Sean Turner
Senior Engineer, Hydropower and Water Resources
Bio
Dr. Sean Turner is a Senior Engineer in the Water Resources Science and Engineering Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He leads research at the intersection of hydrology, energy, and artificial intelligence, developing new ways to predict and manage water resources in managed river basins. His work spans scales and sub-disciplines, ranging from optimizing short-term hydropower operations to simulating long-term water–energy futures at grid scale. He has performed research in utility, academic, and research lab settings across the UK, Australia, Singapore, and the United States.
Turner’s current research focuses on U.S. hydropower. He is applying machine learning to fill critical data gaps in water quality monitoring and advancing coupled water–power system models through the HydroCHiPPs initiative. He also develops and maintains a variety of open datasets and tools—such as RectifHydPlus, starfit, and Powersheds—that support public understanding and operational decision-making in the hydropower sector.
While a staff scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Turner authored DOE’s 2022 assessment of Drought Impacts on Western Hydropower and was task-lead on various reservoir management modeling activities funded by DOE’s Office of Science. A recipient of the UK’s industry-based Doctor of Engineering (EngD) (2010 - 2014) and an alumnus of McKinsey & Company (2022 – 2023), Turner has familiarized himself with the challenges faced by utilities, and he strives to provide data, models, and techniques that can improve river basin planning and operations.
Professional Experience
- Senior Hydropower Engineer | Oak Ridge National Lab | 2025 - present
- Hydropower Engineer | Oak Ridge National Lab | 2023 - 2025
- Research Science Specialist | McKinsey and Company | Oct 2022 - Jun 2023
- Earth Systems Scientist (Water Resources) | Pacific Northwest National Lab | Jul 2018 - Sep 2022
- Postdoctoral Research Associate | PNNL (Joint Global Change Research Institute) | Oct 2016 - Jul 2018
- Postdoctoral Research Associate | Singapore University of Technology and Design | Sep 2014 - Sep 2016
- Research Engineer | United Utilities PLC | Jan 2011 - Sep 2014
Awards
- Outstanding Reviewer, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (2024)
- Editor’s Highlight, Nature Communications (2022)
- Top 25 Most Read Article, Nature Communications (2022)
- Research Paper of the Year, PNNL Earth Systems Science Division (2021)
- Best Reviewer, Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management (2018)
- Editors' Highlight, Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (2017)
- Top Performing Research Engineer, STREAM Industrial Doctorate Centre (2011)
- Pavel Novak Prize for Best Overall Performance (water), Newcastle University (2010)
- Best Project in Civil Engineering Hydraulics, University of Glasgow (2008)
- Dean's List, University of Glasgow (2008)
Education
- EngD in Water Resources Planning, Cranfield University
- MSc in Hydrology and Climate Change, Newcastle University
- BSc in Engineering Environmental Design, University of Glasgow
Publications
Other Publications
Journal publications
[39] Abeshu, G.W., Tian, F., Wild, T., Zhao, M., Turner, S.W., Chowdhury, A.K., Vernon, C.R., Hu, H., Zhuang, Y., Hejazi, M. and Li, H.Y., 2023. Enhancing the representation of water management in global hydrological models. Geoscientific Model Development, 16(18), pp.5449-5472.
[38] Kanyako, F., Lamontagne, J., Baker, E., Turner, S.W. and Wild, T., 2023. Seasonality and trade in hydro-heavy electricity markets: A case study with the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP). Applied Energy, 329, p.120214.
[37] Turner, S.W., Voisin, N. and Nelson, K., 2022. Revised monthly energy generation estimates for 1,500 hydroelectric power plants in the United States. Scientific Data, 9(1), p.675.
[36] Magee, T.M., Turner, S.W., Clement, M.A., Oikonomou, K., Zagona, E.A. and Voisin, N., 2022. Evaluating power grid model hydropower feasibility with a river operations model. Environmental Research Letters, 17(8), p.084035.
[35] Cohen, S.M., Dyreson, A., Turner, S.W., Tidwell, V., Voisin, N. and Miara, A., 2022. A multi-model framework for assessing long-and short-term climate influences on the
electric grid. Applied Energy, 317, p.119193.
[34] Dyreson, A., Devineni, N., Turner, S.W., De Silva M, T., Miara, A., Voisin, N., Cohen, S. and Macknick, J., 2022. The role of regional connections in planning for future power system operations under climate extremes. Earth's Future, 10(6), p.e2021EF002554.
[33] Turner, S.W. and Voisin, N., 2022. Simulation of hydropower at subcontinental to global scales: a state-of-the-art review. Environmental Research Letters.
[32] Steyaert, J.C., Condon, L.E., Turner, S.,W. and Voisin, N., 2022. ResOpsUS, a dataset of historical reservoir operations in the contiguous United States. Scientific Data, 9(1), p.34.
