Sarah Turner received her PhD in primatology (Anthropology) from the University of Calgary. Before joining Concordia in August 2017, Sarah was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biology at McGill University. Her research focuses on the behavioural ecology of nonhuman primates and other animals, and especially on how behaviour is influenced by human-induced environmental change. She conducts fieldwork at the Awajishima Monkey Center in Japan, observing the behaviour of free-ranging Japanese macaques with physical disabilities, testing hypotheses related to behavioural plasticity, mother-infant interactions, habitat use, and social behaviours. She also conducts collaborative field work in northeastern Brazil related to captive welfare, rehabilitation and release of bearded capuchin monkeys, and habitat use and behaviours in Endangered blond capuchin monkeys living in a small fragment of Atlantic Forest. Her students in the Primatology and Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies lab work on a variety of related projects, under the umbrella of animal behavioural flexibility in response to human-induced environmental change.

GEOG/ URBS 491: Honours Seminar

GEOG 479: Primate Behaviour, Ecology and Conservation

HENV 680: Advanced Seminar in Environmental Science

HENV 615/805: Research Proposal Seminar

Current Projects:

Primate behavioural plasticity in response to anthropogenic change at multiple scales (NSERC Discovery Grant, 2024-2029)

Sharing small spaces: Social tolerance and conservation in capuchin monkeys living in rescue centers and a forest fragment. A MITACS Globalink Project, 2025, with co-PI Dr. Renata Ferreira at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil, and graduate students: Nève Djevalikian-Couture, Maya Moghrabi, and Ryan Ura (Concordia); Jeferson Daniel Lourenço and Ana Paula de Brito Araújo (UFRN).

Leadership in Environmental and Digital innovation for Sustainability (LEADS): An NSERC-CREATE graduate program on the theme of science leadership for global sustainability in the digital age. Co-investigator https://sustainabilitydigitalage.org/leads/team/

Professional Affiliations:

The Loyola Sustainability Research Centre (LSRC). Co-director https://www.concordia.ca/artsci/research/loyola-sustainability.html

Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science (QCBS). Co-researcher https://qcbs.ca/member/?profile=208

Société Québécoise pour l’Étude Biologique du Comportement

(SQÉBC). Research Lab https://www.sqebc.org/research-laboratories

American Society of Primatologists (ASP) Member

International Primatological Society (IPS) Member

Lesage, C.*, Kross, A., & Turner, S. E. (2025) North American river otter habitat suitability and human-wildlife coexistence on Protection Island, British Columbia, Canada. The Journal of Wildlife Management. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.22719

Ginath Yuh, Y.*, N’Goran, P. K., Kross, A., Heurich, M., Matthews, H. D., & Turner, S. E. (2024) Monitoring forest cover and land use change in the Congo Basin under IPCC climate change scenarios. PLOS One 19(12): e0311816. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0311816

Krupa, A., Turner, S. E., Liberda^, E. N., Tsuji, L. J. S, & Moriarity, R. J. (2024) A follow-up geospatial analysis and probabilistic human health risk assessment of methylmercury in fish in Eeyou Istchee (Québec, Canada). Environmental Research 1:260:119797. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2024.119797

Donnini, J.*, Kross, A., Ferreira, R. G., and Turner, S. E. (2024). Identifying Suitable Habitats for the Reintroduction of Capuchin Monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) in Northeastern Brazil’s Caatinga Biome. International Journal of Primatology, 45(2), 439-472. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-023-00412-4

Stewart, B. M.*, Joyce, M. M.*, Creeggan, J.*, Eccles, S.*, Gerwing, M. G.*, & Turner, S. E. (2023). Primates and disability: Behavioral flexibility and implications for resilience to environmental change. American Journal of Primatology, e23579. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23579

Turner S.E., Fedigan L. M., Joyce M. M.*, Matthews H. D., Moriarity R. J., Nobuhara H., Nobuhara T., Stewart B. M.*, & Shimizu K. (2023) Mothers of disabled infants had higher cortisol levels in a free‐ranging group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). American Journal of Primatology, e23500. https://doi:10.1002/ajp.23500

