Volunteer Spotlight

Meet Peggy Turner

Peggy Turner was born and raised in West Point, Georgia. After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta she moved to Oak Ridge to work at K-25 in Analytical Chemistry. After 3 years at K-25, she decided to attend Graduate School at the University of Tennessee majoring in Organic Chemistry. After obtaining her graduate degree she accepted a position at ORNL in organic synthesis and worked there until she retired in Oak Ridge in 1995. She continues to live in Oak Ridge and is the proud parent of two dogs and two cats. 

Peggy told us that she spent her first paycheck on a camera, a Kodak Signet 35, and has been taking photographs ever since. Her main area of interest is nature. Because of her love of travel and photography, whenever she had two weeks vacation she would spend it doing just that. Since retiring in 1995, she has been able to enjoy even more traveling adding to her photography collection. Peggy is an adventurous traveler who has had experiences in a variety of places, often in wilderness areas. She has been to Africa 3 times, the Arctic and Antarctic regions, Madagascar, Costa Rica, Iceland, all 50 of the United States, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe, Brazil, Argentina, Bahamas (enjoying scuba diving and underwater photography) and more. Peggy has exhibited with Oak Ridge Camera Club, Dogwood Arts Festival, Southern Appalachian Nature Photographers and a one-woman show at Children’s Museum.

Peggy’s photographs focus on the beauty and wonder of nature. Her close-ups of flowers have rich color and beautiful composition. She often captures animals in the wild on her travels. Some of her photographs have an abstract quality to them but still retain realistic details that are amazing. Rich color and beautiful subject matter characterize her work.

Her photographs may be seen at shows locally and by appointment. 

She began working at the Children’s Museum during the construction of the Rainforest Exhibit in 2000, after learning that the museum needed help with exhibits and building projects from another volunteer. However, she has been a long time supporter of the museum and assisted with projects in the sciences early on. She loves to build things and thought the museum was a good match with so many projects and growth going on all of the time. Peggy’s favorite thing about working at the museum is tackling unusual projects that provide a challenge. Figuring out how to build or repair unusual things is one of her areas of expertise. Her current project is assisting with the building of the Dinosaur & Rocks and Fossil exhibit and the renovation of the Ed Westcott Exhibit. Each new exhibit at the museum offers new challenges both intellectually and technically. This is ok with Peggy, who always loves new experiences and challenges. Peggy also helps out with special events lending a hand to whatever needs to be done.

In addition to her work at the museum, Peggy has worked on over two-dozen houses for Habitat For Humanity. She feels this is also a very important volunteer opportunity, since many people are helped through this program and she can feel a sense of satisfaction in being able to see what has been accomplished for others.  

Peggy Turner is a great volunteer at Children’s Museum, the staff depends on her for many things, and she is sure to find a long list of chores awaiting her whenever she comes. Her skills as a carpenter, photographer and scientist are always in demand. Thanks Peggy for coming to our rescue so many times!