Monica Turner
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Monica G. Turner is an American
ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...
known for her work at
Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...
since the large fires of 1988. She is currently the Eugene P. Odum Professor of Ecology at the
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
.


Life and career

Turner was raised in the suburbs of
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
just outside
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Her father was a self-employed lawyer and her mother was a Girl Scouts executive. Turner obtained her B.S in Biology
summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
from Fordham University in 1980. Turner went on to receive her Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Georgia. After finishing her Ph.D., she stayed at the University of Georgia as a postdoctoral researcher. She worked with Eugene P. Odum to examine the changes in land use in the Georgia landscape, one of the earliest US landscape ecology studies. In 1986, together with Frank Golley, Turner helped organize the first American meeting for landscape ecology. In 1987, after completion of her postdoctoral research, Turner went on to become a staff scientist at the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...
. At Oak Ridge, Turner began a project on the spatial distribution of land use in forests of the southern Appalachian Mountains.


Work at Yellowstone

During her time at Oak Ridge, her group developed simulations important in modeling key concepts in landscape ecology, including predictions of species movement patterns, spread of disturbance, and the connectivity of habitats across landscapes. In 1988, Turner sought to find a landscape in which to study her model. After rejoining with fellow ecologist Bill Romme, an expert in Yellowstone fire-history, Turner was able to find the landscape she needed in the fire-ridden Yellowstone, in which more than one-third of the park had been burned. The 1988 "summer of fire" made Yellowstone history. Early blazes, sparked in June by a combination of lightning and human activities, burned for several weeks without raising much concern. As the summer got hotter and drier, though, the situation quickly turned. In July, "we had active fires spread, but nothing that we hadn't previously experienced," recalls Roy Renkin, a Yellowstone biologist. "But then, here came August. ... Then things started to really pick up and go." Turner also examined the regrowth of lodgepole pine and other dominant tree species in the park. Turner and Romme began working in the park in the summer of 1989. With no funding, they recruited volunteer labor. Friends, former students, and family members pitched in when they could. Even Turner’s mother spent her two weeks of vacation in the park measuring burned trees. Turner's work at Yellowstone gave insight into vegetation dynamics concerning changing disturbance regimes, vertebrate grazing, and soil-microbe nutrient interactions. After Yellowstone's stand-replacing fire in 2000, Turner found that relatively large amounts of ammonium depletion occurred during the first four years. Turner’s work at Yellowstone, over a period of 20 years, has provided an insight unto the resiliency of ecosystems after major disturbances. Turner, on the future of ecological disturbances, stated ‘‘As we continue to deal with the effects of global warming, I think we are going to see an increasing frequency, severity, and range of disturbances, which will produce much more interaction.’’


Current work

Turner's current research at the University of Wisconsin includes: * Fire, vegetation and ecosystem processes in Yellowstone National Park * Bark beetles, fire and salvage logging in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem * Landscape dynamics and ecological change in the Southern Appalachians * Land-water interactions in north temperate landscapes * Tools and resources for landscape ecology


Awards

Turner was elected to the
United States National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...
in 2004. In 2008, she received the ECI Prize in terrestrial ecology and the Robert H. MacArthur Award from the Ecological Society of America. In 2020 she was awarded the
Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) The Franklin Institute Awards (or Benjamin Franklin Medal) is an American science and engineering award presented by the Franklin Institute, a science museum in Philadelphia. The Franklin Institute awards comprises the Benjamin Franklin Medal ...
.Benjamin Franklin Medal 2020
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Books

* ''Landscape Heterogeneity and Disturbance'' * ''Quantitative Methods in Landscape Ecology'' * ''Landscape Ecology in Theory and Practice'' (co-authored with R.H. Gardner and R.V. O'Neill) * ''Learning Landscape Ecology: A Practical Guide to Concepts and Techniques'' (co-authored Gergel, S.E.) * ''Ecosystem Function in Heterogeneous Landscapes'' (co-authored Lovett, G.M., C.G. Jones and K.C. Weathers) * ''Foundation Papers in Landscape Ecology'' (co-authored with Wiens, J.A., M.R. Moss and D. J. Mladenoff)


References


External links


Profiles of Professional Ecologists: Monica G. Turner
in the
Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...
.
Profile ECI Prize Winner: Monica G Turner
in the Inter-Research Science Center
Ecosystem and Landscape Ecology Lab of Dr. Monica G Turner
at
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

http://www.zoology.wisc.edu/faculty/tur/Tur.html Faculty Page at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Monica Living people American women ecologists American ecologists Fordham University alumni University of Georgia alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Ecological Society of America Year of birth missing (living people) Ecology journal editors Benjamin Franklin Medal (Franklin Institute) laureates