2012

• Let’s Get Serious about Integrating Sustainability into General Education: Strategies for Staff and Faculty. Stewart, M, Yoder, J.M., Lantz-Trissel, J., and Rowe, D. Panel Discussion. Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Pittsburgh, PA. October 2011.

• Environmental Sustainability: A QEP for the 21st Century. Yoder, J.M. and Aracena, B., Southern Association of Colleges and Universities Annual Meeting. Louisville, KY. December 2010.

• Measurement of native and invasive plant cover changes to improve planning and management in a rare Virginia wetland. Harman, C.H., Yoder J.M., Cass, W.B. Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. Pittsburgh, PA. August 2010.

• Peace With Creation: A History of Sustainability at Eastern Mennonite University. Yoder. J.M., Peace on Earth: Anabaptism and Ecological Action in Aotearoa (Symposium), Waikanae, New Zealand, May, 2010

• The Use of GIS in Determining the Spread and Impact of Invasive Plant Species Within a Wetland Community (poster). Yoder J.M, C.A. Yoder, C.A. Devadason, and W. Cass. Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, Harrisonburg, VA. May, 2007.

• Mapping Invasive and Rare Wetland Plant Species to Visualize Competition and Devise a Control Strategy. Cass, W. and J. M. Yoder. Annual Meeting of the George Wright Society, St. Paul MN. April 2007.

• How the story of Jesus and the life of the church has shaped my interactions with students and my teaching practices. J. M. Yoder. Mennonite University Faculty Conference, Bluffton, OH. August, 2006.

• “Stream Restoration, Ecological Monitoring and Community Engagement in a Shenandoah Watershed”, Yoder, J.M. Eastern Mennonite University, Suter Science Seminar, September 14, 2016
• “New Zealand”, Eastern Mennonite High School chapel presentation, Yoder, J.M., May 6, 2013
• “Teaching Strategies Workshop (Peace with Creation)”, Spring Faculty/Staff Workshop, Yoder, J.M. Eastern Mennonite University, May 4, 2012
• “The Language of Sustainability”, Fall Faculty/Staff Workshop. Yoder, J.M. Eastern Mennonite University, August 21, 2011
• “Uncovering Sustainability in the Curriculum”, Spring Faculty/Staff Presentation and Workshop. Yoder, J.M. Eastern Mennonite University, May 5, 2011.

• Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, 2018-19 Citizen Monitoring Grant. Funded w/ Doug Graber Neufeld, $3,890, August 2019
• “Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) Survey and Population Assessment of Slate Lick-Shoemaker River Area, Rockingham County, VA” – Contract with the Virginia Department of Natural Heritage and the U.S. National Forest Service, $2365, March, 2018
• “Bennett’s Run Stream Restoration Riparian Planting Project” – Virginia Trees for Clean Water Grant from the Virginia Department of Forestry, $3,600, October, 2016
• “Changing Agricultural Impacts on Shenandoah Headwaters” – A National Fish and Wildlife Foundation – Chesapeake Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Grant for $200,000, September, 2014
• “Acquisition of Instrumentation to Support Integrated Research and Teaching in Interdisciplinary Environmental Plant Biology” — A National Science Foundation – Major Research Instrumentation grant for $103,130, September, 2008
• The Spread of Invasive Exotic Plant Species and Their Impact on Rare Plant Populations in Shenandoah National Park, EMU Release Time Grant, 6 semester hours, $500, 2006-07.
• Quality Service Award, 2006, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA
• Graduate Teaching Award, 1998, Department of Zoology, Ohio State University, Columbus OH

• Ecological Society of America
• Society for Conservation Biology
• Association for Biology Laboratory Education
• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Shenandoah Anabaptist Science Society

(past 6 years)

• Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. [online]. August 2021.
• Annual Meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. [online]. October 2021.
• Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. [online]. August 2020.
• Rooted and Grounded Conference, AMBS, Elkhart, IN.  October 2019.
• Mid-Atlantic Stream Restoration Conference, Baltimore, MD. September 2017.
• Ecostream: Stream Ecology and Restoration Conference, Asheville, NC. August 2016.
• Virginia Academy of Sciences, Annual Meeting, Mary Washinton College, Fredricksburg, VA, May 2016
• Environment Virginia Symposium, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA. April 2016
• Virginia Academy of Sciences, Annual Meeting, Harrisonburg, VA, May 2015
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, COC Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN December 2014
• Chesapeake Bay Agriculture Networking Forum. Cumberland, MD. November, 2014

• BIOL 174 Concepts Seminar  Fall 2020
• Senior Seminar:  The Elephant and the Rider Summer 2019
  
• BIOL 465 Restoration Ecology  Fall 2018
• CCSSC 201 Cross-Cultural Social Science (Navajo Nation Cross-cultural) Summer 2017
• BIOL 255 Biology Research Seminar, Fall/Spring 2016-17
• BIOL 270 Introductory Biology Research, Spring 2017
• CCSSC 201 Cross-cultural Understanding (New Zealand), Fall 2012
• CCHIS 306 New Zealand History, Fall 2012
• CCREL306 Christianity, Indigenous Religion and Restorative Justice in New Zealand, Fall 2012
• CCENV 203 Environment and Society in New Zealand, Fall 2012
• CCENV 210 Island Ecology and Conservation, Fall 2012
• Cross-Cultural Social Science (New Zealand Cross-cultural) Summer 2010
• Environmental Science and Society in New Zealand Summer 2010
• Biological Explorations, Spring 2009
• Green Design, Spring 2008
• Advanced Ecology and Field Biology (BIOL 451), Fall 2006

• Department Chair, Biology and Chemistry Department, Aug. 2019 - present
• Academic Council, 2019 - present
• Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, 2019 - present
• Creation Care Council, Executive Committee, 2007 – present
• Cross Cultural Committee, 2009 – 2015, 2018 - present
• Curator, D. Ralph Hostetter Museum of Natural History, 2005 – present
• Oversight Committee, The Center for Sustainable Climate Solutions, 2016 – 2019
• Admissions Committee, 2016 – 2019
• QEP Implementation Team Chair, 2009 – 2015
• Faculty Senate, 2013-2015
• Writing Committee, 2010 – 2014
• Committee on Teacher Education, 2006 – 2014
• QEP Planning Committee, 2008 – 2009
• Admissions Committee, 2007 – 2009
• Biology Faculty Search Committees, Spring 2006 (chair) & Spring 2007
• Library Advisory Committee, 2002-2006