Monica G. Turner
monicagturner.bsky.social
Monica G. Turner
@monicagturner.bsky.social

Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Co-editor in Chief of Ecosystems; works on forest ecology, fire ecology, disturbance dynamics, working landscapes, ecosystem services, ecosystem modeling. Likes biking, hiking and classical music. .. more

Monica G. Turner is an American ecologist known for her work at Yellowstone National Park since the large fires of 1988. She is currently the Eugene P. Odum Professor of Ecology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. .. more

Environmental science 71%
Geography 18%
This paper contains some good arguments about an issue that concerns me a lot when I hear my colleagues talking about LLM use in developing their research:

Whose ideas are you presenting as your own?

(Though the fatalist argument the authors make at the end of paper is disappointing/bizarre.)
@globalecoguy.bsky.social isn't just an expert on hundreds of climate solutions; he’s also an expert at making complex ideas digestible. That's why he was awarded Climate One's 2025 Schneider Award for Outstanding Science Communication. Hear from Foley live onstage on the latest from Climate One:
Jonathan Foley: 2025 Schneider Award Winner
Project Drawdown is the world’s leading science-based guide to climate solutions. According to Jonathan Foley, Project Drawdown’s Executive Director, they aim to be the Consumer Reports for climate ch...
play.megaphone.fm
Love aquatic research, teaching, and outreach? Want to join us at our terrific field station and live on Yellow Bay, Montana? University of Montana seeks a new Director for Flathead Lake Biological Station. Position details here: apply.interfolio.com/178916

Reposted by Monica G. Turner

*In Defense of Severe Fires*
academic.oup.com/bioscience/a...
My review of Hutto's book, BioScience @aibsbiology.bsky.social

Severely burned forests are “magical places that seem to harbor plant & animal species & visual experiences found under no other forest conditions"

PDF: DM

🧪🌎🔥🌳🍁🌱 wildfire

Reposted by Monica G. Turner

Yes! We should all do this much more.
You can do this right now:

Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.

Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
You can do this right now:

Think of a person who wrote a paper you love, whose work influenced or helped you, or has made your professional life better.

Search up their email address. Shoot them a quick email of thanks. It means so, so much. This is a rough time of year, share some joy.
Please contribute! We neex broad input, different forest types, and an array of natural disturbances to see how disturbance regimes are changing.

Important commentary re logging and fire
Opinion piece: Removing #DeadTrees will not save us from fast-moving #wildfires. In PNAS Front Matter: https://ow.ly/qvta50XuOrz

#logging #ClimateChange #ForestFire
Opinion piece: Removing #DeadTrees will not save us from fast-moving #wildfires. In PNAS Front Matter: https://ow.ly/qvta50XuOrz

#logging #ClimateChange #ForestFire

Reposted by Monica G. Turner

A study from Oregon State University and the U.S. Forest Service found the four-day extreme heat event scorched more than 1,000 square miles of tree canopy.
2021 heat dome left Rhode Island-sized damage in Oregon’s, Washington’s western forests
A study from Oregon State University and the U.S. Forest Service found the four-day extreme heat event scorched more than 1,000 square miles of tree canopy.
www.oregonlive.com
Looking to acquire portable soil temp/moisture and pH probes for our fieldwork

Figured I'd ask if anyone had suggestions or strong feelings about what to get!

🧪🌎🌳🍁
@sgradywelsh.bsky.social (lab manager) would greatly appreciate any input!

Reposted by Monica G. Turner

I know we've all got a lot on our minds and the gusher of news doesn't stop for anybody, but....

