Wisconsin Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit Staff Member
Dr. Wendy Turner
Unit Leader
Email: wturner@usgs.gov
Faculty Email: wendy.turner@wisc.edu
Biography
Dr. Turner received graduate degrees from University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa and University of California, Berkeley. She was an NSF International Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Oslo, Norway, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Albany, State University of New York before joining the Wisconsin Unit in 2020. Dr. Turner specializes in wildlife disease ecology, currently studying disease transmission dynamics for chronic wasting disease in white-tailed deer in the Midwest, anthrax in mammalian herbivores in Namibia and South Africa, and white-nose syndrome in coastal Northern long-eared bats in the northeastern United States. Dr. Turner’s research aims to fill critical gaps in our knowledge of disease transmission and variation in disease outbreaks over space and time. She takes a broad approach to investigating disease systems from the three sides of the “disease triangle” incorporating how variation in hosts, pathogens and the environment modulate host-pathogen contact, disease transmission, and ultimately disease outbreaks in host populations or communities. Dr. Turner focuses on disease systems with environmental transmission, specifically pathogens that can survive for extensive periods in the off-host environment. Dr. Turner has taught courses on ecology, the ecology and evolution of wildlife diseases, graduate research approaches, and Namibian conservation.
Areas of Expertise
Behavioral Ecology, Disease/Parasites, Epidemiology, Movement Ecology
Taxon Groups Studied
Bats, Ungulates
| Research Publications | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| Turner, W.C., S. Périquet, C.E. Goelst, K. Vera, E.Z. Cameron, K.A. Alexander, J.L. Belant, C.C. Cloete, P. du Preez, W.M. Getz, R.S. Hetem, P.L. Kamath, M. Kasaona, M. Mackenzie, J. Mendelsohn, J.K.E. Mfune, J.R. Muntifering, R. Portas, H.A. Scott, W. M. Strauss, W. Versfeld, B. Wachter, G. Wittemyer, and J.W. Kilian. 2022. Africa’s drylands in a changing world: Challenges for wildlife conservation under climate and land-use changes in the Greater Etosha Landscape. Global Ecology and Conservation, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02221. | Abstract | Publisher Website | July 2022 |
| Turner, W.C., P.L. Kamath, H. van Heerden, Z. Barandongo, Y.-H. Huang, S.A. Bruce and K. Kausrud. 2021. The roles of environmental variation and parasite survival in virulence-transmission relationships. Royal Society Open Science, 8: 210088. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.210088 | Abstract | Publisher Website | June 2021 |
| Stears, K., M.H. Schmitt, W.C. Turner, D.J. McCauley, E.A. Muse, H. Kiwango, D. Matheyo and B.M. Mutayoba. Hippopotamus movements structure the spatiotemporal dynamics of an active anthrax outbreak, Ecosphere, 12(6):e03540. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3540 | Abstract | Publisher Website | June 2021 |
| Starkloff, N. C., W. C. Turner, A. M. FitzGerald, M. C. Oftedal, E. S. Martinsen, and J. J. Kirchman. 2021. Disentangling the effects of host relatedness and elevation on haemosporidian parasite turnover in a clade of songbirds. Ecosphere. 12(5):e03497 | Abstract | Publisher Website | May 2021 |
| Prentice, M.B., M.L.J. Gilbertson, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner, D.P. Walsh, M.E. Pinkerton, P.L Kamath. 2024. Metagenomic sequencing sheds light on microbes putatively associated with pneumonia-related fatalities of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Microbial Genomics, 10:001214. https://doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.001214 | March 2024 |
| Ochai, S.O., J.E. Crafford, P.L. Kamath, W.C. Turner, H. van Heerden. 2023. Development of conjugated secondary antibodies for wildlife disease surveillance. Frontiers in Immunology, 14: 1221071. | Abstract | Publisher Website | July 2023 |
| Ochai, S.O., J. Crafford, A. Hassim, C. Byaruhanga, Y.-H. Huang, A. Hartmann, E.H. Dekker, O.L. van Schalkwyk, P.L. Kamath, W.C. Turner, and H. van Heerden. 2022. Immunological evidence of variation in exposure and immune response to Bacillus anthracis in herbivores of Kruger and Etosha National Parks. Frontiers in Immunology, 13:814031. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.814031 | Abstract | Publisher Website | February 2022 |
| Inzalaco, H.N., F. Bravo Risi, R. Morales, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner, S.S. Lichtenberg. 2023. Ticks harbor and excrete chronic wasting disease prions. Scientific Reports, 13:7838. | Abstract | Publisher Website | May 2023 |
