Professor John Turner

Head of School / Professor in Marine Biology

j.turner@bangor.ac.uk

+44 1248 382881

0000-0003-3093-2039

Overview

I graduated in Joint Honours Botany and Zoology at the University of Bristol in 1981, and then progressed to doctorate research at the University of Oxford (St John's College), investigating the 'Ecology of Temperate Symbiotic Anthozoa'. In 1985 I moved to a NERC funded postdoctoral position at Bangor University, School of Animal Biology, where I investigated the 'Behavioural Ecology of Shoaling Fish' and specifically the 'Twilight Hypothesis'. In 1987, I transferred to the School of Ocean Sciences to take up a 5 year Research Demonstratorship in Marine Biology. I was Course Director of the MSc in Marine Environmental Protection for 22 years between 1989 and 2011. I developed research interests in mapping coral reef biotopes, Environmental Impact Assessment, Marine Protected Areas and Coastal Zone Management. I became a permanent member of staff in 1990, Lecturer in 1993 and appointed to Senior Lecturer in 2000. I was awarded a University Teaching Fellowship at the Graduation ceremony in 2007, and won a Bangor University Research Impact Award 2015 and received a personal Chair in 2016, and became Dean of Postgraduate Research, heading the Doctoral School in November 2016. I was appointed Head of the School of Ocean Sciences in November 2018.  I am a Trustee of the Chagos Conservation Trust, and a Trustee of the Seawatch Foundation. I have been a memeber of the NERC Peer Review College since 2014, and of the DEFRA Darwin Plus Advisory Group and Panel for Biodiveristy Challenge Funds since 2017.

https://www.bangor.ac.uk/oceansciences/research/groups/marine-conservation-and-resource-management

https://www.bangor.ac.uk/oceansciences/research/groups/marine-ecology

Room: 403 Westbury Mount       Phone: 01248 382881 (MOB 07726 348852 )

E-mail: j.turner@bangor.ac.uk

Web Google Scholar  ResearchGate

 
  • DPhil: DPhil. The Ecology of Temperate Symbiotoc Anthozoa
    University of Oxford, 1981–1985
  • BSc: BSc Joint Honours Botany and Zoology
    University of Bristol, 1979–1981

My teaching is research led; I generally teach areas linked to my research and use real world examples and case studies drawn from my own experience wherever possible to illustrate the subject.  I use underwater photography and use my own images rather than those mined from the internet. My philosophy is that subjects can be made more interesting if drawn from personal involvement.  I also believe that we must be aware of shifting baselines and we should also look at earlier studies because direct human impact and climate change have affected many of the ecosystems we study today. For example, many coral reefs close to human populations are very degraded and describing them in their current state would be like describing a forest after being slashed and burned – you often have to look at original descriptions and early studies to see them functionally intact!  I developed the MSc course in Marine Environmental Protection and ran this successfully for 23 years, enjoying the international perspective it provided and working with the many excellent students it attracted. I continue to offer overseas project placements with colleagues in the Department of the Environment in the Cayman Islands to provide research opportunities with a direct application in marine conservation.

Potential postgraduate research students should write to Prof Turner with a covering letter explaining their experience and motivation, and a CV. Supervision will be considered in the following areas: Tropical Marine Ecology; Subtidal Marine Biology, Coral Reefs and Associated Ecosystems, Marine Protected Areas, Coastal Zone Management; Marine Conservation in UK Overseas Territories, Marine Invertebrate Symbiosis with Zooxanthellae, Behavioural Ecology of Sentinel Marine Species' 

Postgraduate Teaching:

OSX4002  Coastal Habitat Ecology and Survey

OSX4004  Marine Environmental Impact Assessment (Module Organiser)

OSX4006  Conservation and Coastal Zone Management

OSX4008  Research Project Design and Planning

OSX4009  Research Project

Undergraduate Teaching

OSX4401 Literature Review and Project Plan

OSX4405 Research Project Investigation

OSX3001  Marine Conservation and Exploitation (Module Organiser)

OSX3011   Extreme Marine Habitats (Coral Reefs and Climate Change)

OSX3000   Dissertation

OSX2009   Marine Ecology

OSX2003   Marine Biology Practical II: Echinoderms (currently being covered)

OSX2003  Marine Biology Practical II: Cnidaria Photo-respiration(currently being covered)

OSX1000   Tutorial (currently being covered)

OSX1002   Marine Biology Practical (Taxonomy) (currently being covered)

