Conservation leader Debi Turney finishes her master's studies

OXFORD, Ohio – Fallbrook resident Debi Turney has been applying the tools of science, education and conservation to become a leader in the conservation community. In mid-December 2020, Turney earned her Master of Arts in biology from Miami University through Project Dragonfly.

Since joining the Advanced Inquiry Program master's program in 2018, Turney has taken courses on the web from Miami University, while also participating in on-site and field studies at San Diego Zoo Global and has conducted projects that have made a difference in the Fallbrook area. She has been researching the overuse of fertilizers and their effect on the environment. This study inspired her to focus on native plants and natural fertilizing techniques and encourage others to do the same.

Throughout her time in the Advanced Inquiry Program, Turney developed a master plan, a kind of personal mission statement for what she wanted to accomplish in the program. In many of her courses, Turney designed projects that supported this plan, which culminated in a final portfolio, "The Creation of an Ecological Garden Based on the Tenets of Permaculture," presented in a capstone course.

The AIP master's degree is a web-based degree offered by Miami University with experiential learning and community engagement at affiliated AIP Master Institutions in Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Jacksonville, New York, San Diego, Seattle and St. Louis.

More information about the AIP is located at https://projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu/advanced-inquiry-program/.

Miami University's Project Dragonfly reaches millions of people each year through inquiry-driven learning media, public exhibits and graduate programs worldwide. Project Dragonfly is based in the department of biology at Miami University, a state university in Oxford, Ohio.

Submitted by Miami University.