- Monica Turner
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Monica G. Turner Residence USA Nationality American Fields Ecology Institutions University of Wisconsin-Madison Alma mater Fordham University(B.S)
University of Georgia(Ph.D)Monica G. Turner is an American scientist known for her work since 1988 on the fire that devastated Yellowstone National Park, a fire that was brought about by one of the worst droughts in U.S history.
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Life and career
Turner was raised in the suburbs of Long Island just outside of New York city. Her father was a self-employed lawyer and her mother was an executive in Girl Scouting. Turner obtained her B.S in Biology summa cum laude from Fordham University in 1980. Turner then went on to receive her Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Georgia, after finishing her Ph.D. in ecology in 1985 she stayed at the University of Georgia as a postdoctoral researcher. She worked with Odum to examine the changes in land use in the Georgia landscape, one of the earliest U.S. landscape ecology studies. In 1986 Together with Colleague 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. As a scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Turner began a project on the spatial distribution of land use in forests of the southern Appalachian Mountains.[1] She is currently the Eugene P. Odum Professor of Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her research interests include Causes and consequences of spatial heterogeneity in ecological systems; dynamics of natural disturbances and their effects on ecosystems; fire ecology; ecological modeling; ecological effects of land-use change; landscape ecology; forest ecosystem ecology.[2]
Work at Yellowstone
During her time at Oak Ridge her group developed simulations important in modeling key concepts in landscape ecology, amongst them 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. That 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.”[3] One of Turner’s major projects in Yellowstone was examining the regrowth of lodgepole pine, the dominant tree species in the park.[1] Turner and Romme began working in the park in summer of 1989 under challenging conditions. 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.[3] Her work at Yellowstone gave insight into vegetation dynamics concerning changing disturbance regimes, vertebrate grazing, as well as her study in soil-microbe nutrient interactions which were looked into more thoroughly after Yellowstone's stand-replacing fire in 2000, Turner found that relatively large amounts of ammonium depletion occur during the first four years. Turner’s work at Yellowstone, which spans over a period of 20 years, has provided an insight unto the resiliency of ecosystems after major disturbances. ‘‘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,’’ Turner on the future of ecological disturbances.
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
Aided by collaborative research with faculty in the University of Wisconsin and outside, as well as researchers, postdoctoral associates, and both graduate and undergraduate students. Although primarily a terrestrial ecology group Turners work also includes the interface between terrestrial and aquatic systems.
Awards
Turner was elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences in 2004. In 2008 she received the ECI Prize in terrestrial ecology and the Robert H. MacArthur Award from the Ecological Society of America.
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
- ^ a b Zagorski, N. (2007). "Profile of Monica G. Turner". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (12): 4779–4781. doi:10.1073/pnas.0701264104. PMC 1829214. PMID 17360320. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=1829214.
- ^ "Department of Zoology University of Wisconsin". http://landscape.zoology.wisc.edu/People/Turner/Turner_CV_Web_Feb09.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-15.
- ^ a b Sakai, Jill (Summer, 2008). "Rising From the Ashes". http://landscape.zoology.wisc.edu/People/Turner/Sakai2008_Rising%20from%20the%20ashes.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-55.
External links
- Profiles of Professional Ecologists: Monica G. Turner, in the Ecological Society of America.
- 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
Categories:- Living people
- American ecologists
- Fordham University alumni
- University of Georgia alumni
- University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty
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