Paul Turner
Paul Turner
Dr. Paul Turner is the Rachel Carson Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University and the School of Medicine. Dr. Turner completed postdoctoral positions at the University of Maryland College Park, the University of Valencia, and the National Institutes of Health. Currently, Dr. Turner directs the Paul Turner Lab, focusing on evolutionary genetics and genomics of microbes. Dr. Turner has authored and co-authored over 150 publications.
“Seek the counsel of those who have been before you— those with similar experiences of overcoming obstacles at major institutions—because they are there to help you. All people can be excellent mentors, regardless of ethnic background, but we [minorities] have experience that other potential mentors without that experience may not provide. I am delighted to lend advice if [you] feel comfortable as a minority student coming to me.” Paul Turner, 2005.
Turner, Paul E., & Chao, L. 1999. Prisoner’s dilemma in an RNA virus. Nature, 398(6726), 441-443.
Kortright, K. E., Chan, B. K., Koff, J. L., & Turner, Paul E. 2019. Phage therapy: a renewed approach to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Cell host & microbe, 25(2), 219-232.
Turner, Paul. E., & Elena, S. F. 2000. Cost of host radiation in an RNA virus. Genetics, 156(4), 1465-1470.
Turner, Paul E., Cooper, V. S., & Lenski, R. E. 1998. Tradeoff between horizontal and vertical modes of transmission in bacterial plasmids. Evolution, 52(2), 315-329.
Turner, Paul E., Souza, V., & Lenski, R. E. 1996. Tests of ecological mechanisms promoting the stable coexistence of two bacterial genotypes. Ecology, 77(7), 2119-2129.
Dr. Paul Turner was born the second of three children to Rev. Eugene and Sylvia Turner in Philadelphia and grew up in Syracuse, New York. His family lived on the outskirts of town near forests, lakes, and other natural areas. His father is a retired Presbyterian minister who served as the Executive of the Synod of the Northeast, and his mother is a retired public school teacher from the Syracuse school district. Dr. Turner spent his childhood observing animals in their natural environment,
He began his college career with the intent of becoming an engineer but became increasingly disinterested in his engineering courses. Meanwhile, his studies in biological science were making a lasting impression. Through a University of Rochester program that links students to faculty mentors, Dr. Turner met John Jaenike and Andrew Dobson, who encouraged him to pursue graduate study in the biological sciences. These mentors opened his eyes to the possibility of graduate study and took the time to explain what the graduate school experience might entail. In 1988, Dr. Turner received his B.A. in Biological Science.
After completing his undergraduate studies, Dr. Turner took time to ponder his next steps in life while gaining more experience in environmental research. He submitted applications for internship positions and received a four-month position with the National Audubon Society at a wildlife sanctuary in Monson, Maine. His work in the wildlife sanctuary reinvigorated his childhood wonder and excitement, and he decided to pursue a career in the biological sciences.
He applied to Ph.D. programs and began his doctoral studies at the University of California, Irvine, in 1989. He later transferred to Michigan State University (MSU) in 1991. Dr. Richard Lenski of MSU became Turner’s next mentor. Dr. Turner cites Dr. Lenski as his role model for high-quality research and his ability to translate his studies to the general public in both written and oral form with enthusiasm and clarity. Dr. Turner found protégés of his own in the undergraduates who came into the lab to conduct research, beginning in graduate school and continuing through his postdoctoral positions. Like Dr. Turner, many of these students were African-American. Dr. Turner completed his Ph.D. in Microbial Ecology and Evolution at Michigan State in 1995. When Dr. Turner graduated, he was only the fifth African-American in the field to receive a Ph.D. in Evolutionary Ecology.
Dr. Turner took the “traditional steps” in his career after his internship at the National Audubon Society in Maine. He went to graduate school and completed three postdoctoral fellowships before becoming an assistant professor. In 1998, Dr. Turner completed a postdoc at the University of Maryland-College Park before moving to Spain to complete a Postdoc at the University of Valencia in 19991. Finally, in 2001, he completed a postdoc at the National Institutes of Health.
