As Head of Research, Impact and Innovation, Johanna focuses on strategic cultural partnerships for research and innovation, leading work that contributes to the university’s Sustainable Research Excellence and Knowledge with Purpose ambitions, as outlined in Strategy 2026. This includes supporting creative collaboration within research, developing capacity for knowledge exchange with the cultural and creative industries, contributing to funding bids, and leading work on impact and evaluation across the Strand and Science Gallery London platforms.

As a former academic with a PhD in Earth and Planetary Science, interdisciplinary and creative collaboration have been a constant thread through Johanna’s career. Prior to joining King’s in 2020, Johanna was Head of Outreach and Public Engagement at the Institute of Physics, where she supported the society’s members through grants, training and outreach opportunities, as well as leading a number of high profile collaborations with leading arts organisations. This built upon her work at the British Library, where as Research Engagement Manager in the Science team, she supported both scientists and artists in engaging with the library’s science collections and instigated a strand of public programming engaging with science, including the Winton Capital Management funded exhibition Beautiful Science. Johanna first discovered an interest in working with artists during her PhD as part of the interdisciplinary Dakhleh Oasis Project and through collaboration with a wide range of colleagues at the American liberal arts college Denison University, which led to her augmenting her scientific training with a foundation in fine art at Central St Martins (Byam Shaw).