Sarah Stewart Johnson

Sarah Stewart Johnson
Born	Kentucky
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Washington University in St. Louis Oxford University Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Scientific career
Fields	Biology Geochemistry Astronomy Astrobiology Planetary science
Institutions	Georgetown University Harvard University
Thesis	Mars in the late Noachian : evolution of a habitable surface environment (2008)
Doctoral advisor	Maria Zuber

Sarah Stewart Johnson is an American biologist, geochemist, astronomer and planetary scientist. She joined Georgetown University in 2014[1] and is currently the Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor of Biology and the Science, Technology, and International Affairs program in the School of Foreign Service.[2]

Early life and education

Johnson was born in Kentucky and grew up in Lexington.[3] She received her bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, where she was an Arthur Holly Compton Fellow and majored in math and environmental studies. During college, she won a Goldwater Scholarship and a Truman Scholarship.[3][4][5] Johnson then attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar where she earned bachelor's and master's degrees.[6][1] In 2008, she completed a PhD in planetary science at MIT.[7]

Career

Johnson was a Junior Fellow at Harvard University from 2008-2009 and 2011-2013.[8] She was a White House Fellow working for the President’s Science Advisor, under the Obama administration from 2009-2011.[9] Johnson became a faculty member at Georgetown in 2014. Her work involves the use of analog environments to study the habitability of the surface and subsurface of Mars and icy moons.[10][9] Her lab at Georgetown is currently focused on the detection of agnostic biosignatures, sometimes referred to as "life as we don't know it".[11][12] She is a visiting scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center with the Planetary Environments lab.[13] She participated in the Curiosity, Opportunity, and Spirit missions.[6][3]

Bibliography

• The Sirens of Mars

Honors

• Desert Writers Award (2013)[14]
• White House Fellow (2009)
• Harvard Junior Fellow (2008)
• Hugh Hampton Young Fellowship, MIT (2008)
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship[1]
• Rhodes Scholarship (2001)
• Truman Scholarship (2000)
• Goldwater Scholarship (1999)
• Arthur Holly Compton Fellowship, Washington University in St. Louis (1997)

References

1. "Climate CoLab". Climate CoLab. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
2. "Georgetown University Faculty Directory". gufaculty360.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
3. Overbye, Dennis (27 July 2020). "Coming of Age on Mars". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
4. "American Rhodes Scholars 2001" (PDF).
5. "Searching for life in the cosmos | The Source | Washington University in St. Louis". The Source. 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
6. Lacey, Hester (17 July 2020). "Sarah Stewart Johnson: 'I am driven to try to answer the big questions — are we alone in the universe?'". www.ft.com. Financial Times. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
7. Overbye, Dennis (2020-07-27). "Coming of Age on Mars". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
8. "Sarah Stewart Johnson, EAPS PhD, gives rein to curiosity". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 2021-08-17.
9. Graham, Elyse (4 September 2012). "Sarah Stewart Johnson, EAPS PhD, gives rein to curiosity". MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
10. "Field Sites | Johnson Biosignatures Lab". Retrieved 2021-02-24.
11. "LAB | Laboratory for Agnostic Biosignatures". Lab2. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
12. "Sarah Johnson". Georgetown University. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
13. "Bio - Sarah Stewart Johnson". science.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2021-03-25.
14. "Sarah Stewart Johnson".