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Katherine Johnson (Fed)
Social Scientist
Dr. Katherine "Jo" Johnson is a social scientist working to improve outcomes after natural disasters. She helps define ways to make buildings and infrastructure bounce back more quickly after natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and wildfires. Her goal is to bridge gaps between social science and engineering to promote new knowledge and practices that benefit the public.
Areas of Focus
- Faster Community Recovery ("Functional Recovery"): Developing standards so essential buildings, utilities, and services can reopen as quickly as possible after an earthquake or storm.
- Emergency Communications for Hurricane Maria: Studying how the Puerto Rican public received and acted on emergency warnings intended to promote protective actions.
- On-the-Ground Disaster Assessments: Evaluating impacted communities following major events—such as the Maui wildfires (2023), the Cook Inlet earthquake in Alaska (2018), and Hurricane Michael in Florida (2018)—to help engineers build safer structures in the future.
At NIST, Dr. Johnson serves as Associate Program Manager for the Risk Reduction and Recovery Program. She is passionate about using scientific research to protect lives, safeguard infrastructure, and build more resilient communities across the United States.
Awards
Outstanding Reviewer Award - In recognition of outstanding contributions as a paper reviewer for the ASCE’s Natural Hazards Review journal.