Nancy Turner

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Nancy Turner

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OBC|FRSC|FLS|size=100%}}

| image = Nancy Turner ethnobotanist.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Turner in 2015

| birth_name = Nancy Jean Turner

| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1947}}

| birth_place = Berkeley, California, U.S.

| death_date =

| death_place =

| residence =

| citizenship = Canada

| nationality = Canadian

| fields = Ethnobiology
Ethnobotany

| workplaces = School of Environmental Studies,
University of Victoria;
Department of Botany,
University of British Columbia (adjunct)

| alma_mater = University of British Columbia

| thesis_title = Plant taxonomic systems and ethnobotany of three contemporary Indian groups of the Pacific Northwest (Haida, Bella Coola, and Lillooet)

| thesis_url = https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0107164

| thesis_year = 1973

| doctoral_advisor =

| academic_advisors =

| doctoral_students =

| notable_students =

| known_for = compendium of aboriginal culture
and plant lore in British Columbia

| influences =

| influenced =

| awards = R.E. Schultes Award (1997)
Order of British Columbia (1999)
Canadian Botanical Association’s
Lawson Medal (2002)
[http://www.wlbcenter.org/award_fellowship.htm William L. Brown Award] (2008)
Order of Canada (2009)

}}

Nancy Jean Turner {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OBC|FRSC|FLS}} (born 1947) is a Canadian ethnobiologist, originally qualified in botany, who has done extensive research work with the indigenous peoples of British Columbia, the results of which she has documented in a number of books and numerous articles.

Life

Turner was born in Berkeley in California in 1947 but moved to British Columbia when she was five. She obtained her doctorate in Ethnobotany after studying the Bella Coola, Haida and Lillooet indigenous groups of the Pacific North-West. She works by interviewing the groups' elder members to identify their names for plants and their uses. Comparison and scientific analysis of this data has enabled her to draw conclusions.[http://web.uvic.ca/enweb/people/faculty/turner.php University of British Columbia's Department of Botany webpage] Retrieved 23 April 2008 Turner's research documented not only the role that plants have had in these groups' cultures but also the effects that Indigenous peoples have had historically on the landscape of Canada.[https://podtail.com/podcast/deconstructing-dinner/exploring-ethnobiology-ii-nancy-turner/ "Exploring Ethnobiology II: Nancy Turner"], 27 July 2010, Pdtail, Retrieved 17 May 2016

Order of British Columbia

The Government of British Columbia admitted Nancy Turner to the Order of British Columbia in 1999 and describe her, her work, and her contributions as follows:[http://www.orderofbc.gov.bc.ca/members/obc-1999/1999-nancy-turner/ 1999 Recipient: Nancy J. Turner – Victoria | Order of BC] Retrieved 24 April 2008

Nancy J. Turner ... is an internationally-distinguished scholar and scientist who has devoted her life to documenting the endangered knowledge of First Nations. As a pioneer in ethnobiology, her more than 25 years of research have focused on the diverse interactions of First Peoples in British Columbia with the ecosystems they depended on and the critical role of plant resources for foods, medicines and materials. Her research will be seen as a most valuable compendium of aboriginal culture and plant lore in British Columbia.

Bibliography

=Books written=

{{cite book

| last = Turner

| first = Nancy J.

| authorlink =

| title = Food Plants of Coastal First Peoples

| publisher = UBC Press

| series = Royal British Columbia Museum Handbook series

| year = 1995

| isbn = 0-7726-5627-4}}

{{cite book

| last = Turner

| first = Nancy J.

| authorlink =

| title = Food Plants of Interior First Peoples

| publisher = UBC Press

| series = Royal British Columbia Museum Handbook series

| year = 1997

| isbn = 978-0-7726-5846-3}}

{{cite book

| last = Turner

| first = Nancy J.

| authorlink =

| title = Plant Technology of First Peoples in British Columbia.

| publisher = UBC Press

| series = Royal British Columbia Museum Handbook series

| year = 1998

| isbn = 0-7718-8117-7}}

{{cite book

| last = Turner

| first = Nancy J.

| authorlink =

| title = Plants of Haida Gwaii

| place = Winlaw, B.C

| publisher = Sono Nis Press

| year = 2004

| isbn = 1-55039-144-5}}{{cite journal|url=https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1103&context=anth_fac|author=Deur, Douglas|date=Summer 2004|title=Review of Plants of Haida Gwaii by N.J. Turner|journal=BC Studies|pages=209–301|issue=142–143}}

