Katie Turo

BS in Environmental Science, Messiah College, 2013

BA in English, Messiah College, 2013

PhD in Entomology, The Ohio State University, 2021

Postdoc, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources, Rutgers University, 2025

The Turo lab studies the causes and consequences of biodiversity change in the Anthropocene. A central theme of the lab’s work is Reconciliation Ecology, or the advancement of land management strategies to satisfy human needs while conserving biodiversity and healthy ecosystem functioning. As such, our conservation research is frequently based in anthropogenic landscapes, including forested, agricultural and urban systems, and we integrate human dimensions into our work.

As a model system, we often work with plant-pollinator communities. Pollinators have complex responses to global change, provide important ecosystem services, and there is growing concern about global bee decline. Plant-pollinator interactions also represent one of the most fascinating ecological relationships—mutualisms. Our lab combines large-scale field studies with molecular and quantitative tools to ask basic and applied questions about native bee communities, species interactions, foraging behavior, landscape processes, and conservation practices. We frequently partner with non-profits like The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and The Audubon Society.

Current grants in the lab focus on native bees in northeastern deciduous forests and ask questions like, (1) which forest plants are important forage for bees? (2) what is the extent of mutualistic asymmetry between the plants that bees feed on and those they pollinate? And (3) how do wild bee communities respond to timber harvesting across large spatial and temporal scales? Dr. Turo also has research interests in urban bee ecology and conservation (see Publications) and we are excited to begin partnering with local urban farms in New York City to co-create research that benefits community
development.

**The Turo Lab is actively recruiting graduate students to join us in Fall 2026, and we encourage interested students to contact Dr. Turo about research and funding opportunities.**

Article copies are available on the lab website. Feel free to contact Dr. Turo ([email protected])  if you have any questions about our work.

† junior scientist co-author

19. Turo KJ, RT Richardson, M Frabotta†, RM Johnson, MM Gardiner (2025) Urban farms support cavity-nesting bees and DNA metabarcoding reveals weeds are key pollen resources. (in revision, Landscape and Urban Planning) Preprint

18. Weinman LR, KJ Turo, T Ress†, R Winfree (2025) Floral visitation and pollen collection by native bees in temperate deciduous forests with diverse understory communities. Journal of Forestry.

17. Pham MA, KJ Turo, KI Perry, CA Shepard, J Copley†, MM Gardiner (2025) Planting native wildflowers improves vacant land as bee habitat in a post-industrial city. Ecological Entomology. doi: 10.1111/een.13431

16. Tsang TPN, … KJ Turo, et al. [144 authors] (2025) Land use change consistently reduces α but not β and γ diversity of bees. Global Change Biology. doi: 10.1111/gcb.70006

15. Giulian JW†, MW McCarthy, SR Wilhelm†, AH Aldercotte, KJ Turo (2024) Rediscovering Colletes bradleyi (Hymenoptera: Colletidae): First notes on natural history, male description, and a range extension. Journal of Kansas Entomological Society.

14. Turo KJ, JR Reilly, TPM Fijen, A Magrach, R Winfree (2024) Insufficient pollinator visitation often limits yield in crop systems worldwide. Nature Ecology and Evolution. doi: 10.1038/s41559-024-02460-2

13. Perry KI, CA Bahlai, TJ Assal, CB Riley, KJ Turo, L Taylor, YA Delgado de la Flor, FS Sivakoff, MM Gardiner (2024) Landscape change and alien invasions drive shifts in native lady beetle communities over a century. Ecological Applications. doi: 10.1002/eap.3024

12. Bell KL, KJ Turo, A Lowe, K Nota, A Keller, F Encinas-Viso, L Parducci, R Richardson, R Legget, B Brosi, K Burgess, Y Suyama, N deVere (2022) Plants, pollinators, and their interactions under global ecological change: The role of pollen DNA metabarcoding. Molecular Ecology doi:
10.1111/mec.16689

11. Turo KJ, MM Gardiner (2021) Effects of urban greenspace configuration and native vegetation on bee and wasp reproduction. Conservation Biology. doi: 10.1111/cobi.13753

10. Gardiner MM, KI Perry, CR Riley, KJ Turo, FS Sivakoff, YA Delgado de la Flor (2021) Community science data suggests that urbanization and forested habitat loss threaten aphidophagous native lady beetles. Ecology and Evolution 11: 2761–2774. doi: 10.1002/ece3.7229

9. Turo KJ, MR Spring, FS Sivakoff, YA Delgado de la Flor, MM Gardiner (2021) Conservation in post-industrial cities: How does vacant land management and landscape configuration influence urban bees? Journal of Applied Ecology 58: 58-69 doi: 10.1111/1365-2664.13773

8. Turo KJ, MM Gardiner (2020) The balancing act of urban conservation. Nature Communications. 11: 1-5. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-17539-0

7. Parker DM, KJ Turo, YA Delgado de la Flor, MM Gardiner (2020) Landscape context influences the abundance and richness of native lady beetles occupying urban vacant land. Urban Ecosystems 23: 1299–1310. doi: 10.1007/s11252-020-01000-7

6. Delgado de la Flor YA, KI Perry, KJ Turo, DM Parker, JL Thompson†, MM Gardiner (2020) Local & landscape-scale environmental filters drive the functional diversity and taxonomic composition of spiders across urban greenspaces. Journal of Applied Ecology 57: 1570–1580.
doi: 10.1111/1365‐2664.13636

5. Turo KJ, MM Gardiner (2019) From potential to practical: Conserving bees in urban public greenspace. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 17: 167-175. doi: 10.1002/fee.2015

4. Yang L, KJ Turo, CB Riley, E Alfaro Inocente, J Tian†, N Hoekstra, PM Piermarini, MM Gardiner (2019) Can urban greening lead to increased vector abundances in cities? The impact of mowing, landscape patterns, and local vegetation on adult mosquito populations. Urban Ecosystems 22: 827–839. doi: 10.1007/s11252-019-00857-7

3. Todd KJ, MM Gardiner, ED Lindquist (2016) Mass flowering crops as a conservation resource for wild pollinators (Hymenoptera: Apoidea). Journal of Kansas Entomological Society 89: 158–167. doi: 10.2317/0022-8567-89.2.158

2. Wagner DL, KJ Todd (2016) New ecological assessment for the emerald ash borer: A cautionary tale about unvetted host-plant literature. American Entomologist 62:26–35. doi: 10.1093/ae/tmw005

1. Wagner DL, KJ Todd (2015) Ecological impacts of emerald ash borer. In: Van Driesche RG, Reardon RC (eds) Biology and control of emerald ash borer. USFS Technology Transfer Bulletin FHTET-
2014-09, USDA Forest Service, Morgantown, WV, pp 15–62.