Johnson, Rebecca N.
Associate Director of Science and Chief Scientist
0000-0003-3035-2827
Johnson, Rebecca N.
Associate Director of Science and Chief Scientist
I am a wildlife forensic scientist and conservation geneticist and a senior science leader. I currently hold the role of Chief Scientist and Associate Director of Science at the Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History. My research career has focussed on using genetics and genomics for conservation of wildlife
Positions
- Chief Scientist and Associate Director of Science, National Museum of Natural History 2020 -
Geographic Focus
- Australia Country
Background And Education
Education And Training
- B.Sc. in Genetics, University of Sydney , School of Biological Sciences
- Ph.D. in Molecular Evolutionary Genetics, La Trobe University , Department of Genetics and Evolution
Awards And Honors
- Honorary Associate , conferred by Australian Museum, 2020
- Member of the Order of Australia, conferred by Council for the Order of Australia, 2020
- AMRI Medal, conferred by Australian Museum, 2018
- Fellow, Royal Society of New South Wales , conferred by Royal Society of New South Wales, 2016
- Alumni Award for Professional Achievement, conferred by University of Sydney, 2016
- Rebecca Kendrew Memorial Award, conferred by Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society, 2012
Publications
Selected Publications
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Article
- De Cahsan, Binia, Sandoval Velasco, Marcela, Westbury, Michael V., Duchêne, David A., Strander Sinding, Mikkel H., Morales, Hernán E., Kalthoff, Daniela C., Barnes, Ian, Brace, Selina, Portela Miguez, Roberto, Roca, Alfred L., Greenwood, Alex D., Johnson, Rebecca N., Lott, Matthew J., and Gilbert, M. T. 2025. "Road to extinction? Past and present population structure and genomic diversity in the koala." Molecular biology and evolution, https://doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf057. 2025
- Eldridge, Mark D. B., Potter, Sally, Pratt, Renae, Johnson, Rebecca N., Flannery, Tim F., and Helgen, Kristofer M. 2024. "Molecular systematics of the Dendrolagus goodfellowi species group (Marsupialia: Macropodidae)." Records of the Australian Museum, 76, (2) 105–129. https://doi.org/10.3853/j.2201-4349.76.2024.1864. 2024
- Atsawawaranunt, Kamolphat, Stuart, Katarina C., Whibley, Annabel, Ewart, Kyle M., Major, Richard E., Johnson, Rebecca N., and Santure, Anna W. 2024. "Parallel Signatures of Diet Adaptation in the Invasive Common Myna Genome." Molecular ecology, https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.17607. 2024
- Stuart, Katarina C., Johnson, Rebecca N., Major, Richard, Atsawawaranunt, Kamolphat, Ewart, Kyle M., Rollins, Lee A., Santure, Anna W., and Whibley, Annabel. 2024. "The genome of a globally invasive passerine, the common myna, Acridotheres tristis." DNA Research, https://doi.org/10.1093/dnares/dsae005. 2024
- Atsawawaranunt, Kamolphat, Ewart, Kyle M., Major, Richard E., Johnson, Rebecca N., Santure, Anna W., and Whibley, Annabel. 2023. "Tracing the introduction of the invasive common myna using population genomics." Heredity, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-023-00621-w. 2023
- Damas, Joana, Corbo, Marco, Kim, Jaebum, Turner-Maier, Jason, Farré, Marta, Larkin, Denis M., Ryder, Oliver A., Steiner, Cynthia, Houck, Marlys L., Hall, Shaune, Shiue, Lily, Thomas, Stephen, Swale, Thomas, Daly, Mark, Korlach, Jonas, Uliano-Silva, Marcela, Mazzoni, Camila J., Birren, Bruce W., Genereux, Diane P., Johnson, Jeremy, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Karlsson, Elinor K., Nweeia, Martin T., Johnson, Rebecca N., Consortium, Zoonomia et al. 2022. "Evolution of the ancestral mammalian karyotype and syntenic regions." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119, (40). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2209139119. 2022
- Lott, Matthew J., Wright, Belinda R., Neaves, Linda E., Frankham, Greta J., Dennison, Siobhan, Eldridge, Mark D. B., Potter, Sally, Alquezar-Planas, David E., Hogg, Carolyn J., Belov, Katherine, and Johnson, Rebecca N. 2022. "Future-proofing the koala: Synergising genomic and environmental data for effective species management." Molecular ecology, 31, (11) 3035–3055. https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.16446. 2022
