Dr. Robert S. Turner has been named executive director of the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere group.
Turner, environmental scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, replaces Hubert Hinote, who retired last month.
The organization, headquartered in the UT Conference Center building, is a coalition of government agencies, universities, private companies and others that studies environmental, economic, and cultural issues in Southern Appalachia.
It is part of the Joint Institute for Energy and Environment initiative established by UT, ORNL and Tennessee Valley Authority to share facilities, staff and other resources for energy, economic, and environmental research.
Turner formerly headed the National Center for Environmental Decision-making Research, another JIEE research center.
He earned the bachelor’s in zoology from Duke University, and the masters in regional planning and doctorate in geology at the University of Pennsylvania.
He is a member of the American Geophysical Union, American Chemical Society, Ecological Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, and Sigma Xi.
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