Most of my current research is developed in partnership with end users (e.g. British Indian Ocean Territory Government Section of Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Cayman Islands Government; Seychelles Island Foundation; The Nature Conservancy, USA).  Recently, my research has focussed on coral reefs of the UK Overseas Territories, and research strategy is driven by the need to protect marine environments largely through the establishment and monitoring of Marine Protected Areas, or use of tools such as Environmental Impact Assessment and Coastal Zone Management, often to comply with the major conventions (e.g. Convention on Biological Diversity CBD, Convention on Migratory Species CMS, Convention on Trade in Endangered Species CITES, RAMSAR Convention on wetlands, and EU Habitats Directive.  Projects are generally established through links with leading scientists with complementary interests, and through liaison with stakeholder organisations (e.g. UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum, BIOT Scientific Advisory Panel, Chagos Conservation Trust, UNESCO) and implemented through practical research overseas involving scientific diving operations, training, stakeholder consultations and outreach initiatives, often including placement of Project Support Officers to build capacity within organisations. I am a member of the DEFRA Darwin Initiative panel of the  Darwin Plus Advisory Group for the British Overseas Territories.

I have a range of research interests in which PhD projects could be developed. Please contact me by e mail in the first instance regarding any of the following areas: Tropical Marine Ecology; Subtidal Marine Ecology (especially hard substrates eg. rocky reefs) Marine Protected Areas; Coastal Zone Management; Coral Reefs and Associated Ecosystems; Marine Invertebrate Symbiosis with Zooxzanthellae; Behavioural Ecology of Sentinel Marine Organisms (sharks, rays, large fish, dolphins); Marine Conservation Research in UK Overseas Territories

2025

2024

2023

  • PublishedNear-island enhancement in mesopelagic micronekton communities off Hawaiʻi
    Drazen, J., Clark, B., Gove, J. M., Phipps, J., Copeland, A., Lecky, J., Green, M., Kobayashi, D., Turner, J., Whitney, J. & Williams, G. J., Sept 2023, In: Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers. 199, 104107.
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2013

2012

  • PublishedReefs and islands of the Chagos Archipelago, Indian Ocean: why it is the world's largest no-take marine protected area
    Sheppard, C. R., Bowen, B., Carr, P., Chen, C. A., Clubbe, C., Craig, M., Eble, J., Fitzsimmons, N., Gaither, M. R., Gan, C. H., Gollock, M., Guzman, N., Graham, N. A., Harris, A., Jones, R., Keshavmurthy, S., Koldewey, H., Lundin, C. G., Mortimer, J. A., Obura, D., Pfeiffer, M., Price, A. R., Purkis, S., Raines, P., Riegl, B., Rogers, A., Schleyer, M., Seaward, M. R., Sheppard, A. L., Tamelander, J., Turner, J. R., Visram, S., Vogler, C., Vogt, S., Yang, J. M., Yang, S. Y. & Yesson, C., Mar 2012, In: Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems. 22, 2, p. 232-261
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2011

  • PublishedOceanic sharks clean at coastal seamount
    Oliver, S. P., Hussey, N. E., Turner, J. R. & Beckett, A. J., 14 Mar 2011, In: PLoS ONE. 6, 3, p. e14755
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2009

2008

2006

2005

  • PublishedCoral reefs of the Mascarenes, western Indian Ocean.
    Turner, J. R. & Klaus, R., 1 Jan 2005, In: Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences. 363, 1826, p. 229-250
    Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2004

2003

2002

2001

2000

1999

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2019

2018

2017

  • European Coral Reef Symposium 2017

    Decadal Trends in Community Structure of the Coral Reefs of the Chagos Archipelago. John Turner1, Charles Sheppard2, Ronan Roche1, Anne Sheppard2, Courtney Couch3

    1Bangor University, 2University of Warwick, 3University of Hawai’I Manoa

    The remote reefs of the Chagos Archipelago serve as an important reference site, providing a benchmark for reversing damaged ecosystems elsewhere, and allow climate change impact to be assessed in the absence of local anthropogenic impacts. Coral communities have been subjected to extreme warming events in 1997, 2015 and 2016, and occasional COT outbreaks (eg. in 2013). Since 2006, visual and video assessments at permanent monitoring sites across the atolls have established an archive of community structure state. Northern atolls have exhibited higher coral cover (~40-50%) than the Southern atolls (~30%) with increasing algal and soft coral cover with depth, and lagoons exhibiting greater hard coral cover than seaward reefs at all depths. Seaward coral reefs were dominated by Acropora tables, most having established since the 1997 ENSO event, but by 2013, senescence was apparent in the largest of these and by 2015 many had collapsed. Acropora White Syndrome (AWS) was identified in 2014 and increased in prevalence by 2015. Reassessment of archived video from 2006 confirmed that AWS was a new threat to the reefs of Chagos despite their relative isolation. Assessments of coral recruits (~40% being tabular Acropora species) indicate that the capacity for recovery has been good, although many are lost when dead coral substrate is removed from shallow reefs by storms. The long term resilience of the Chagos Archipelago reefs was severely tested by two consecutive warming events in 2015 and 2016, causing bleaching induced mortality in most species except Porites to at least 15 m depth, with a significant reduction in cover and structure as the reefs entered an erosional state.