- Paez, Sadye, Kraus, Robert H. S., Shapiro, Beth, Gilbert, M. T., Jarvis, Erich D., Vertebrate Genomes Project, Conservation Group, Al-Ajli, Farooq, Ceballos, Gerardo, Crawford, Andrew J., Fedrigo, Olivier, Johnson, Rebecca N., Johnson, Warren E., Marques-Bonet, Tomas, Morin, Phillip A., Mueller, Ralf C., Ryder, Oliver A., Teeling, Emma C., and Venkatesh, Byrappa. 2022. "Reference genomes for conservation." Science, 377, (6604) 364–366. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abm8127. 2022
- Lawniczak, Mara K. N., Durbin, Richard, Flicek, Paul, Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Wei, Xiaofeng, Archibald, John M., Baker, William J., Belov, Katherine, Blaxter, Mark L., Bonet, Tomas Marques, Childers, Anna K., Coddington, Jonathan A., Crandall, Keith A., Crawford, Andrew J., Davey, Robert P., Di Palma, Federica, Fang, Qi, Haerty, Wilfried, Hall, Neil, Hoff, Katharina J., Howe, Kerstin, Jarvis, Erich D., Johnson, Warren E., Johnson, Rebecca N., Kersey, Paul J. et al. 2022. "Standards recommendations for the Earth BioGenome Project." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119, (4). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115639118. 2022
- Blaxter, Mark, Archibald, John M., Childers, Anna K., Coddington, Jonathan A., Crandall, Keith A., Di Palma, Federica, Durbin, Richard, Edwards, Scott V., Graves, Jennifer A. M., Hackett, Kevin J., Hall, Neil, Jarvis, Erich D., Johnson, Rebecca N., Karlsson, Elinor K., Kress, W. John, Kuraku, Shigehiro, Lawniczak, Mara K. N., Lindblad-Toh, Kerstin, Lopez, Jose V., Moran, Nancy A., Robinson, Gene E., Ryder, Oliver A., Shapiro, Beth, Soltis, Pamela S., Warnow, Tandy et al. 2022. "Why sequence all eukaryotes?" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119, (4). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2115636118. 2022
- Singh, Devika, Sun, Dan, King, Andrew G., Alquezar-Planas, David E., Johnson, Rebecca N., Alvarez-Ponce, David, and Yi, Soojin, V. 2021. "Koala methylomes reveal divergent and conserved DNA methylation signatures of X chromosome regulation." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288, (1945). https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2244. 2021
- Hogg, Carolyn J., Morrison, Caitlin, Dudley, Jessica S., Alquezar-Planas, David E., Beasley-Hall, Perry G., Magrath, Michael J. L., Ho, Simon Y. W., Lo, Nathan, Johnson, Rebecca N., and Grueber, Catherine E. 2021. "Using phylogenetics to explore interspecies genetic rescue options for a critically endangered parrot." Conservation Science and Practice, https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.483. 2021
- Lott, Matthew J., Wright, Belinda R., Kemp, Leah F., Johnson, Rebecca N., and Hogg, Carolyn J. 2020. "Genetic Management of Captive and Reintroduced Bilby Populations." The Journal of Wildlife Management, 84, (1) 20–32. https://doi.org/10.1002/jwmg.21777. 2020
- Lavery, Tyrone H., Alabai, Masaafi, Esau, Tommy, Fuiberi, Simon, Furina, Di'ifaka, Johnson, Rebecca N., Kekeubata, Esau, MacLaren, David, Waneagea, Jackson, and Flannery, Tim F. 2020. "Integrating traditional knowledge, science and conservation in the search for undescribed mammals on Malaita, Solomon Islands." Pacific Conservation Biology, https://doi.org/10.1071/PC19037. 2020
- Morrison, Caitlin E., Hogg, Carolyn J., Gales, Rosemary, Johnson, Rebecca N., and Grueber, Catherine E. 2020. "Low innate immune-gene diversity in the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster)." Emu - Austral Ornithology, 120, (1) 56–64. https://doi.org/10.1080/01584197.2019.1686994. 2020
- Ewart, Kyle M., Lo, Nathan, Ogden, Rob, Joseph, Leo, Ho, Simon Y. W., Frankham, Greta J., Eldridge, Mark D. B., Schodde, Richard, and Johnson, Rebecca N. 2020. "Phylogeography of the iconic Australian red-tailed black-cockatoo ( Calyptorhynchus banksii ) and implications for its conservation." Heredity, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41437-020-0315-y. 2020
- Ueland, Maiken, Brown, Amber, Bartos, Cecilia, Frankham, Greta J., Johnson, Rebecca N., and Forbes, Shari L. 2020. "Profiling Volatilomes: A Novel Forensic Method for Identification of Confiscated Illegal Wildlife Items." Separations, 7, (1) 5. https://doi.org/10.3390/separations7010005. 2020
- Johnson, Rebecca N. 2020. "Tuatara genome reveals diverse insights into a remarkable reptile." Nature, 584 351–352. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02063-4. 2020
