Dr. Kathleen Johnson is a paleoclimatologist at the University of California, Irvine. She is an expert in caves, climate change, past climate variability, and geochemistry.
As part of her research, she uses geochemical measurements of cave deposits, or speleothems, to reconstruct past climate variations in order to test and improve climate models.
An enrolled member of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Dr. Johnson has contributed to geoscience research and outreach to minority students.
This year she is UC Irvine's nominee for the Women of Color in STEM Conference College-level Promotion of Education Award.
" Dr. Kathleen Johnson’s award recognizes her tireless devotion towards opening the geoscience field to Native Americans," said Dr. Gwen Boyd, an engineer, former university president, and nationally recognized STEM advocate.
Johnson will be recognized at the 2018 Women of Color STEM Conference for launching a summer program for high school students, bringing her passion for geoscience and fieldwork to undergraduate and graduate students, and influencing the future of so many young people.
"She is an outstanding researcher with her efforts combining fieldwork and geochemical analyses to study how and why Earth's climate has changed in the past. As a role model, leader, and mentor, Professor Johnson is breaking the barriers for the next generation of minority scientists," Boyd said.
The UC Irvine residential summer program empowered participants to pursue higher education in the Earth and environmental sciences and to bring their knowledge back to their communities.
The American Indian Summer Institute in Earth System Science has hosted 131 Indigenous high school students, representing more than 45 Tribal Nations; the vast majority of high school grads go to college or university.
"I grew up in beautiful Northern Michigan, close to where my grandfather, an Odawa Indian, was born," Johnson said. "He and my grandmother, an Ojibwe Indian, moved back to that area in the 1960s with my mother, after years of living in Detroit. I’m thankful they did because many of my happiest childhood memories include spending time in nature with my family, collecting rocks along the shores of Lake Michigan, taking camping trips, and picking wild berries and morel mushrooms with my grandparents. My love of learning, science, and exploring the outdoors was obvious from an early age, and I’m grateful to pass on this passion to other young people," she said.
Dr. Johnson served as principal investigator and director of the National Science Foundation-funded American Indian Summer Institute in Earth System Science from 2011 to 2017