    13 Dec 2017 – 15 Dec 2017

    Links:

    Activity: Participation in Academic conference (Speaker)
  • Can we still save coral reefs and what if we don’t?

    Coral Reef condition in the Chagos Archipelago: Monitoring for BIOT’s management needs, and reef change and resilience research

    John Turner (School of Ocean Sciences Bangor University) and Rachel Jones, (Zoological Society of London)

    Britain aims to create a ‘Blue belt’ of the world’s largest marine protected areas around our Overseas Territories, improving scientific understanding of the marine environment to ensure evidence based, sustainable and long term management strategies. The uninhabited islands and surrounding coral reefs of the Chagos Archipelago in the British Indian Ocean Territory provide an important bench mark for understanding the functioning of coral reefs and observing the effects of climate change and response of coral reefs in the absence of direct human impacts. Building on previous research funded by the Overseas Territories Environment Fund and DEFRA’s Darwin Initiative, current and future research is being supported by the Bertarelli Foundation Programme in Marine Science. The next 4 years will see the most intensive research initiative ever undertaken in the Chagos Archipelago involving more than 50 scientists from 14 institutions across the world in order to inform Government on how to monitor and enforce the Marine Protected Area. Even these remote reefs have been impacted by coral diseases and ocean warming induced bleaching between 2014 and 2016, causing significant coral mortality and consequent erosion. This research will assess the changing structure of the living coral canopy as a three dimensional habitat by measuring biomass, diversity, coral cover, reef calcification and growth, and regeneration. Coral reef structure in turn influences other reef flora and fauna and there are connections between deep water, open water, shallow lagoon and island ecosystems which will be investigated by a suite of projects within the Programme. The vulnerability of different reefs within the Archipelago will be assessed by understanding how exposure and sensitivity to impact is moderated by a reef’s adaptive capacity. The aim of management is to reduce stressors and decrease sensitivity to maximise ecosystem persistence in the face of global climate change.

    12 Dec 2017

    Links:

    Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
  • The Conversation: Blue Planet II: can we really halt the coral reef catastrophe?

    Blue Planet II: can we really halt the coral reef catastrophe?

    14 Nov 2017

    Links:

    Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)
  • The Conversation: Does a new era of bleaching beckon for Indian Ocean coral reefs?

    Roche, R & TURNER, J.R. (2017) Does a new era of bleaching beckon for Indian Ocean coral reefs?http://theconversation.com/does-a-new-era-of-bleaching-beckon-for-indian-ocean-coral-reefs-73938 (3,106 views since March 2017).

    9 Mar 2017

    Links:

    Activity: Types of Public engagement and outreach - Media article or participation (Contributor)

2016

Current Projects:

Bertarelli Programme in Marine Science 2018-2021: Coral Reef condition in the Chagos Archipelago: Monitoring for (1) BIOT’s management needs, and (2) reef change and resilience research.  £2,101,326, with £999,258 to Bangor.  PI Turner.

ESRC IAA Impact Project Award Biodiversity Action Plans for the Chagos Archipelago, British Indian Ocean Territory.  Turner, J.R. (Principal Investigator & Project Lead); Roche, R. (Co-investigator).  £13,692.  1st July 2018, - 31st December 2018.

Recent Projects include:

DEFRA Darwin Plus: Sustainable Management of Threatened Keystone Predators (2015 -2017) to Enhance Reef Resilience. Marine Conservation International (Gore & Ormond), with Department of Environment Cayman Islands (Austin & McCoy),

Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation (Harvey) and Bangor University (Turner). £300, 000 TO MCI.

Satellite drifter tagging – Mixed Fish spawning aggregations on coral reefs in Grand Cayman in collaboration with Cayman Islands Government Department of Environment: Guy Harvey Foundation. $25,000 to CIG DoE.

Aldabra atoll World Heritage Site, Seychelles, Indian Ocean coral reef benthic habitat monitoring. Collaborator (+ Rebecca Klaus) on GEF grant ($69,545) to Seychelles Island Foundation Global Environmental Facility Project ID 3925: Strengthening Seychelles’ protected area system through NGO management modalities.

Darwin Initiative Assuring Engagement in Cayman's Enhanced Marine Protected Area System 2013-2014 DEFRA £190,000

Darwin Initiative to strengthen Worlds largest MPA, Chagos Archipelago 2012-2015 DEFRA £287,778

Darwin Initiative to enhance an established marine protected area system, Cayman Islands 2010-2013 DEFRA £273,914

Sustainable and Environmentally Friendly Aquaculture for the Atlantic Region of Europe 2007-2013, EU RDF (total €2.67m: Species and Ecosystem Conservation in relation to coastal aquaculture (activity lead) €801,765)

Marine Biology and Sustainable Development for East Africa, UNESCO / DfID-DelPHE 2009-14: £53k