Evan Lee Turner, Ph.D.

Assistant Director, CBI Analytics & Technology Solutions (CATS)

361.739.0085
Evan.Turner@tamucc.edu

As Assistant Director, Dr. Turner leads the development and management of advanced data platforms and IT infrastructure, supporting CBI’s research and operational goals. In this role, Dr. Turner oversees CBI’s software engineering team, guides IT operations and software development, and provides scientific leadership on sponsored projects as a Principal Investigator (PI). He also secures external funding, mentors staff and students, facilitates collaboration, and advances innovative data initiatives for both internal and external stakeholders.

Born and raised in Corpus Christi, Evan is a double alumnus of Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, where he earned a B.S. in Computer Science in 2003 and a Ph.D. in Coastal Marine System Science in 2014. He completed his doctoral and postdoctoral research at the Harte Research Institute under Dr. Paul Montagna, and he also holds an M.B.A.

Prior to joining CBI, Evan spent nearly a decade with the Texas Water Development Board, where he most recently served as Scientific Data Team Lead and senior technical authority for the Surface Water Division. He was the lead technical subject matter expert for waterdatafortexas.org, the state's primary public water data platform. Earlier in his career, Evan worked at the Texas Advanced Computing Center in Austin and taught science at Baker Middle School in Corpus Christi. Most recently, he has immersed himself in AI, though he takes a pragmatic view: learning it is a personal journey, and it cannot solve every problem.

Evan resides in Port Aransas with his wife, Cindy, their middle child Hans, and their youngest daughter, Gretchen. Outside of work, he enjoys travel trailer vacations with the family, retro 1990s video games, ham radio, and researching history and genealogy.