Turner, Fawn

Dr. Fawn Turner

Biology
fturner@okanagan.bc.ca
Office Portable 1 100
Kelowna Campus
250-762-5445 ext. 6489

Recipient of OC’s 2023-24 Instructional Excellence Award. In my classrooms, I embrace a relationship-based pedagogy of mutual respect and care for where my students are in their journeys through academia and life.  I enjoy supporting students to effectively learn within my classrooms, as well as serving as a resource for them in broader capacities at OC, including on the Positive Spaces Committee, the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Prevention Committee, and as an EDISJ Ambassador. 


Credentials:
Ph.D., Plant Sciences in Agriculture, University of Guelph
M.Sc., Plant Sciences in Agriculture, University of Guelph
B.Sc., Biology


My expertise is in Plant Sciences, particularly pertaining to Agriculture.  My Ph.D.
focused on breeding superior agronomic traits (including improved yield, market-driven preferences, grower-needs, and disease resistance) through conventional and advanced genomic strategies. This work had major foci in the fields of genetics, genomics, plant physiology, and microbiology.  My M.Sc. focused on plant competitors (weeds) in various managed ecosystems, in response to the implementation of Ontario’s Cosmetic Pesticide Ban.  This project focused on the ecology of different weed species’ emergence timing and establishment within diverse environments, the effect of various cultural management practices on their survival, and the diversity of insect species present within these ecosystems.  I have taught numerous subjects related to Plant Science in Agriculture including viticulture, plant breeding, landscape plants, plant agriculture, and the biology of managed ecosystems.  At OC, I have been thrilled to teach Vascular Plants (Botany), as well as Ecology, which draw from my MSc and PhD.  In my Biology B.Sc., I had a multidisciplinary focus on human, animal, and environmental sciences, which I’ve enjoyed revisiting to teach various Biology courses for Associate of Science, University-Transfer, Arts, and Nursing students.  Additionally, I have taught Human Anatomy for the Kinesiology department at OC.