- Rachel Carson Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), Yale University
Dr. Paul Turner is the Rachel Carson Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University and a faculty member in Microbiology at Yale School of Medicine. He received his BA in Biology from the University of Rochester, his PhD in Microbial Evolution from Michigan State University, and completed postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health, the University of Valencia in Spain, and the University of Maryland before joining Yale in 2001.
Dr. Turner studies the evolutionary genetics of viruses, with a particular focus on phages that infect bacterial pathogens and RNA viruses transmitted by arthropods. A major translational direction of his research is the use of phages to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial diseases. He is also deeply committed to science communication and public outreach, including programs that bring Yale faculty into collaboration with K-12 teachers to improve STEMM education in underserved public schools.
Dr. Turner serves on the National Science Foundation’s Biology Advisory Committee and has been elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Academy of Microbiology.