People

Science is a human endeavor, which should ideally incorporate a variety of voices and benefit all. There remains much work to do to reach that ideal. The Turner lab is committed to fostering broad participation in our pursuit of scientific discovery. We encourage an environment of collaboration, open communication, and trust. These principles allow us to innovate and lead to scientific success.

You are welcome here.

Photo by sylvestrephotography.

Dr. Kathryn G. Turner

Principal Investigator

turnkat2[at]isu.edu / (208) 282-4918

Faculty page

I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Idaho State University. I have taught:

BIOL 1100 Concepts of Biology ('Plants and People')
BIOL 1102 Biology II
BIOL 4406/5506/L Plant Diversity and Evolution ('Plant Genomics')
BIOL 4417/5517 Organic Evolution
BIOL 2280/4480/5580 Vertically Integrated Project: Sagebrush Genetics. This is a research experience course related to the GEM3 research program. See homepage for more information on the VIP.
Honors seminar HONS 3391
- The Entangled World of Humans and Plants with Dr. Georgia Hart-Fredeluces (Anthropology), Spring 2022
- Systems Collapse with Dr. Colin Johnson (Political Science), Spring 2026 (upcoming)

For a taste of my sparkling personality, check out the feature on me at Sully Asks A Scientist.

Photo provided by Rachel Havok.

Rachel Havok

MS student (2024-)

Rachel joined the lab as a CPING REU student in Summer 2022, and was accepted into the MS Biology program in Spring 2024. Rachel is using bioinformatics to investigate population structure in current invasive populations of blue mustard (Chorispora tenella).

Photo by Carson Kantack.

Elizabeth Lay

MS student (2025-)

Elizabeth is again a part of the VIP course.

BS student (graduated December 2024)

Elizabeth was awarded the Young Botanist Award from the Botanical Society of America!! Elizabeth joined the lab as an undergraduate researcher in Fall 2021 and has worked on several projects in the lab. She received an NSF EPSCoR GEM3 SARE internship to work with Carson Kantack on a project related to his sagebrush-cheatgrass competition experiment. Elizabeth has also been a part of the VIP course.

Brad Carr

Doctorate of the Arts student

Brad is joining the lab in Fall 2025!

Bailee Grisham

MS student

Bailee is joining the lab in Fall 2025!

Mateo Barboza

Postbac researcher

Mateo has been part of the VIP since 2024, and is joining lab for the summer after his graduation to continue working on the VIP project with Rachel Havok.

Charlie Medema

Undergraduate student

Charlie has been part of the VIP since 2024, and is joining the lab for Summer 2025 to assist Elizabeth Lay with field work.

Lab Alumni

Photo by Kathryn Turner.

Dr. Brigette Williams

Postdoctoral scholar (2021-2022)

Dr. Williams joined the Turner and Reinhardt labs as a postdoctoral fellow Fall 2021, funded by the NSF EPSCoR GEM3 research program. She was also a part of the VIP course. Dr. Williams is now a Recovery Biologist (plants), in California, at the US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Photo provided by Therese Balkenbush.

Therese Balkenbush

PhD student (2020-2023; withdrawn)

Therese began her PhD work during the fall of 2020. She received her Master's degree from Central Washington University, where she worked on resolving deep relationships in the genus Juniperus, producing a phylogeny using complete and nearly complete chloroplast genomes. She joined the Turner Lab and the NSF EPSCoR GEM3 research program to investigate the adaptive capacity of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) in the context of climate change, altered fire regimes, and human-altered landscapes. Therese was also a part of the VIP course.

Photo provided by Treyton Harris.

Treyton Harris

MS student (2022-2024, Thesis defended October 31, 2024)

treytonharris[at]isu.edu

Treyton joined the lab as an REU undergraduate in Summer 2021, working on a method to non-destructively estimate the age of big sagebrush, and how this method may vary between environments, as part of the Barton RAPID project. He completed a Masters project co-advised by Dr. Turner and Dr. Josh Grinath. His Masters project was funded by an NSF EPSCoR GEM3 seed grant and investigates the ecological impacts of genome size variation in big sagebrush. Treyton has also been part of the VIP course.

Trey is now a a Clinical Assistant Professor with the ISU Bengal Bridge program!

Photo by Kathryn Turner.

Carson Kantack

MS (2020-2023; Thesis defended December 8, 2023)

Carson was the very first student to join the Turner lab as a CPI undergraduate in Spring 2020. He has now defended a Masters project funded by the NSF EPSCoR GEM3 research program addressing how competition from invasive cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) impacts big sagebrush seedlings using a large greenhouse common garden experiment. He was also been a part of the VIP course.

Carson is now a biologist with the US Forest Service!

Photo by Kathryn Turner

Bella Keefe

Undergraduate student (graduated Spring 2025)

Bella joined the lab as an undergraduate researcher/CPI in Spring 2023 and has worked on several projects in the lab, including Carson Kantack's cheatgrass and sagebrush competition experiment and BromeCast satellite experiments.

Photo provided by Audrey Jorgensen.

Audrey Jorgensen

Undergraduate student (graduated Spring 2024)

Audrey joined the lab as a CPI student in Fall 2022. Audrey worked on several projects in the lab, in particular Carson Kantack's cheatgrass and sagebrush competition experiment and Treyton Harris' sagebrush genome size experiment.

Julianne Nielsen

Undergraduate student

Julianne joined the lab as a SARE student Summer 2023. Julianne contributed to the BromeCast satellite experiments.

Saige Jeffs

Undergraduate student

Saige joined the lab as a SARE student Summer and Fall 2023. Saige contributed to the Barton Road collaboration with the J Grinath lab.

Zoe Scott

Undergraduate student (graduated Spring 2023)

Zoe joined the lab as a CPI student Spring 2021 and was also part of the VIP course. Zoe is now an intern with Idaho Fish and Game.

Photo by Carson Kantack.

Michael Clark

Undergraduate student (graduated Spring 2022)

Michael graduated with a BS in Biology: Ecology and Conservation Biology in Spring 2022. Michael joined the lab as a CPI student in Fall 2021 and was also part of the VIP course. Michael worked on several projects in the lab, in particular Carson Kantack's cheatgrass and sagebrush competition experiment.

Photo by Kathryn Turner

Andrew Wehausen

Undergraduate SARE scholar (Summer 2021)

Andrew is an undergraduate at the University of Idaho and joined the lab as a GEM3 SARE student during Summer 2021. Andrew worked with Carson Kantack to understand the impact of invasive cheatgrass competition on big sagebrush seedlings.

Photo by Kathryn Turner.

Miriam Weeks

Undergraduate student (graduated Spring 2021)

Miriam graduated with a BS in Biology in Spring 2021. She joined the lab as a CPI student, and was also part of the VIP course. Miriam worked on an experiment to understand the effects of recent fire on the seedbank of the sagebrush steppe ecosystem at Barton Road Ecological Research Area, and produced and incredibly helpful key to identify plants from Barton at the seedling stage.

Miriam worked as a plant breeder, and has now been accepted into a fabulous STEM teaching fellowship!

Header image: Lupinus texensis, Texas. Image by Kathryn Turner.

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