Ginath Yuh, Y.*,  N’Goran, P. K.,  Beukou, G. B.,  Wendefeuer, J., Fuh Neba, T., Ndotar, A. M., Ndomba, D. L. A., Ndadet, A. C. J., Herbinger, I.,  Matthews, H. D., & Turner, S. E. (2023) Recent decline in suitable large mammal habitats within the Dzangha Sangha Protected Areas, Central African Republic. Global Ecology and Conservation 42(3).doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02404

Ginath Yuh, Y*, Tracz, W., Matthews, H. D., & Turner, S. E. (2023) Application of machine learning approaches for land cover monitoring in northern Cameroon. Ecological Informatics 74, 101955. doi: 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2022.101955

Joyce, M. M.*, Teichroeb, J. A., Kaigaishi, Y., Stewart, B. M.*, Yamada, K., & Turner, S. E. (2023) Spatial movement foraging strategies among free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) at the Awajishima Monkey Center, Japan. Primates.

Kumpan, L. T., Vining, A. Q., Smeltzer, E. A., Joyce, M. M.*, Aguado, W. D., Turner, S. E., & Teichroeb, J. A. (2022) Mild movement sequence repetition in five primate species and evidence for a taxonomic divide in cognitive mechanisms. Scientific Reports 12(1), 1-13.

Espitia-Contreras, J. P.*, Fedigan, L. M., & Turner, S. E. (2020) Social grooming efficiency and techniques are influenced by manual impairment in free-ranging Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). PLoS One 15 (2):e0228978. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0228978

Stewart, B. M.*, Turner, S. E., & Matthews, H. D. (2020) Climate change impacts on potential future ranges of non-human primate species. Climatic Change 162 (4):2301-2318. doi:10.1007/s10584-020-02776-5

Turner, S. E., Nobuhara, T., Nobuhara, H., Nakamichi, M., & Reader, S. M. (2018). Disability and dominance rank in adult female and male Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). In U. Kalbitzer & K. M. Jack (Eds.), Primate Life History, Sex Roles, and Adaptability: Essays in Honour of Linda M. Fedigan. Developments in Primatology: Progress and Prospects (pp. 133-155). Springer, Cham, Switzerland.

Graham, T. L.*, Matthews, H. D., & Turner, S. E. (2016). A global-scale evaluation of primate exposure and vulnerability to climate change. International Journal of Primatology, 37(2), 158-174. doi:10.1007/s10764-016-9890-4

Turner, S. E., Fedigan, L. M., Matthews, H. D., & Nakamichi, M. (2014). Social consequences of disability in a nonhuman primate. Journal of Human Evolution, 68, 47-57. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.01.002

Turner, S. E., Fedigan, L. M., Matthews, H. D., & Nakamichi, M. (2012). Disability, compensatory behavior, and innovation in free-ranging adult female Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata). American Journal of Primatology, 74(9), 788-803. doi:10.1002/ajp.22029

Turner, S. E., Fedigan, L. M., Nakamichi, M., Matthews, H. D., McKenna, K., Nobuhara, H., Nobuhara, T., & Shimizu, K. (2010). Birth in free-ranging Macaca fuscata. International Journal of Primatology, 31(1), 15-37. doi:10.1007/s10764-009-9376-8

Matthews, H. D., & Turner, S. E. (2009). Of mongooses and mitigation: Ecological analogues to geoengineering. Environmental Research Letters, 4(4). doi:10.1088/1748-9326/4/4/045105

Turner, S. E., Fedigan, L. M., Nobuhara, H., Nobuhara, T., Matthews, H. D., & Nakamichi, M. (2008). Monkeys with disabilities: Prevalence and severity of congenital limb malformations in Macaca fuscata on Awaji Island. Primates, 49(3), 223-226. doi:10.1007/s10329-008-0083-4

Turner, S. E., Gould, L., & Duffus, D. A. (2005). Maternal behavior and infant congenital limb malformation in a free-ranging group of Macaca fuscata on Awaji Island, Japan. International Journal of Primatology, 26(6), 1435-1457. doi:10.1007/s10764-005-8861-y