Kathryn Turner

Kathryn was first introduced to the mission and people of The Land Institute as a summer intern. She attended Austin College and studied Biology and Environmental Studies. During her 2005 Land Institute internship, she developed an interest in plant breeding. Her graduate studies at the University of Minnesota focused on identifying disease resistance in annual and perennial wheat. She was hired as a postdoctoral fellow under Shuwen Wang to better understand the genetics of perennial wheat.

While working on perennial wheat, she researched disease problems in developing new crops. This research led to her current position, which is focused solely on crop protection genetics. In 2018, she became our first research associate, heading a new program to understand, identify, and control the diseases in our perennial crops. A couple of years later, she became the lead of our CPG program.

Kathryn’s home state is Oklahoma, and although she has lived in Texas, Kansas, and Minnesota, she currently calls Abilene, Kansas, “home.”