In 2001, Dr. Turner joined Yale University as a professor in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses at Yale, but much of his time is spent on research and overseeing data collection. Yet, Dr. Turner sees his life achievements as anything but ordinary. “Landing a job at a highly ranked Ivy institution,” he says, “I just—I just didn’t, when I was an undergrad, even consider that graduate school would be a good idea, and even taking the [Audubon] internship, which paid almost nothing, to decide whether a career in biological science would be good—I just never thought I would be a professor at one of the world’s leading educational institutions, not to mention that people of color are underrepresented in the research sciences” (2005).
Since 2002, Dr. Turner has been an advisory board member for the Science, Technology, and Research Scholars (STARS) program at Yale. But Dr. Turner is not one to only look to the academic establishment for accolades. When he became the face on the cover of the 2003 annual Top Ten Emerging Scholars of Color in “Black Issues in Higher Education,” Dr. Turner felt he had really accomplished something. “I am proud to be recognized not only by my scientific peers but that people of my own ethnic background recognize me” (2005).
Dr. Turner has been the Chair of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Division on Evolutionary and Genomic Microbiology. He is also a member of the ASM Committee on Minority Education and the National Science Foundation’s Biological Sciences Advisory Committee. In 2019, Dr. Turner was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and the American Academy of Microbiology. He Is the chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Microbial Population Biology and the CNRS Jacques Monod Conference on Viral Emergence. At Yale, Dr. Turner served as Interim Dean of Science, Director of Graduate Studies, and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department Chair.
Dr. Turner credits his mentors for helping him become a professor at one of the country’s most prestigious universities.
Dr. Turner is involved in several diversity-related programs, including a postdoctoral program of the National Science Foundation, which brings together award recipients with younger scientists who receive those awards in the following years, diversifying and strengthening related support structures in scientific fields.
Yale’s STARS program allows Dr. Turner to continue mentoring underrepresented students through an intensive eight-week summer program that brings students to campus to conduct research. He also advises two minority students working toward doctorates under his tutelage. For all his mentees, Dr. Turner tries to model the character traits he respected in Dr. Lenski – the ability to remain focused, the commitment to quality research, and enthusiasm for work and communication. In return, he says, “It’s great to see them come in, work with them, and see their growth” (2005).
Dr. Turner’s advice to minorities considering a career in the environmental field is as follows: “There may be apparent obstacles, but if you have a genuine appreciation for the environmental sciences, don’t give up, because you can overcome them” (2005). Dr. Turner sees himself and his colleagues who come from under-represented groups as a support structure that has the potential to both foster students’ passion for learning as well as navigate their way through academia. “Seek the counsel of those who have been before you—those with similar experiences of overcoming obstacles at major institutions—because they are there to help you. All people can be excellent mentors, regardless of ethnic background, but we [minorities] have experience that other potential mentors without that experience may not provide. I am delighted to lend advice if [you] feel comfortable as a minority student coming to me” (2005).
Even though Dr. Turner struggles with the amount of time and energy he must set aside to seek funding for his research – especially in the current economic climate – he remains committed to his work because of his genuine love for research, teaching, and for interacting with young scientists who have an appreciation for the ways biological processes work. Dr. Turner realizes that he could have taken a job in biotechnology that would have paid a handsome salary and eliminated his frustrations with the “grant treadmill,” but his love for “testing the [scientific] theories and teaching young people in the sciences and getting them excited” sustains him in his academic career (2005). Dr. Turner’s life is a testament to mentors’ valuable role in shaping one person’s life and the lives of the myriads of others who follow in their footsteps.
Projects - Paul Turner Lab. 2023. Yale.edu. https://turnerlab.yale.edu/projects
Paul Turner. (2021). Yale School of Medicine. https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/paul-turner/
Taylor, Dorceta (Ed.). 2005. The Paths We Thread: Profiles of the Careers of Minority Environmental Professionals. Minority Environmental Leadership Development Initiative, University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment.
Wikipedia Contributors. (2023, July 12). Paul E. Turner. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_E._Turner
Paul Turner, 2021