Billie Lee Turner
Encyclopedia
Billie Lee Turner II is an American geographer
, member of the National Academy of Sciences
, and prominent among the third generation of the Berkeley School of Latin Americanist Geography
. In August 2008, he took a position as the first Gilbert F. White Chair in Environment and Society at Arizona State University
, where he is affiliated with the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and the School of Sustainability.
For most of his career (1980–2008) he taught at Clark University
in Worcester, Massachusetts
. There, he served as Alice C. Higgins and Milton P. Professor of Environment and Society, and Director of the Graduate School of Geography.
Raised and educated in Texas
, he is the first son of Billie Lee Turner, a noted synantheralologist (botanist
studying Asteraceae
). Billie Lee Turner II received his PhD
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
in 1974.
Turner's contributions to knowledge have evolved from an interest in human impacts on the natural world. His early study was on the borders of archaeology
and geography - the pre-Hispanic agricultural systems of the Maya
in the Yucatán Peninsula
of Mexico
(Turner, 1983; Harrison & Turner, 1978). This geographical and archaeological work fueled an interest in agricultural pathways and livelihoods more generally, particularly patterns of agricultural intensification. As an authority of agricultural systems, Turner produced several influential texts on the theory of agrarian change (Turner and Brush, 1989; Turner, 1974; Turner, Hyden & Kates, 1993).
The environmental transformations that have accompanied population growth in Central America
led to a broader engagement with cultural ecology and the human relationship with nature. A major initiative with colleagues at Clark University, which was always a center for this type of work under Robert Kates
, Roger Kasperson and others, culminated in the Earth Transformed by Human Action (1990), a major stocktaking of anthropogenic impacts on the planet and its ecosystems. Over the last 15 years Turner has led, or participated in, other research on the science and dynamics of global environmental change (e.g. Steffen et al., 2004).
His interest in specific impacts of populations and societies on land use change and alterations in land cover led to a return to fieldwork in Central America in the 1990s, supported by several large research grants and working with a number of PhD students. The specific focus has been to understand contemporary patterns of land use, informed by social investigations and GIS and remote sensing (Turner et al. , 2004; Gutman et al., 2004). Turner is associated with the development of LUCC analysis - Land Use/Cover Change and ways to assess it, as concern grows about tropical deforestation and agricultural expansion. He has also promoted the emerging field of 'Sustainability Science', an emerging focus at Arizona State University (Rindfuss et al., 2004).
He has a lifelong interest in the promotion of geography as an academic discipline in the USA, and the development of geographic literacy. He lists, among his hobbies, "entertaining grad students", and he has supervised at least 30 PhDs through to successful careers, and been their great supporters.
Important articles
Geographer
A geographer is a scholar whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society.Although geographers are historically known as people who make maps, map making is actually the field of study of cartography, a subset of geography...
, member of the National Academy of Sciences
United States National Academy of Sciences
The National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, and prominent among the third generation of the Berkeley School of Latin Americanist Geography
Berkeley School of Latin Americanist Geography
The Berkeley School of Latin Americanist Geography was founded by the American geographer Carl O. Sauer. Sauer was a professor of geography at the University of California at Berkeley from 1923 until becoming professor emeritus in 1957 and was instrumental in the early development of the geography...
. In August 2008, he took a position as the first Gilbert F. White Chair in Environment and Society at Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
, where he is affiliated with the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning and the School of Sustainability.
Clark University
Clark University is a private research university and liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts.Founded in 1887, it is the oldest educational institution founded as an all-graduate university. Clark now also educates undergraduates...
in Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
. There, he served as Alice C. Higgins and Milton P. Professor of Environment and Society, and Director of the Graduate School of Geography.
Raised and educated in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, he is the first son of Billie Lee Turner, a noted synantheralologist (botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
studying Asteraceae
Asteraceae
The Asteraceae or Compositae , is an exceedingly large and widespread family of vascular plants. The group has more than 22,750 currently accepted species, spread across 1620 genera and 12 subfamilies...
). Billie Lee Turner II received his PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
in 1974.
Turner's contributions to knowledge have evolved from an interest in human impacts on the natural world. His early study was on the borders of archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and geography - the pre-Hispanic agricultural systems of the Maya
Maya peoples
The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...
in the Yucatán Peninsula
Yucatán Peninsula
The Yucatán Peninsula, in southeastern Mexico, separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico, with the northern coastline on the Yucatán Channel...
of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
(Turner, 1983; Harrison & Turner, 1978). This geographical and archaeological work fueled an interest in agricultural pathways and livelihoods more generally, particularly patterns of agricultural intensification. As an authority of agricultural systems, Turner produced several influential texts on the theory of agrarian change (Turner and Brush, 1989; Turner, 1974; Turner, Hyden & Kates, 1993).