- Mitchell, Andrew, Rothbart, Anna, Frankham, Greta, Johnson, Rebecca N., and Neaves, Linda E. 2019. "Could do better! A high school market survey of fish labelling in Sydney, Australia, using DNA barcodes." PeerJ, 7. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.7138. 2019
- Summerell, A. E., Frankham, G. J., Gunn, P., and Johnson, Rebecca N. 2019. "DNA based method for determining source country of the short beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus) in the illegal wildlife trade." Forensic science international, 295 46–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.11.019. 2019
- Ward, Jodie, Johnson, Rebecca N., and Wilson-Wilde, Linzi. 2019. "Gender equity: how do the forensic sciences fare?" Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences, 51 S263–S267. https://doi.org/10.1080/00450618.2019.1568556. 2019
- Wright, B. R., Grueber, C. E., Lott, M. J., Belov, K., Johnson, Rebecca N., and Hogg, C. J. 2019. "Impact of reduced-representation sequencing protocols on detecting population structure in a threatened marsupial." Molecular biology reports, 46, (5) 5575–5580. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-019-04966-6. 2019
- Ewart, Kyle M., Johnson, Rebecca N., Ogden, Rob, Joseph, Leo, Frankham, Greta J., and Lo, Nathan. 2019. "Museum specimens provide reliable SNP data for population genomic analysis of a widely distributed but threatened cockatoo species." Molecular Ecology Resources, 19, (6) 1578–1592. https://doi.org/10.1111/1755-0998.13082. 2019
- Lo, Nathan, Montagu, Ashley, Noack, Ann, Nahrung, Helen, Wei, Heng, Eldridge, Mark, Gray, Karen-Ann, Rose, Harley A., Cassis, Gerasimos, Johnson, Rebecca N., and Lawson, Simon. 2019. "Population genetics of the Australian eucalypt pest Thaumastocoris peregrinus: evidence for a recent invasion of Sydney." Journal of Pest Science, 92, (1) 201–212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-018-0995-8. 2019
- Jackson, Stephen M., Fleming, Peter Js, Eldridge, Mark Db, Ingleby, Sandy, Flannery, Tim, Johnson, Rebecca N., Cooper, Steven Jb, Mitchell, Kieren J., Souilmi, Yassine, Cooper, Alan, Wilson, Don E., and Helgen, Kristofer M. 2019. "The Dogma of Dingoes-Taxonomic status of the dingo: A reply to Smith et al." Zootaxa, 4564, (1) 198–212. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4564.1.7. 2019
- Ewart, Kyle M., Griffin, Andrea S., Johnson, Rebecca N., Kark, Salit, Cohen, Tali Magory, Lo, Nathan, and Major, Richard E. 2019. "Two speed invasion: assisted and intrinsic dispersal of common mynas over 150 years of colonization." Journal of Biogeography, 46, (1) 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13473. 2019
- Ewart, Kyle M., Frankham, Greta J., McEwing, Ross, The, Dang Tat, Hogg, Carolyn J., Wade, Claire, Lo, Nathan, and Johnson, Rebecca N. 2018. "A rapid multiplex PCR assay for presumptive species identification of rhinoceros horns and its implementation in Vietnam." PLOS ONE, 13, (6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0198565. 2018
- Johnson, Rebecca N., O'Meally, Denis, Chen, Zhiliang, Etherington, Graham J., Ho, Simon Y. W., Nash, Will J., Grueber, Catherine E., Cheng, Yuanyuan, Whittington, Camilla M., Dennison, Siobhan, Peel, Emma, Haerty, Wilfried, O'Neill, Rachel J., Colgan, Don, Russell, Tonia L., Alquezar-Planas, David, Attenbrow, Val, Bragg, Jason G., Brandies, Parice A., Chong, Amanda Yoon-Yee, Deakin, Janine E., Di Palma, Federica, Duda, Zachary, Eldridge, Mark D. B., Ewart, Kyle M. et al. 2018. "Adaptation and conservation insights from the koala genome." Nature genetics, 50, (8) 1102–1111. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-018-0153-5. 2018
- Ewart, Kyle M., Frankham, Greta J., McEwing, Ross, Webster, Lucy M. I., Ciavaglia, Sherryn A., Linacre, Adrian M. T., The, Dang Tat, Ovouthan, Kanitia, and Johnson, Rebecca N. 2018. "An internationally standardized species identification test for use on suspected seized rhinoceros horn in the illegal wildlife trade." Forensic Science International: Genetics, 32 33–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2017.10.003. 2018
- Duchêne, David A., Bragg, Jason G., Duchêne, Sebastián, Neaves, Linda E., Potter, Sally, Moritz, Craig, Johnson, Rebecca N., Ho, Simon Y. W., and Eldridge, Mark D. B. 2018. "Analysis of Phylogenomic Tree Space Resolves Relationships Among Marsupial Families." Systematic Biology, 67, (3) 400–412. https://doi.org/10.1093/sysbio/syx076. 2018
