Environmental Law Institute - National Wetlands Awards

Dr. Carol A. Johnston has been advancing wetland science for the past 35 years, from her first job as an air photo interpreter for the New York State Wetlands Inventory to her present job as a Professor at South Dakota State University. Dr. Johnston holds a Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She chaired the Wetland Soils Division for the Soil Science Society of America; was the first female president of the Society of Wetland Scientists (1992-1993); and is a member of the U.S. National Committee for Soil Science.

Upon receiving her Ph.D., Dr. Johnston developed and directed the Wisconsin Wetlands Inventory for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. In addition, she served on the 1995 and 2001 National Research Council (NRC) Committees on wetland delineation and mitigation, as well as the NRC's Water Science and Technology Board, and directed the Ecosystem Studies Program at the National Science Foundation from 2000-2002.

Among her various projects, Dr. Johnston and colleagues developed new indicators of wetland conditions using vegetation data they collected at 91 wetlands across the Great Lakes. These indicators provide valuable information about the plant species that dominate these wetlands, including invasive plants.

Dr. Johnston's research and nearly 150 scientific publications have addressed topics including the landscape ecology of watersheds, wetland remote sensing, and the ecology of beaver ponds. Her 1991 review of Sediment and Nutrient Retention in Freshwater Wetlands has been cited 200 times.