Ruth D. Turner Oceanography Room

Named in honor of Ruth D. Turner (1914–2000), a marine biologist who specialized in the study of wood-boring bivalves and was a pioneer in the field of deep-sea biology.

An established biologist in the 1970’s, Turner was one of the first female tenured professors at Harvard and was the first woman to travel in the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s deep-sea submarine, ALVIN. She worked with Robert Ballard, discoverer of the Titanic, identifying shipworms as the cause of the substantial loss of wood in the shipwreck.

Turner was one of the first female members of the prestigious Boston Sea Rovers and was honored with their Diver of the Year Award in 1972. In 1996, she was named Woman Pioneer in Oceanography by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. She became Curator of Malacology at the MCZ late in her career and spent her emeritus years at Harvard encouraging and mentoring students and colleagues.