Billie Lee Turner II

Raised and educated in Texas, he is the first son of Billie Lee Turner, a noted taxonomist and desert botanist.

Over the last 20 years Turner has led, or participated in, other research on the science and dynamics of global environmental change (e.g. Steffen et al., 2004).

The specific focus was to understand contemporary patterns of land use, informed by social investigations and GIS and remote sensing (Turner et al., 2004; Gutman et al., 2004).

This research helped to reinterpret climate and landscape change involving the demise of Classic Maya civilization (Turner & Sabloff, 2012).

He lists, among his hobbies, "entertaining grad students," and he has supervised more than 45 PhDs through to successful careers, and been their great supporters.