The environmental transformations that have accompanied population growth in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
led to a broader engagement with cultural ecology and the human relationship with nature. A major initiative with colleagues at Clark University, which was always a center for this type of work under Robert Kates
Robert Kates
Robert W. Kates is an American geographer and independent scholar in Trenton, Maine, and University Professor at Brown University.- Background :...
, Roger Kasperson and others, culminated in the Earth Transformed by Human Action (1990), a major stocktaking of anthropogenic impacts on the planet and its ecosystems. Over the last 15 years Turner has led, or participated in, other research on the science and dynamics of global environmental change (e.g. Steffen et al., 2004).
His interest in specific impacts of populations and societies on land use change and alterations in land cover led to a return to fieldwork in Central America in the 1990s, supported by several large research grants and working with a number of PhD students. The specific focus has been to understand contemporary patterns of land use, informed by social investigations and GIS and remote sensing (Turner et al. , 2004; Gutman et al., 2004). Turner is associated with the development of LUCC analysis - Land Use/Cover Change and ways to assess it, as concern grows about tropical deforestation and agricultural expansion. He has also promoted the emerging field of 'Sustainability Science', an emerging focus at Arizona State University (Rindfuss et al., 2004).
He has a lifelong interest in the promotion of geography as an academic discipline in the USA, and the development of geographic literacy. He lists, among his hobbies, "entertaining grad students", and he has supervised at least 30 PhDs through to successful careers, and been their great supporters.
Awards and honors
- Member, National Academy of SciencesUnited States National Academy of SciencesThe National Academy of Sciences is a corporation in the United States whose members serve pro bono as "advisers to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine." As a national academy, new members of the organization are elected annually by current members, based on their distinguished and...
, - Fellow, American Academy of Arts and SciencesAmerican Academy of Arts and SciencesThe American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an independent policy research center that conducts multidisciplinary studies of complex and emerging problems. The Academy’s elected members are leaders in the academic disciplines, the arts, business, and public affairs.James Bowdoin, John Adams, and...
- Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of ScienceAmerican Association for the Advancement of ScienceThe American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
- Fellow, Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPIMassachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPILocated in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI was founded in 1992 by the Massachusetts State Legislature as a public magnet school to serve academically advanced youth in grades eleven and twelve in math, science, and technology.The school emphasizes...
- Guggenheim FellowGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
- Fellow of Center for Advanced Studies in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
- Distinguished Scholarship Award—Conference of Latin Americanists Geographers
- Robert Netting Award (2001), Cultural and Political Ecology Specialty Group, Association of American GeographersAssociation of American GeographersThe Association of American Geographers is a non-profit scientific and educational society founded in 1904 and aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of geography and related fields...
Selected bibliography
Books- Harrison P.D. and B. L. Turner II (eds.) 1978. Pre-Hispanic Maya Agriculture. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico PressUniversity of New Mexico PressThe University of New Mexico Press, founded in 1929, is a university press that is part of the University of New Mexico. Its administrative offices are in the Office of Research , on the campus of UNM in Albuquerque....
. - Turner, B.L. II. 1983. Beneath the Forest: Prehistoric Terracing in the Rio Bec Region of the Maya Lowlands. Boulder: Westview PressWestview PressWestview Press is an American publishing house. It publishes textbooks and scholarly works for an academic audience.Westview was founded in 1975 in Boulder, Colorado by Fred Praeger. The press was sold in 1991 to SCS Communications. HarperCollins acquired the company in 1995. Since 1998, it has...
. - Turner, B.L. II and P.D. Harrison (eds.). 1983. Pulltrouser Swamp: Ancient Maya Habitat, Agriculture, and Settlement in Northern Belize. Austin: University of Texas Press. [Reprinted 2000, University of Utah PressUniversity of Utah PressThe University of Utah Press is the independent publishing branch of the University of Utah and is a division of the J. Willard Marriott Library. Founded in 1949 by A. Ray Olpin, it is also the oldest university press in Utah...