| Inzalaco, H.N., E.E. Brandell, S. Wilson, M. Hunsaker, D.R. Stahler, K. Woelfel, D.P. Walsh, T. Nordeen, D.J. Storm, S.S. Lichtenberg, W.C. Turner. 2024. Detection of prions from spiked and free-ranging carnivore feces, Scientific Reports, 14: 3804. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-44167-7 | Abstract | Publisher Website | February 2024 |
| Huang, Y.-H., N. Owen-Smith, M.D. Henley, P.L. Kamath, J.W. Kilian, S.O. Ochai, H. van Heerden, J.K.E. Mfune, W.M. Getz, W.C. Turner. 2023. Variation in herbivore space use comparing two savanna ecosystems with different anthrax outbreak patterns in southern Africa. Movement Ecology, 11:46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-023-00385-2 | Abstract | July 2023 |
| Huang, Y.-H., K. Kausrud, A. Hassim, S.O. Ochai, O.L. van Schalkwyk, E.H. Dekker, A. Buyantuyev, C.C. Cloete, J.W. Kilian, P.L. Kamath, H. van Heerden, and W.C. Turner. 2022. Environmental drivers of biseasonal anthrax outbreak dynamics in two multi-host savanna ecosystems. Ecological Monographs. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecm.1526 | Abstract | Publisher Website | April 2022 |
| Huang, Y.-H., H. Joel, M. Küsters, Z. Barandongo, C.C. Cloete, W.M. Getz, A. Hartmann, P.L. Kamath, J.W. Kilian, J.K.E. Mfune, G. Shatumbu, R. Zidon, and W.C. Turner. 2021. Disease or drought: environmental fluctuations release zebra from a potential pathogen-triggered ecological trap. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B. Biological Sciences, 288: 20210582. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2021.0582 | Abstract | Publisher Website | June 2021 |
| Hoff, S., C.J. Pendergast, L. Johnson, E. Olson, D. O'Dell, Z. Dowling, K.M. Gorman, C. Herzog and W.C. Turner. 2024. Seasonal roost characterization and fall behavior of coastal northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) populations, Journal of Mammalogy, 105:(2): 277-288. DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyad102 | Abstract | Publisher Website | November 2023 |
| Gomez, L.M., V.A. Meszaro, W.C. Turner and C.B. Ogbunugafor. 2020. The epidemiological signature of pathogen populations that vary in the relationship between free-living survival and virulence. Viruses, 12(9):1055. https://doi.org/10.3390/v12091055 | Abstract | Publisher Website | September 2020 |
| Gilbertson, M.L.J., E.E. Brandell, M. Pinkerton, N. Meaux, M. Hunsaker, D. Jarosinski, W. Ellarson, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner. 2022. Cause of death, pathology, and chronic wasting disease status of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) mortalities in Wisconsin, Journal of Wildlife Diseases, https://doi.org/10.7589/JWD-D-21-00202 | Abstract | Publisher Website | October 2022 |
| Gilbertson, M.L.J., A. Ketz, M. Hunsaker, D. Jarosinski, W. Ellarson, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner. 2022. Agricultural land use shapes dispersal in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), Movement Ecology, 10:43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40462-022-00342-5 | Abstract | October 2022 |
| Dougherty, E.R., D.P. Seidel, J.K. Blackburn, W.C. Turner, W.M Getz. 2022. A framework for integrating inferred movement behavior into disease risk models. Movement Ecology, 10, 31. | Abstract | Publisher Website | July 2022 |
| Dolfi, A., K. Kausrud, K. Rysava, C. Champagne, Y-H Huang, Z.R. Barandongo, W.C. Turner. 2024. Season of death, pathogen persistence and wildlife behavior alter the number of anthrax secondary infections from environmental reservoirs, Proceedings of the Royal Society B - Biological Sciences, 291: 20232568. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2023.2568 | Abstract | February 2024 |
| Bruce, S.A., Y-H. Huang, P.L. Kamath, H. van Heerden and W.C. Turner. 2021. The roles of antimicrobial resistance, phage diversity, isolation source and selection in shaping the genomic architecture of Bacillus anthracis, Microbial Genomics, 7:000616. DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000616 | Abstract | Publisher Website | August 2021 |
| Brandell, E.E., D.J. Storm, T.R. Van Deelen, D.P. Walsh, W.C. Turner. A call to action: standardizing white-tailed deer harvest data in the Midwestern United States and implications for quantitative analysis and disease management, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10:943411. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.943411 | Abstract | October 2022 |
