Turetsky is a member of the Permafrost Action Team (SEARCH), a group of scientists who translate and deliver science to decision-makers.
She moved to the University of Alberta as a graduate student, where she researched carbon storage and fluxes in peatlands under differing permafrost.
In 2019, Turetsky became the first woman director of Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) and Professor in Ecology and Environmental Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder.
[11] She has investigated the positive feedback loop between warming climates, which thaw permafrost, and the subsequent release of greenhouse gases.
[12] The ABoVE program studies the changes in the Arctic and Borealri regions and tries to determine the resulting socio-ecological consequences.
[13] Turetsky contributed to the 2021 State of the Cryosphere report, which looked to understand the snow and ice regions on planet Earth.