Ashanti Johnson

Dr. Ashanti Johnson is the Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty Recruitment and an Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Texas at Arlington (UT Arlington), as well as the Executive Director of the Institute for Broadening Participation. Dr. Johnson received her B.S. (1993) in Marine Science from Texas A&M University-Galveston (TAMUG) and her Ph.D. (1999) in Oceanography from Texas A&M University (TAMU). Her areas of research specialization include: 1) environmental aquatic radiogeochemistry, 2) professional development of students and early career scientists, and 3) science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) diversity-focused initiatives. Dr. Johnson’s aquatic radiogeochemistry research activities focus on the utilization of various biogeochemical indicators to interpret past events that have impacted the marine, estuarine and freshwater environments in the Arctic, as well as in coastal regions of Georgia, Florida and Puerto Rico. Her professional development and diversity-focused scholarly activities are designed to facilitate research and professional development experiences for students representing diverse socioeconomic, cultural, gender, racial and academic backgrounds. She is currently the director of the NASA One Stop Shopping Initiative (OSSI) Broker-Facilitator for Predominately White Institutions and Predominately Black Institutions, the NASA and NSF-funded Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science (MS PHD’S) Professional Development Initiative and the NSF-funded Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Graduate Fellowship Program at the UT Arlington. She also serves as the PI of the NSF-funded Pathways to Ocean Science Project and Co-PI of the NSF-funded Pathways to Engineering Project. Prior to joining the University of Texas at Arlington faculty, at the University of South Florida she served as the PI and director of a NSF-funded LSAMP BD Graduate Fellowship Program and an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation's Minority Ph.D. Program, co-director of an NSF-funded Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education (GK-12) Fellowship Program, and coordinator of an NSF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) Program at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dr. Johnson has also served on numerous boards, including the National Academies Gulf Research Advisory Group, the NSF Advisory Committee on Environmental Research and Education American Geophysical Union Committee on Education and Human Resources and Subcommittee on Diversity, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography Education Committee, International Safe Water Conference Steering Committee, Digital Library for Earth System Education Annual Planning Committee, Savannah River Environmental Sciences Field Station Advisory Board, University of Maine’s ADVANCE Rising Tide Center Advisory Board, COSEE: Ocean Systems Advisory Board, Maine Physical Sciences Partnership Advisory Board, MentorNet Geosciences Advisory Board and the Howard University Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Program External Advisory Board. Dr. Johnson has received numerous honors and awards and has been published in many scientific and education journals. In January 2010 she received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) at the White House in recognition of her STEM professional development and diversity-related activities. On February 1, 2010 she was recognized by TheGrio.com, an NBC product, as one of 100 History Makers in The Making and she was profiled in the Black Enterprise Magazine March 2011 Issue’s “Women In STEM” Feature Story.