GO TO: Abstract
Kirk Johnson
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Education:
- 1989
- PhD, Yale University
- 1985
- MS, University of Pennsylvania
- 1982
- BA, Amherst College
Experience:
- 2006-Present
- Vice President of Research & Collections, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
- 2004-Present
- Chief Curator, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
- 2001-06
- Chairman, Department of Earth Science, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
- 1991-Present
- Curator of Paleontology, Denver Museum of Nature & Science
- 1989-90
- Postdoctoral Researcher, University of South Australia, Adelaide,.
Publications and Awards:
- Johnson, K. R and Troll, R., Oct. 2007, Cruisin’ the Fossil Freeway: An epoch tale of a scientist and an artist on the ultimate 8,000 mile paleo road trip, Fulcrum Press, Golden. CO.
- Johnson, K. R. and Bonnell, M. A., July 2007, Gas Trees and Car Turds, A Kids’ Guide to the Roots of Global Warming. Fulcrum Press, Golden. CO.
- Johnson, K. R. and Stucky, R.K., 2006, Prehistoric Journey: A History of Life on Earth: Golden, Fulcrum Press, 144p., second edition.
- Johnson, K. R. and Raynolds, R., 2006, Ancient Denvers: Scenes from the past 300 million years of the Colorado Front Range: Golden, Fulcrum Press, 32 p., second edition.
- Wilf, P., C.C. Labandeira, K.R. Johnson, B. Ellis, 2006, Decoupled plant and insect diversity after the End-Cretaceous extinction. Science, vol. 313, p. 1112-1115.
- Wilf, P., Labandeira, C.C., Johnson, K.R., and Cuneo, N.R., 2005, Richness of plant-insect associations in Eocene Patagonia: a legacy for South American biodiversity: Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, v. 102, no. 25, p. 8944-8948.
- Wilf, P., and Johnson, K.R., 2004, Land plant extinction at the end of the Cretaceous: a quantitative analysis of the North Dakota megafloral record: Paleobiology, v. 30, no. 3, p. 347-368.
- Johnson, K. R. and Ellis, B., 2002, A tropical rainforest in Colorado 1.4 million years after the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, Science, vol. 296, pp. 2379-2383.
- Hartman, J., Johnson, K. R., Nichols, D. J., eds., 2002, The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in the northern Great Plains: An integrated Continental record of the End of the Cretaceous: Geological Society of America Special Paper vol. 361, 520 p.
- 2002
- Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists Distinguished Public Service to Earth Sciences Award.
- 2002
- Geological Society of America Fellow
- 1999-2000
- Paleontological Society Distinguished Lecturer
- 1996
- American Association of Museums Curator’s Choice Award: Best museum exhibit in 1995 for the Prehistoric Journey exhibit.
Professional Memberships
- American Association of Museums
- Geological Society of America
- Botanical Society of America
- International Organization of Paleobotany
Professional Interests:
Kirk Johnson studies fossil plants, terrestrial stratigraphy, geochronology and dinosaur extinction and works in a museum environment where good science and public communication of science are equally valued. He has published many popular and scientific articles on topics ranging from fossil plants and modern rainforests to the ecology of whales and walruses. He is best known for his research on fossil plants that is widely accepted as some of the most convincing support for the theory that an asteroid impact caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. Since 1997, he has supervised the Denver Basin Project, a multidisciplinary NSF-funded effort to understand and interpret the paleontology, geology, and hydrology of the rocks beneath Denver. This work has led to the discovery and analysis of a 64 million-year-old tropical rainforest in Colorado. His research has also taken him to Alaska’s Bering Sea, the Brazilian Amazon, the Canadian High Arctic, the rainforests of New Zealand, the Gobi desert, India, China, Patagonia, and the American West.
He is presently working on research projects in Patagonia, Manchuria, Wyoming, and Denver. Between 1990 and 1995, he led a team that planned, and built the Museum’s award-winning exhibition Prehistoric Journey and he continues to design museum exhibits and other media to popularize Earth Sciences. Kirk loves to work with closely with artists to create accurate paintings, murals, and dioramas of prehistoric landscapes. The Ancient Denvers series of 14 images can be seen at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science and the Ancient Colorado series of ten paintings can be seen in the Colorado Convention Center. He is now involved in the initial stages of designing a new Hall of the Earth at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
Links:
- Ancient Denvers http://www.dmns.org/main/minisites/ancientDenvers/index.html
- Ancient Colorado http://www.dmns.org/main/en/General/Exhibitions/content/ancientColorado.htm