[31] Turner, S.W., Rice, J.S., Nelson, K.D., Vernon, C.R., McManamay, R., Dickson, K. and Marston, L., 2021. Comparison of potential drinking water source contamination across one hundred US cities. Nature Communications, 12(1), p.7254.
[30] Turner, S.W., Steyaert, J.C., Condon, L. and Voisin, N., 2021. Water storage and release policies for all large reservoirs of conterminous United States. Journal of Hydrology, 603, p.126843.
[29] Turner, S.W., Nelson, K., Voisin, N., Tidwell, V., Miara, A., Dyreson, A., Cohen, S., Mantena, D., Jin, J., Warnken, P. and Kao, S.C., 2021. A multi-reservoir model for projecting drought impacts on thermoelectric disruption risk across the Texas power grid. Energy, 231, p.120892.
[28] Galelli, S., Nguyen, H.T., Turner, S.W. and Buckley, B.M., 2021. Time to use dendrohydrological data in water resources management?. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 147(8), p.01821001.
[27] Turner, S.W. and Jeffrey, P.J., 2021. A simple drought risk analysis procedure to supplement water resources management planning in England and Wales. Water and Environment Journal, 35(1), pp.417-424.
[26] Nelson, K.D., Turner, S.W., Vernon, C.R. and Rice, J.S., 2021. gamut: A geospatial R package to analyze multisectoral urban teleconnections. Journal of Open Source Software, 6(66), p.3383.
[25] Thurber, T., Vernon, C., Sun, N., Turner, S.W., Yoon, J. and Voisin, N., 2021. mosartwmpy: A Python implementation of the MOSART-WM coupled hydrologic routing and water management model. Journal of Open Source Software, 6(PNNL-SA-161232).
[24] Nguyen, H.T., Turner, S.W., Buckley, B.M. and Galelli, S., 2020. Coherent streamflow variability in monsoon Asia over the past eight centuries—Links to oceanic drivers. Water Resources Research, 56(12), p.e2020WR027883.
[23] Voisin, N., Dyreson, A., Fu, T., O'Connell, M., Turner, S.W., Zhou, T. and Macknick, J., 2020. Impact of climate change on water availability and its propagation through the Western US power grid. Applied Energy, 276, p.115467.
[22] Turner, S.W., Doering, K. and Voisin, N., 2020. Data‐driven reservoir simulation in a large‐scale hydrological and water resource model. Water Resources Research, 56(10),
p.e2020WR027902.
[21] Turner, S.W., Xu, W. and Voisin, N., 2020. Inferred inflow forecast horizons guiding reservoir release decisions across the United States. Hydrology and Earth System
Sciences, 24(3), pp.1275-1291.
[20] Graham, N.T., Hejazi, M.I., Chen, M., Davies, E.G., Edmonds, J.A., Kim, S.H., Turner, S.W., Li, X., Vernon, C.R., Calvin, K. and Miralles-Wilhelm, F., 2020. Humans drive future water scarcity changes across all Shared Socioeconomic Pathways. Environmental Research Letters, 15(1), p.014007.
[19] Turner, S.W., Hejazi, M., Calvin, K., Kyle, P. and Kim, S., 2019. A pathway of global food supply adaptation in a world with increasingly constrained groundwater. Science of the total environment, 673, pp.165-176.
[18] Arango-Aramburo, S., Turner, S.W., Daenzer, K., Ríos-Ocampo, J.P., Hejazi, M.I., Kober, T., Álvarez-Espinosa, A.C., Romero-Otalora, G.D. and van der Zwaan, B., 2019. Climate impacts on hydropower in Colombia: A multi-model assessment of power sector adaptation pathways. Energy Policy, 128, pp.179-188.
[17] Santos Da Silva, S.R., Miralles-Wilhelm, F., Muñoz-Castillo, R., Clarke, L.E., Braun, C.J., Delgado, A., Edmonds, J.A., Hejazi, M., Horing, J., Horowitz, R., Turner, S.W., Kyle,
P., et al., 2019. The Paris pledges and the energy-water-land nexus in Latin America: Exploring implications of greenhouse gas emission reductions. PloS one, 14(4), p.e0215013.
[16] Turner, S.W., Hejazi, M., Yonkofski, C., Kim, S.H. and Kyle, P., 2019. Influence of groundwater extraction costs and resource depletion limits on simulated global nonrenewable water withdrawals over the twenty‐first century. Earth's Future, 7(2), pp.123-135.
[15] Turner, S.W., Voisin, N., Fazio, J., Hua, D. and Jourabchi, M., 2019. Compound climate events transform electrical power shortfall risk in the Pacific Northwest. Nature Communications, 10(1), p.8.