| Barandongo, Z.R. A.C. Dolfi, Y-H. Huang, K. Rysava, S.A. Bruce, P.L. Kamath, H. van Heerden and W.C. Turner. 2023. The persistence of time: the lifespan of Bacillus anthracis spores in environmental reservoirs, Research in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resmic.2023.104029 | Abstract | Publisher Website | January 2023 |
| Presentations | Presentation Date |
|---|---|
| W.C. Turner & J.W. Kilian. Challenges for wildlife conservation under climate and land-use changes in the Greater Etosha Landscape, Namibia. Wisconsin Chapter of The Wildlife Society Winter Meeting March, 2022 (online). | March 2022 |
| Turner, W.C., A.C. Dolfi, Z.R. Barandongo. Anthrax transmission dynamics: heterogeneity in pathogen survival and host behavior affects secondary infections arising from infectious carcass sites. W71st Annual International Conference<br>of the Wildlife Disease Association, July 29-August 4th, 2023, Athens, Georgia. | July 2023 |
| Turner, W.C. and Y.-H. Huang. 2022. Environmental variation and host behaviors alter spatiotemporal patterns of anthrax outbreaks contrasting two African savannas. 10th International Conference on <i>Bacillus </i><i>anthracis</i>, <i>B. cereus</i> and <i>B. </i><i>thuringiensis</i> in Paris, France, April 24-28, 2022. | April 2022 |
| Prentice, M.B., M.L.J. Gilbertson, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner, D.P. Walsh, M.E. Pinkerton, P.L. Kamath. Metagenomic sequencing to identify the etiologic agent responsible for pneumonia-related mortality in Wisconsin white-tailed deer. 70<sup>th</sup> Annual International Conference, Wildlife Disease Association, Madison, Wisconsin, 23-29 July 2022. | July 2022 |
| Ochai, S.O., Turner, W.C., and van Heerden, H. 2021. Immunological evidence of host variation in exposure and resistance to anthrax in Kruger and Etosha National Parks. 9th International Conference on <i>Bacillus anthracis</i>, <i>B. cereus</i> and <i>B. thuringiensis</i>, Paris, France, April 26-28, 2021 (virtual). | April 2021 |
| Ochai, S.O., J. Crafford, A. Hassim, C. Byaruhanga, Y.-H. Huang, A. Hartmann, E.H. Dekker, O.L. van Schalkwyk, P.L. Kamath, W.C. Turner, and H. van Heerden. 2022. Immunological evidence of variation in exposure and immune response to <i>Bacillus anthracis</i> in herbivores of Kruger and Etosha National Parks. 19<sup>th</sup> Annual Congress, Southern African Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventative Medicine, East London, South Africa, 24-26 August 2022. | August 2022 |
| McGahan, I., F. Mandujano, D. Storm, M. Gilbertson, S. Lichtenberg, J. Powell, D. Walsh, J. Zhu, W.C. Turner. Modeling host behavior and environmental transmission of chronic wasting disease. Annual Conference of Research Workers in Animal Diseases (CRWAD), Chicago, Illinois, USA, January 20-23, 2024. | January 2023 |
| Ketz, A. C., D. J. Storm, W. C. Turner, and D. P. Walsh. 2023. Progression of a chronic wasting disease epizootic: A spatiotemporal integrated population model. 4th International CWD Symposium. Denver, Colorado, USA. May 31- June 2, 2023. | May 2023 |
| Kausrud, K., W. Turner, R. Easterday, M. Feiring, T. Skjerdal, J. Whittington, Y. Kausrud, B. Ogbunu, M. Norström, H. Schønhaug, N.C. Stenseth. Evolving at the speed of risk. One Health EJP Annual Scientific Meeting 2021, June, Copenhagen | June 2021 |
| Kausrud, K., K. Lagesen, J.D. Whittington, W.R. Easterday, C. Wolff, W. Turner, M. Feiring, N.C. Stenseth. How much time have we got? One Health EJP Annual Scientific Meeting Satellite Workshop 2021 Software Fair, 9-11 June 2021 in Copenhagen, Denmark. | June 2021 |
| Katircioglu, S., M. Hunsaker, A. Herbst, S.S. Lichtenberg, D.J. Storm, D.P. Walsh, W.C. Turner. Comparing relative PrP(CWD) loads in soil from deer scrapes and food plots in southern Wisconsin. 4th International Conference on Chronic Wasting Disease | May 2023 |
| Inzalaco, H.N., S.S. Lichtenberg, F. Bravo Risi, R. Morales, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner, J.A. Pedersen. Black-legged ticks (<i>Ixodes scapularis</i>) harbor and excrete chronic wasting disease prions from infected blood meals. 70<sup>th</sup> Annual International Conference, Wildlife Disease Association, Madison, Wisconsin, 23-29 July 2022. | July 2022 |
| Inzalaco, H.N., S.S. Lichtenberg, F. Bravo Risi, R. Morales, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner, J.A. Pedersen. Black-legged ticks (<i>Ixodes scapularis</i>) harbor and excrete chronic wasting disease prions from infected blood meals. 29<sup>th</sup> Annual Conference, The Wildlife Society, Spokane, Washington, 6-10 November 2022. | November 2022 |
