Amy Turner came to IALR with over 15 years of experience in the field of agriculture research, working with North Carolina State University in Crop Stress Physiology and Clemson University in Turfgrass Pathology. In 2011, she was employed as Plant Propagation Laboratory Manager of the Dan River Plant Propagation Center, an IALR commercial spin-off. In 2014, Amy was cross-trained to assist in the IALR Advanced Materials Program by attending courses at the Charlotte, N.C., Polymers Center of Excellence. After returning full-time to the Applied Research program in 2018, her areas of research included acquisition of plant material for isolation of plant endophytic bacteria and assisting with IALR’s endophytic bacteria screening process. To address the growing regional interest in agricultural production of industrial hemp, IALR has incorporated hemp into its research efforts. To date, Amy has conducted greenhouse and growth chamber trials utilizing IALR’s plant endophyte library resources on both fiber- and CBD-producing strains of industrial hemp. Contracted research efforts in hemp include studies of product efficacy and residue analysis.
In addition to research, Amy is also involved with the planning and implementation of IALR hemp-related education and research events, which promote the benefits of this unique crop to growers and hemp-related businesses in the region.
Amy is also the Program Manager of the Southern Virginia Vineyard Development and Expansion Cost-Share Program, a Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission cost-share grant administered by IALR that provides monetary assistance to vineyards in South and Southwest Virginia. Information about the grant can be found at TRRCgrape.com.
Skillsets
BIOLOGY
- Plant Tissue Culture and Micropropagation
- Plant Transformation
- Agrobacterium mediated plant transformation
Plant Pathology Techniques:
- Fungal Isolation and Culture
- Parasitic Nematode Isolation and Identification
Field and Greenhouse Research:
- Plant Endophyte Growth Promotion Studies on Industrial Hemp
- Contracted Research on Industrial Hemp: Product Efficacy of Biological Products and Residue Analysis
- Studies to address sampling discrepancies in Industrial Hemp; Timing X Sampling Location Project in Industrial Hemp
- New Crop Introduction/Evaluation, Purple Sweet Potato
- Turfgrass Pathology
- Crop Stress Physiology
- Soil Fertility
ADVANCED MATERIALS
Materials processing including:
- Single screw extrusion
- Twin screw extrusion
- Injection molding
Materials characterization including:
- Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)
- Differential scanning calorimetery (DSC)
- Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA)
- Tensile, 3-point bend, and compression testing
- Impact testing
- Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR)
- Melt flow index
- Capillary rheology
CAMF – Additive Manufacturing Fundamentals Certification
