Nancy Collins Johnson

Nancy Collins Johnson is an American earth scientist who is the Regents’ Professor and Director of the School of Earth Sciences & Environmental Sustainability at Northern Arizona University. Her work considers soil microbial ecology and the study of mycorrhizal fungi. She was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2020.

Nancy Collins Johnson
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Minnesota
Scientific career
InstitutionsNorthern Arizona University
Lund University
Czech University of Life Sciences Prague
ThesisPlant and soil regulation of mycorrhizae in natural and agricultural ecosystems (1991)
Doctoral advisorG. David Tilman
WebsiteJohnson Soil Lab

Early life and education

Johnson studied biology at the University of Minnesota. She moved to the University of Wisconsin–Madison for her graduate studies, where she majored in botany. She became interested in mutualistic symbiosis, and was encouraged by Michael Adams to explore mycorrhiza. Whilst in Wisconsin, Johnson had the opportunity to research arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM).[1] Whilst she initially struggled to characterise the fungi she had collected from the Jackson County Iron mine, she eventually worked with Mike Miller at the Argonne National Laboratory.[2] After graduating, Johnson returned to the University of Minnesota, where she started her doctoral studies with G. David Tilman. Her doctoral research considered the regulation of mycorrhizae and impact of fertilisers.[2] She studied the mycorrhizae in the Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve. In 1993 Johnson showed that fertilisation of soil created AM fungal communities that are 'inferior mutualists'.[3] Johnson continued to collaborate with her early advisor Mike Miller throughout her career, investigating the function of mycorrhizae.[4] She was awarded an National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellowship in 1994.

Research and career

Johnson started her independent scientific career at the Northern Arizona University, where she was made Regents' Professor in 2016. She spent 2003 as a Fulbright Program Research Fellow in Lund University and 2011 a Fulbright Program Fellow at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. She has applied her comprehensive understanding of AM fungi to sorghum crops.[5]

In 2020 Johnson took a sabbatical, and was awarded a Bullard Fellowship in the Harvard Forest.[2] Her research proposal involved a comparative study of microbiomes of AM symbioses.[2]

Awards and honours

Selected publications
  • Johnson, N. C.; Graham, J. H.; Smith, F. A. (1997). "Functioning of mycorrhizal associations along the mutualism–parasitism continuum". The New Phytologist. 135 (4): 575–585. doi:10.1046/j.1469-8137.1997.00729.x. ISSN 1469-8137.
  • Moore, John C.; Berlow, Eric L.; Coleman, David C.; Ruiter, Peter C. de; Dong, Quan; Hastings, Alan; Johnson, Nancy Collins; McCann, Kevin S.; Melville, Kim; Morin, Peter J.; Nadelhoffer, Knute (2004). "Detritus, trophic dynamics and biodiversity". Ecology Letters. 7 (7): 584–600. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00606.x. ISSN 1461-0248.
  • Hoeksema, Jason D.; Chaudhary, V. Bala; Gehring, Catherine A.; Johnson, Nancy Collins; Karst, Justine; Koide, Roger T.; Pringle, Anne; Zabinski, Catherine; Bever, James D.; Moore, John C.; Wilson, Gail W. T. (2010). "A meta-analysis of context-dependency in plant response to inoculation with mycorrhizal fungi". Ecology Letters. 13 (3): 394–407. doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01430.x. ISSN 1461-0248. PMID 20100237.

Personal life

Johnson has two children, a daughter and a son.[2]

References
  1. Johnson, Nancy Collins (1985). The role of vesticular-arbuscular mycorrhizae in the reclamation of taconite mine tailings (Thesis). OCLC 13298192.
  2. harisridhar (2020-09-27). "Revisiting Johnson 1993". Reflections on Papers Past. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  3. Johnson, Nancy Collins (1993). "Can Fertilization of Soil Select Less Mutualistic Mycorrhizae?". Ecological Applications. 3 (4): 749–757. doi:10.2307/1942106. ISSN 1939-5582. JSTOR 1942106. PMID 27759303.
  4. Johnson, Nancy Collins (2010). "Resource stoichiometry elucidates the structure and function of arbuscular mycorrhizas across scales". New Phytologist. 185 (3): 631–647. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.2009.03110.x. ISSN 1469-8137. PMID 19968797.
  5. Mann, Allyson (2020-11-13). "Digging into the plant and microbe relationship". UGA Today. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  6. "About". International Conference on Mycorrhiza. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  7. "ESA Fellows – The Ecological Society of America". Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  8. "Awards – Soil Ecology". Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  9. "AAAS Announces Leading Scientists Elected as 2020 Fellows | American Association for the Advancement of Science". www.aaas.org. Retrieved 2020-11-25.
  10. "NAU researchers Nancy Johnson and Laura Huenneke elected as 2020 AAAS Fellows – NAU News". Retrieved 2020-11-25.
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