| Inzalaco, H.N., M.L.J. Gilbertson, S. Katircioglu, K. Lepard, J. McEarl, A. Bibb, J. Dennison, D. Grove, A. Houston, D.J. Storm, D.P. Walsh, W.C. Turner, S.S. Lichtenberg. Artificial mineral sites that pre-date endemic chronic wasting disease become prion hotspots. 4th International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium. Denver, Colorado, USA. May 30 – June 2, 2023. | May 2023 |
| Inzalaco, H.N., E.E. Brandell, S. Wilson, M. Hunsaker, D.R. Stahler, K. Woelfel, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, S.S. Lichtenberg, W.C. Turner. A prion in a poop-stack: detection tools and carnivore-based surveillance of chronic wasting disease. 4th International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium. Denver, Colorado, USA. May 30 – June 2, 2023. | May 2023 |
| Huang, Y.-H., H. Joel, M. Küsters, Z.R. Barandongo, C.C. Cloete, A. Hartmann, P.L. Kamath, J.W. Kilian, J.K.E. Mfune, G. Shatumbu, R. Zidon, W.M. Getz and W.C. Turner. Disease or drought: environmental fluctuations release zebra from a potential pathogen-triggered ecological trap, <i>Research Frontiers in Animal Behavior and Parasitism, A Virtual Symposium at the Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases, May 20-21, 2021, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.</i> | May 2021 |
| Huang, Y.-H., H. Joel, M. Küsters, Z.R. Barandongo, C.C. Cloete, A. Hartmann, P.L. Kamath, J.W. Kilian, J.K.E. Mfune, G. Shatumbu, R. Zidon, W.M. Getz and W.C. Turner. Disease or drought: environmental fluctuations release zebra from a potential pathogen-triggered ecological trap, 18th Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases (online) meeting, 14-17 June, Montpellier, France | June 2021 |
| Gilbertson, M.L.J., E.E. Brandell, M.E. Pinkerton, N.M. Meaux, M. Hunsaker, D. Jarosinski, W. Ellarson, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner. Cause of death, pathology, and chronic wasting disease status of white-tailed deer mortalities in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Chapter of The Wildlife Society Winter Meeting March, 2022 (online). | March 2022 |
| Gilbertson, M.L.J., E.E. Brandell, M.E. Pinkerton, N.M. Meaux, M. Hunsaker, D. Jarosinski, W. Ellarson, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner. Cause of death, pathology, and chronic wasting disease status of white-tailed deer mortalities in Wisconsin. 70<sup>th</sup> Annual International Conference, Wildlife Disease Association, Madison, Wisconsin, 23-29 July 2022. | July 2022 |
| Gilbertson, M.L.J., A. Ketz, M. Hunsaker, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner. Seasonal variation in white-tailed deer (<i>Odocoileus virginianus</i>) habitat selection, encounter locations, and chronic wasting disease transmission potential. 4<sup>th</sup> International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium. Denver, Colorado, USA. May 30 – June 2, 2023. | May 2023 |
| Gilbertson, M.L.J., A. Ketz, M. Hunsaker, D. Jarosinski, W. Ellarson, D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner. Land use shapes dispersal in white-tailed deer (<i>Odocoileus virginianus</i>). 29<sup>th</sup> Annual Conference, The Wildlife Society, Spokane, Washington, 6-10 November 2022. | November 2022 |
| Brandell, E.E., D.P. Walsh, D.J. Storm, W.C. Turner. White-tailed deer management structures and the effects of management on harvest. Wisconsin Chapter of The Wildlife Society Winter Meeting March, 2022 (online). | March 2022 |
| Brandell, E. E., W. Turner, D. P. Walsh, D. Storm, B. Wojcik and T. Van Deelen. 2023. Evaluating white-tailed deer harvest in Wisconsin and relationships to management practices and chronic wasting disease. 4<sup>th</sup> International Chronic Wasting Disease Symposium. Denver, Colorado, USA. May 30 – June 2, 2023. | May 2023 |
| Barandongo, Z.R., Huang, Y.-H., Dolfi, A.C., Bruce, S.A. and Turner, W.C. 2021. Environmental and genetic factors affecting <i>Bacillus anthracis</i> spore concentrations at anthrax carcass sites. 9th International Conference on <i>Bacillus anthracis</i>, <i>B. cereus</i> and <i>B. thuringiensis</i>, Paris, France, April 26-28, 2021 (virtual).<br><b> </b> | April 2021 |
| Type | Citation | Publication Date |
|---|---|---|
| Data Release | Turner, W. C. and Barandongo, Z. R., 2023. Zebra anthrax carcass site pathogen and soil data from Namibia, 2010-2021: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9TDAY91. | January 2023 |
| Data Release | Inzalaco, H. N., and Lichtenberg, S. S., 2023, Real-time quaking-induced conversion assay data for membrane-fed ticks and wild-fed tick and deer tissues from hunter harvested white-tailed deer from Wisconsin, 2021: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9CAMSWN. | March 2022 |