Profile of Paul E. Turner

Abstract

“There is a lot of power in addressing general questions in biology using the smallest inhabitants of the planet,” says Paul E. Turner, the Rachel Carson Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University. Conducting interdisciplinary and experimental evolution studies of microbes, Turner and his colleagues elucidate virus evolution and ecology and host–parasite interactions, among other subjects. Turner, who was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2019, also conducts applied research on the development of virus-based therapies that hold promise for combating antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. His Inaugural Article (1) contributes to that body of research, which is helping to launch a new era in phage biotechnology. Paul E. Turner. Image credit: Michael Marsland (Yale University, New Haven, CT). When Turner reflects on his childhood, spent in the San Francisco Bay Area and central New York, fond memories concerning biology come to his mind: Exploring forests, visiting zoos, reading books by Stephen Jay Gould, and watching television programs like Wild Kingdom . Alice Kendrick, a teacher at Jamesville-DeWitt High School in New York, cultivated his interest in biology. “She is awesome and made a lasting positive impact,” Turner says. His parents were both college-educated and employed in professions related to theology and education. Turner says, “Although they were not scientists, my parents appreciated that I was captivated with biology and they provided supportive encouragement for me to pursue a career in this discipline.” After earning a bachelor of arts degree in biological sciences from the University of Rochester in 1988, Turner began graduate studies at the University of California, Irvine. There he met evolutionary biologist Joseph Graves, Jr, then a postdoctoral fellow. Turner says, “This prominent African American scientist served as my early life coach, helping me to navigate a field where diversity remains very low.” Turner transferred …