Did you see where the President of Iran announced that the drought there is so bad that if they don't get any rain in the next two months they'll run out of water and *evacuate Tehran*?
Amy Angert and I are recruiting a #postdoc to participate in a collaborative NSF-funded study of demographic responses to climate across the geographic range of the scarlet monkeyflower. Please repost! jobs.ncsu.edu/postings/224...
We're hiring in history of science at UW Madison! TT Assistant Professorship with a focus on water. Joint appointment between the History and Integrated Liberal Studies depts, and part of a university-wide hiring cluster on earth/sustainability science. jobs.wisc.edu/jobs/profess... #STS #HSMT
Professor of History - Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Current Employees: If you are currently employed at any of the Universities of Wisconsin, log in to Workday to apply through the internal application process.Job Category:FacultyEmployment Type:Regula...
jobs.wisc.edu
In 2022, something shocking happened to the Hektoria Glacier. Over 16 months, it retreated by 25 kilometers, and it lost a whopping 8 kilometers in just two of those months—the fastest glacial retreat in the modern record.

Now, researchers may have identified the worrisome mechanisms behind it.
Antarctic glacier shows fastest retreat in modern history
Tides and glacial earthquakes caused record ice loss at Hektoria Glacier
www.science.org

Congratulations!
Do you like forests and computer models? 🌳🧑‍💻
Within the Future Forests excellence cluster, we are hiring two modellers for 7 year (!) positions here in Freiburg.

A scientific coordinator role: uni-freiburg.de/en/job/00004...

And and a scientific programmer role: uni-freiburg.de/en/job/00004...

Reposted by Monica G. Turner

A study by the WSL and @vogelwarte.bsky.social using long-term data has shown that bark beetles are good for woodpeckers🪲🐦: woodpeckers use the dead wood produced by bark beetle infestations as shelter and nesting sites🪵. WSL-News: www.wsl.ch/en/news/why-...
#Biodiversity #Woodpecker #DeadWood
Why bark beetles are good for woodpeckers
In a study based on long-term data, WSL researchers show that woodpecker populations grow when there is more deadwood.
www.wsl.ch

Reposted by Monica G. Turner

A story map, produced by @firesciencegov, highlights the real-world impacts & accomplishments from the FSEN. Our section focuses on the Risk-Informed Wildfire Management hot topic page we developed as a rapid response to a request from the Rocky Mountain Research Station.
A Year of Collaboration: The Fire Science Exchange Network
This storymap highlights the real-world impacts and accomplishments of the Fire Science Exchange Network in fiscal year 2024.
buff.ly
Great new paper led by @knowlton.bsky.social with @ttkeller.bsky.social and @rupertseidl.bsky.social (and me!) Still so much to learn from #Yellowstone about #fire, #forests & #climatechange. #NSFfunded #JFSPfunded
🆕 in Ecosphere's "Vegetation Ecology" track: A hot & dry future may shake up Yellowstone forests—think fewer spruce, more fire-tolerant neighbors

📄Simulated postfire tree regeneration suggests reorganization of Greater Yellowstone forests during the 21st century
doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...
🆕 in Ecosphere's "Vegetation Ecology" track: A hot & dry future may shake up Yellowstone forests—think fewer spruce, more fire-tolerant neighbors

📄Simulated postfire tree regeneration suggests reorganization of Greater Yellowstone forests during the 21st century
doi.org/10.1002/ecs2...

Reposted by Monica G. Turner

At Kibale National Park, wildlife epidemiologist Tony Goldberg regularly becomes lunch for various parasites—some of which he turns into science experiments.

Learn more: https://scim.ag/4nhTQJa
"The Great Lakes Science Center in Michigan would lose 108 of 137 positions."

via @eenews.bsky.social
E&E News: USGS science centers face Trump’s chopping block
Interior has indicated that it plans to lay off employees in science centers across the country, including deep cuts at some offices.
subscriber.politicopro.com
My department is hiring an assistant professor of forest regeneration. The University of Minnesota department of forest resources is a great place to work, I really really like it here, and hope we end up hiring someone I can collaborate with. hr.myu.umn.edu/jobs/ext/370...
Careers
The Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota seeks outstanding applicants for a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professor faculty position focused on forest regeneration dynamics. This may include focus areas of early stand dynamics, forest genetics, climate-adaptive seed/tree selection, nursery systems, or environmental stress physiology, which may fall within broader disciplines such as silviculture, restoration ecology, or forest operations. This is a 9-month, full-time, tenure-track faculty position with research (50%) and teaching (50%) responsibilities. The successful candidate will have access to office and laboratory space in the department. The position is available beginning August 2026, with review of applications beginning December 8, 2025.ResponsibilitiesResponsibilities include but are not limited to:
hr.myu.umn.edu