: Salt Lake City] - Turner, B.L. II and S. B. Brush (eds.) 1987. Comparative Farming Systems. New York: Guilford PressGuilford PressGuilford Publications, Inc. is a New York City-based independent publisher founded in 1973 that specializes in publishing books, journals, software, and audiovisual programs in psychology, psychiatry, the behavioral sciences, education, and geography...
. - Turner, B.L. II, W.C. Clark, R.W. Kates, J.F. Richards, J.T. Mathews, and W.B. Meyer (eds.) 1990. The Earth as Transformed by Human Action: Global and Regional Changes in the Biosphere over the Past 300 Years. Cambridge: Cambridge University PressCambridge University PressCambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
). [National Academy of Science Science Classic] - Turner B.L. II, G. Hyden and R.W. Kates (eds.). 1993. Population Growth and Agricultural Change in Africa. Gainesville: University Press of FloridaUniversity Press of FloridaThe University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing arm of the State University System of Florida representing all eleven universities, and is charged by the Florida Board of Governors with publishing books of intellectual distinction and significance, books that contribute to improving the...
. - Turner, B.L. II and W.B. Mayer. 1994. Changes in Land Use and Land Cover: A Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press.
- Turner, B.L. II, A. G. Sal, F. Bernáldez, and F. di Castri (eds.). 1995. Global Land-Use Change: A Perspective from the Columbian Encounter. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas.
- Kasperson J.X., R. E. Kasperson and B. L. Turner II (eds.). 1995. Regions at Risk: Comparisons of Threatened Environments. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.
- Whitmore T.M. and B.L. Turner II. 2001. Cultivated Landscapes of Native Middle America on the Eve of Conquest. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Steffen W., A. Sanderson, P. Tyson, J. Jäger. P. Matson, B. Moore III, F. Oldfield, K. Richardson, H-J. Schellnhuber, B. L. Turner II, and R. Wasson. 2004. Global Change and the Earth System: A Planet under Pressure. IGBP Global Change Series. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
- Turner, B. L. II, J.Geoghegan and D.R. Foster. 2004. Integrated Land-Change Science and Tropical Deforestation in the Southern Yucatán: Final Frontiers. Oxford: ClarendonClarendon-Places:In Australia:*Clarendon, New South Wales, a suburb of northern west Sydney*Clarendon, Queensland*Clarendon, South Australia*Clarendon, Tasmania, a National Trust property near Evandale, Tasmania*Clarendon County, New South WalesIn Canada:...
. - Gutman G., A. Janetos, C. Justice, E. Moran, J. Mustard, R. Rindfuss, D. Skole and B. L. Turner II (eds.). 2004. Land Change Science: Observing, Monitoring, and Understanding Trajectories of Change on the Earth's Surface. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Important articles
- Turner, B. L. II. 1974. Prehistoric Intensive Agriculture in the Mayan Lowlands. Science, 185(4146): 118-124.
- Turner, B. L. II and P.D. Harrison. 1981. Prehistoric Raised-Field Agriculture in the Maya Lowlands. Science, 213(4506): 399-405.
- Turner, B.L. II and T.M. Whitmore. 1992. Landscapes of Cultivation in Mesoamerica on the Eve of the Conquest. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 82(3): 402-425.
- Lambin E.F., B. L. Turner II, H. Geist, S. Agbola, A. Angelsen, J. W. Bruce, O. Coomes, R. Dirzo, G. Fischer, C. Folke, P. S. George, K. Homewood, J. Imbernon, R. Leemans, X. Li, E. F. Moran, M. Mortimore, P.S. Ramakrishnan , J. F. Richards, H. Skånes, W. Steffen, G. D. Stone, U. Svedin , T. Veldkamp, C. Vogel, and J. Xu. 2001. The Causes of Land-Use and Land-Cover Change—Moving Beyond the Myths. Global Environmental Change: Human and Policy Dimensions 11: 5-13.
- Rindfuss R. R., Stephen J. Walsh, B. L. Turner II, Jefferson Fox, and Vinod Mishra. 2004. Developing a Science of Land Change: Challenges and Methodological Issues. Proceedings, National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 101(39) 13976-13981.
- Reynolds J.F., D.M. Stafford Smith, E. F. Lambin, B. L. Turner, II, M. Mortimore, S. P. Batterbury, T. E. Downing, H. Dowlatabadi, R. J. Fernandez, J. E. Herrick, E. Huber-Sannvald, R. Leemans, T. Lynam, F. Mestre, M. Ayarza, and B Walker. 2007. Global Desertification: Building a Science for Dryland Development. Science 316: 847-851.