Published August 14, 2017

Distinguished Alumnus Award

Turner ’67 to receive honor during Homecoming weekend, Nov. 3-5
MONMOUTH, Ill. – Eugene Turner, an internationally recognized expert and researcher into coastal land loss, will be among those honored at Monmouth College’s Alumni Impact Awards on Nov. 3, part of Homecoming weekend festivities.

A 1967 Monmouth graduate who lives in Baton Rouge, La., Turner will receive the College’s Distinguished Alumnus Award, honoring his career, much of it spent at Louisiana State University.

In addition to coastal land loss, Turner is also an expert on nutrient cycling in wetlands, coastal restoration in the Gulf of Mexico, cause and effect of the “Dead Zone” in the Gulf, and water quality in the Midwest and its effects on the Mississippi River. He has collaborated with his wife, Nancy Rabalais, who has received recognition as a McArthur Foundation Fellow.

Turner has received the honor of Boyd Professor, the highest acknowledgement of faculty achievement at Louisiana State. In 2010, he was named LSU’s Shell Endowed Chair in Oceanography/Wetlands Studies.

Among many other honors, Turner has received the National Wetlands Award for science research, an honor co-sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA National Resources Conservation Service and the NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service.

In 1999, Turner shared the Blasker Award for Environmental Science and Engineering with Rabalais.

Monmouth’s 2017 Homecoming will be Nov. 3-5. For more information about the weekend or to register, go to: monmouthcollege.edu/homecoming.
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