Reposted by Brian J. Harvey

Excellent work led by @ttkeller.bsky.social and important for stewarding forests w/ high-severity #fire regimes @esajournals.bsky.social @uwmadscience.bsky.social
New paper in Ecological Applications! Management that mimics historical mosaics of fire severity could promote postfire tree regeneration under future climate change. Thanks to co-authors @monicagturner.bsky.social @rupertseidl.bsky.social @christinadollinger.bsky.social @knowlton.bsky.social
Can fire exclusion zones enhance postfire tree regeneration? A simulation study in subalpine conifer forests
Climate change and novel fire regimes increasingly challenge stewardship of forests adapted to infrequent, stand-replacing fire. Novel fire regimes may disrupt mechanisms that sustained postfire rege...
dx.doi.org
I am currently seeking a Lab Manager for our Organic Geochemistry Lab at the University of Arizona! Full time position with benefits. If you have a chemistry/biology/geology degree and like fixing things and working with students, this position could be for you! arizona.csod.com/ux/ats/caree...
Laboratory Coordinator I - Geosciences
Maintenance and repair of the Organic Geochemistry Laboratory equipment, including but not limited to gas chromatographs, liquid chromatographs & ...
arizona.csod.com
Increasing wildfire frequency decreases carbon storage and leads to regeneration failure in Alaskan boreal forests fireecology.springeropen.com/articles/10....
Increasing wildfire frequency decreases carbon storage and leads to regeneration failure in Alaskan boreal forests - Fire Ecology
Background The increasing size, severity, and frequency of wildfires is one of the most rapid ways climate warming could alter the structure and function of high-latitude ecosystems. Historically, boreal forests in western North America had fire return intervals (FRI) of 70–130 years, but shortened FRIs are becoming increasingly common under extreme weather conditions. Here, we quantified pre-fire and post-fire C pools and C losses and assessed post-fire seedling regeneration in long (> 70 years), intermediate (30–70 years), and short (< 30 years) FRIs, and triple (three fires in < 70 years) burns. As boreal forests store a significant portion of the global terrestrial carbon (C) pool, understanding the impacts of shortened FRIs on these ecosystems is critical for predicting the global C balance and feedbacks to climate. Results Using a spatially extensive dataset of 555 plots from 31 separate fires in Interior Alaska, our study demonstrates that shortened FRIs decrease the C storage capacity of boreal forests through loss of legacy C and regeneration failure. Total wildfire C emissions were similar among FRI classes, ranging from 2.5 to 3.5 kg C m−2. However, shortened FRIs lost proportionally more of their pre-fire C pools, resulting in substantially lower post-fire C pools than long FRIs. Shortened FRIs also resulted in the combustion of legacy C, defined as C that escaped combustion in one or more previous fires. We found that post-fire successional trajectories were impacted by FRI, with ~ 65% of short FRIs and triple burns experiencing regeneration failure. Conclusions Our study highlights the structural and functional vulnerability of boreal forests to increasing fire frequency. Shortened FRIs and the combustion of legacy C can shift boreal ecosystems from a net C sink or neutral to a net C source to the atmosphere and increase the risk of transitions to non-forested states. These changes could have profound implications for the boreal C-climate feedback and underscore the need for adaptive management strategies that prioritize the structural and functional resilience of boreal forest ecosystems to expected increases in fire frequency.
fireecology.springeropen.com
I'm very excited to announce that UNC Biology has 6 faculty positions open this year! The first is for an Asst Professor who studies organismal resilience using an integrative approach 1/n
unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/307...