[14] Bond-Lamberty, B., Dorheim, K., Cui, R., Horowitz, R., Snyder, A., Calvin, K., Feng, L., Hoesly, R., Horing, J., Kyle, G.P., Link, R., Turner, S.W., et al., 2019. gcamdata: An R
package for preparation, synthesis, and tracking of input data for the GCAM integrated human-earth systems model. Journal of Open Research Software, 7(1).
[13] Vernon, C.R., Hejazi, M.I., Turner, S.W., Liu, Y., Braun, C.J., Li, X. and Link, R.P., 2019. A global hydrologic framework to accelerate scientific discovery. Journal of Open Research Software, 7(1).
[12] Lucena, A.F., Hejazi, M., Vasquez-Arroyo, E., Turner, S.W., Köberle, A.C., Daenzer, K., Rochedo, P.R., Kober, T., Cai, Y., Beach, R.H. and Gernaat, D., 2018. Interactions between climate change mitigation and adaptation: the case of hydropower in Brazil. Energy, 164, pp.1161-1177.
[11] Cui, R.Y., Calvin, K., Clarke, L., Hejazi, M., Kim, S., Kyle, P., Patel, P., Turner, S.W., and Wise, M., 2018. Regional responses to future, demand-driven water scarcity. Environmental Research Letters, 13(9), p.094006.
[10] Turner, S.W., Hejazi, M., Kim, S.H., Clarke, L. and Edmonds, J., 2017. Climate impacts on hydropower and consequences for global electricity supply investment needs. Energy, 141, pp.2081-2090.
[9] Turner, S.W., Bennett, J.C., Robertson, D.E. and Galelli, S., 2017. Complex relationship between seasonal streamflow forecast skill and value in reservoir operations. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 21(9), pp.4841-4859.
[8] Turner, S.W., Ng, J.Y. and Galelli, S., 2017. Examining global electricity supply vulnerability to climate change using a high-fidelity hydropower dam model. Science of the Total Environment, 590, pp.663-675.
[7] Ng, J.Y., Turner, S.W. and Galelli, S., 2017. Influence of El Niño Southern Oscillation on global hydropower production. Environmental Research Letters, 12(3), p.034010.
[6] Ekström, M., Grose, M., Heady, C., Turner, S.W. and Teng, J., 2016. The method of producing climate change datasets impacts the resulting policy guidance and chance of mal-adaptation. Climate Services, 4, pp.13-29.
[5] Turner, S.W. and Galelli, S., 2016. Regime‐shifting streamflow processes: Implications for water supply reservoir operations. Water Resources Research, 52(5), pp.3984-4002.
[4] Turner, S.W. and Galelli, S., 2016. Water supply sensitivity to climate change: An R package for implementing reservoir storage analysis in global and regional impact studies. Environmental Modelling & Software, 76, pp.13-19.
[3] Turner, S.W., Blackwell, R.J., Smith, M.A. and Jeffrey, P.J., 2016. Risk-based water resources planning in England and Wales: challenges in execution and implementation. Urban Water Journal, 13(2), pp.182-197.
[2] Turner, S.W. and Jeffrey, P.J., 2015. Industry views on water resources planning methods–prospects for change in England and Wales. Water and Environment Journal, 29(2), pp.161-168.
[1] Turner, S.W., Marlow, D., Ekström, M., Rhodes, B.G., Kularathna, U. and Jeffrey, P.J., 2014. Linking climate projections to performance: A yield‐based decision scaling assessment of a large urban water resources system. Water Resources Research, 50(4), pp.3553-3567.
Technical Reports
[4] Turner, S.W., Voisin, N., Nelson, K.D. and Tidwell, V.C., 2022. Drought impacts on hydroelectric power generation in the Western United States (No. PNNL-33212). Pacific Northwest National Lab.(PNNL), Richland, WA (United States).
[3] Cohen, S., Miara, A., Tidwell, V., Turner, S.W., Voisin, N. and Dyreson, A., 2022. Water and Climate Impacts on ERCOT Long-Term Systems Assessment (No. NREL/TP-6A20-79581). National Renewable Energy Lab.(NREL), Golden, CO (United States).
[2[ Somani, A., Voisin, N., Tipireddy, R., Turner, S.W., Veselka, T.D., Ploussard, Q., Koritarov, V., Mosier, T., Mohanpurkar, M., Ingram, M. and Signore, S., 2021. Hydropower value study: Current status and future opportunities (p. 47). Technical Report PNNL-29226. Hydrowires. Richland, WA: Pacific Northwest National Lab.
[1] Santos Da Silva, S.R., McJeon, H.C., Miralles-Wilhelm, F., Muñoz Castillo, R., Clarke, L., Delgado, A., Edmonds, J.A., Hejazi, M., Horing, J., Horowitz, R., Kyle, P., Turner, S.W., et al., 2018. Energy-water-land nexus in Latin America and the Caribbean: A perspective from the Paris agreement climate mitigation pledges (No. IDB-WP-901). IDB Working Paper Series.