Joanne Johnson facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joanne Johnson
|
|
|---|---|
| Born |
Joanne S. Garner
1977 (age 47–48) |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | King Edward VI High School for Girls |
| Alma mater | University of Durham (BSc) University of Cambridge (PhD) |
| Awards | Laws Prize (2008) Marie Tharp Fellowship (2010) Polar Medal (2023) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geology |
| Institutions | British Antarctic Survey |
| Thesis | Magmatism of the Vitim Volcanic Field, Baikal Rift Zone, Siberia (2002) |
| Doctoral advisor | Sally A. Gibson |
Joanne S. "Jo" Johnson (born 1977) is a British geologist and scientist. She studies Antarctica and has worked for the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) since 2002. Joanne is known for her work on how glaciers move and shrink. She was given the Polar Medal in 2023 for her important contributions. A place in Antarctica, called Johnson Mesa, is even named after her!
Contents
Becoming a Scientist: Joanne's Journey
Joanne Johnson decided to become a scientist when she was a teenager. She really enjoyed studying science at King Edward VI High School for Girls.
University Studies
In 1998, Joanne earned a top degree in Geology from Durham University. Geology is the study of Earth's solid features, rocks, and how they change over time.
She then continued her studies at University of Cambridge. In 2002, she earned her PhD degree. Her research looked at rocks from a volcanic area in Siberia. She studied these rocks to understand what the Earth's layers were like deep below the surface.
Exploring Earth: Joanne's Career and Research
After finishing her PhD, Joanne Johnson started working at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). This is a group that does scientific research in the polar regions.
Early Projects at BAS
From 2002 to 2005, Joanne worked on her first project. She studied minerals found in volcanic rocks from James Ross Island in Antarctica.
Later, from 2005 to 2009, she joined a big project called QWAD. This project studied how the Pine Island Glacier in Antarctica had changed over thousands of years. Her work showed that this glacier melted very quickly 8,000 years ago. It melted just as fast as it is melting today!
Current Research in Antarctica
From 2015 to 2020, Joanne worked on a project to understand how Antarctica's ice sheets have changed. She worked with scientists from many universities around the world.
She is also involved in other exciting projects, such as:
- Studying how volcanoes and climate change affect each other in Antarctica. She looks at tiny bubbles inside volcanic rocks to learn about carbon dioxide gas.
- Figuring out the history of glaciers along the Lassiter Coast in Antarctica.
- Investigating how landscapes in the Antarctic Peninsula have developed over time.
Some of Joanne's research takes her to very remote and icy parts of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Key Scientific Papers
Joanne Johnson has written many important scientific papers. Some of her publications include:
- Collaborating On Glacial Research
- Rapid thinning of Pine Island Glacier in the early Holocene
- Zeolite compositions as proxies for eruptive palaeoenvironment
- Volcanism in the Vitim Volcanic Field, Siberia: Geochemical Evidence for a Mantle Plume Beneath the Baikal Rift Zone
Awards and Special Recognition
Joanne Johnson has received several awards for her important scientific work.
Prestigious Awards
In 2008, she was given the Laws Prize by the British Antarctic Survey. In 2010, she received the Marie Tharp Fellowship from Columbia University. This fellowship allowed her to work with other scientists for three months. Their findings were published in the famous journal Science.
Naming a Place in Antarctica
In January 2007, a special place in Antarctica was named after her! The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee decided to name a feature on James Ross Island "Johnson Mesa." This was to honor her work on how to find old ice sheets using the chemistry of minerals.
Johnson Mesa is a large, flat-topped volcanic mountain. It is located on Ulu Peninsula in James Ross Island, Antarctica.
The Polar Medal
In 2023, Joanne Johnson was awarded the Polar Medal. This medal is given to people who have made outstanding achievements in the polar regions.
Life Outside of Science
Joanne Johnson is married and has two children. She has talked about the challenges of being a scientist and a mother at the same time. She shared that it can be hard to balance her work goals with her family life. For example, she might want to attend conferences but also wants to be with her children.
In August 2021, Joanne appeared on a TV show called BBC1's Songs of Praise. She talked about her work and her Christian faith. She believes that her expeditions to Antarctica help her feel closer to God. She says that being in Antarctica is "the closest you can get to God."
See also
In Spanish: Joanne Johnson para niños