{{cite book

| last = Turner

| first = Nancy J.

| authorlink =

| title = The Earth's Blanket, Traditional Teachings for Sustainable Living.

| place = Vancouver

| publisher = Douglas & McIntyre

| year = 2005

| isbn = 1-55365-081-6}}

{{cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Nancy J. |last2=Hebda |first2=Richard J. |title=Saanich ethnobotany: culturally important plants of the WSANEC people |date=2012 |publisher=Royal BC Museum |location=Victoria, BC |isbn=978-0-7726-6577-5}}
Turner, Nancy J. (2014). Ancestral Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Knowledge of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America. 2 vols. Kingston and Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-7735-4380-5}}.
Turner, Nancy J & Charlie, Luschiim Arvid (2021). Luschiim’s Plants: Traditional Indigenous Foods, Materials and Medicines Harbour Publishing. {{ISBN|9781550179453}}.

=Books edited=

Deur, Douglas & Turner, Nancy J. (eds.) (2005) Keeping It Living, Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America. Vancouver: UBC Press and Seattle: University of Washington Press.
Turner, Nancy J., Marianne B. Ignace and Sandra L. Peacock, editors. (2016) Secwepemc people and plants : research papers in Shuswap ethnobotany. Tacoma, WA : Society of Ethnobiology. {{ISBN|978-0-9887-3305-3}}.
Turner, Nancy J. (ed) (2020) Plants, People, and Places: The Roles of Ethnobotany and Ethnoecology in Indigenous Peoples' Land Rights in Canada and Beyond. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-2280-0183-6}}

=Articles online=

{{Cite web

| last1 = Hunn

| first1 = Eugene S

| author-link =

| last2 = Turner

| first2 = Nancy J

| author2-link =

| last3 = French

| first3 = David H

| author3-link =

| title = Ethnobiology and Subsistence

|url = https://faculty.washington.edu/hunn/vitae/Plateau_subsistence_HNAI.pdf

| accessdate = 2008-04-24

| isbn =

}}

{{Cite web

| last = Turner

| first = Nancy

| author-link =

| title = Keeping it Living: Applications and Relevance of Traditional Plant Management in British Columbia to Sustainable Harvesting of Non-timber Forest Products

| url = http://www.ncrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/other/gtr%E2%88%92nc217/gtr_nc217page%20066.pdf

| accessdate = 2008-04-24

| isbn =

}}.

Distinctions

R.E. Schultes Award (1997)[http://communications.uvic.ca/releases/release.php?display=release&id=797 University of Victoria Media Release] Retrieved 27 April 2008
Order of British Columbia (1999)
Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1999){{Cite web |title=Member Directory {{!}} The Royal Society of Canada |url=https://rsc-src.ca/en/find-rsc-member/results?combine=&first_name=Nancy&last_name=Turner¤t_employer=&academy_25=All&is_deceased=All |access-date=2022-09-28 |website=rsc-src.ca}}
Canadian Botanical Association’s Lawson Medal (2002)
Killam Research Fellowship (2007)
William L. Brown Award for Excellence in Genetic Resource Conservation (2008){{cite web|url=http://www.wlbcenter.org/award_2008.htm|title=The 2008 William L. Brown Award|author=|date=2014|website=William L. Brown Center for Plant Genetic Resources|publisher=Missouri Botanical Garden|accessdate=31 March 2014}}
Order of Canada (2009){{Cite web |title=Ms. Nancy Turner |url=https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-8932 |access-date=2022-09-28 |website=The Governor General of Canada}}

External links

[https://ethnobiology.org/ Society of Ethnobiology]
[https://www.uvic.ca/socialsciences/environmental/people/faculty/emeritus/turnernancy.php University of Victoria staff page]
[http://web.uvic.ca/enweb/people/faculty/turner.php]
[http://web.uvic.ca/enweb/pdf/Turner_CV%25202010.pdf]
[http://www.wa-ter.ca/DrNancyTurner.pdf Dr Nancy Turner], wa-ter.ca
[http://communications.uvic.ca/edge/turner.html Nancy Turner], Uvic.ca