- Löber, Ulrike, Hobbs, Matthew, Dayaram, Anisha, Tsangaras, Kyriakos, Jones, Kiersten, Alquezar-Planas, David, Ishida, Yasuko, Meers, Joanne, Mayer, Jens, Quedenau, Claudia, Chen, Wei, Johnson, Rebecca N., Timms, Peter, Young, Paul R., Roca, Alfred L., and Greenwood, Alex D. 2018. "Degradation and remobilization of endogenous retroviruses by recombination during the earliest stages of a germ-line invasion." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 115, (34) 8609–8614. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1807598115. 2018
- Eldridge, Mark D. B., Potter, Sally, Helgen, Kristofer M., Sinaga, Martua H., Aplin, Ken P., Flannery, Tim F., and Johnson, Rebecca N. 2018. "Phylogenetic analysis of the tree-kangaroos (Dendrolagus) reveals multiple divergent lineages within New Guinea." Molecular phylogenetics and evolution, 127 589–599. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2018.05.030. 2018
- Hogg, Carolyn J., Dennison, Siobhan, Frankham, Greta J., Hinds, Meagan, and Johnson, Rebecca N. 2018. "Stopping the spin cycle: genetics and bio-banking as a tool for addressing the laundering of illegally caught wildlife as 'captive-bred'." Conservation Genetics Resources, 10, (2) 237–246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12686-017-0784-3. 2018
- Neaves, Linda E., Danks, Melissa, Lott, Matthew J., Dennison, Siobhan, Frankham, Greta J., King, Andrew, Eldridge, Mark D. B., Johnson, Rebecca N., and Divljan, Anja. 2018. "Unmasking the complexity of species identification in Australasian flying-foxes." PLOS ONE, 13, (4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194908. 2018
- Ahlers, N., Creecy, J., Frankham, G., Johnson, Rebecca N., Kotze, A., Linacre, A., McEwing, R., Mwale, M., Rovie-Ryan, J., Sitam, F., and Webster, L. M. I. 2017. "'ForCyt' DNA database of wildlife species." Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series, 6 e466–e468. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigss.2017.09.195. 2017
- Hobbs, Matthew, King, Andrew, Salinas, Ryan, Chen, Zhiliang, Tsangaras, Kyriakos, Greenwood, Alex D., Johnson, Rebecca N., Belov, Katherine, Wilkins, Marc R., and Timms, Peter. 2017. "Long-read genome sequence assembly provides insight into ongoing retroviral invasion of the koala germline." Scientific Reports, 7, (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-16171-1. 2017
- Dennison, S., Frankham, G. J., Neaves, L. E., Flanagan, C., FitzGibbon, S., Eldridge, M. D. B., and Johnson, Rebecca N. 2017. "Population genetics of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) in north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland." Australian Journal of Zoology, 64, (6) 402–412. https://doi.org/10.1071/ZO16081. 2017
- Eldridge, Mark D. B., Divljan, Anja, Ingleby, Sandy, Johnson, Rebecca N., King, Andrew G., Major, Richard E., Parnaby, Harry E., and Tsang, Leah. 2017. "The Australian Museum Lord Howe Island Expedition 2017-birds and mammals." Technical Reports of the Australian Museum (online), 26 25–43. https://doi.org/10.3853/j.1835-4211.26.2017.1704. 2017
- Ueland, Maiken, Ewart, Kyle, Troobnikoff, Amanda N., Frankham, Greta, Johnson, Rebecca N., and Forbes, Shari L. 2016. "A rapid chemical odour profiling method for the identification of rhinoceros horns." Forensic science international, 266 e99–e102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.05.011. 2016
- Cui, Pin, Löber, Ulrike, Alquezar-Planas, David, Ishida, Yasuko, Courtiol, Alexandre, Timms, Peter, Johnson, Rebecca N., Lenz, Dorina, Helgen, Kristofer M., Roca, Alfred L., Hartman, Stefanie, and Greenwood, Alex D. 2016. "Comprehensive profiling of retroviral integration sites using target enrichment methods from historical koala samples without an assembled reference genome." PeerJ, 4 e1847. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.1847. 2016
- Neaves, Linda E., Frankham, Greta J., Dennison, Siobhan, FitzGibbon, Sean, Flannagan, Cheyne, Gillett, Amber, Hynes, Emily, Handasyde, Kathrine, Helgen, Kristofer M., Tsangaras, Kyriakos, Greenwood, Alex D., Eldridge, Mark D. B., and Johnson, Rebecca N. 2016. "Phylogeography of the Koala, (Phascolarctos cinereus), and Harmonising Data to Inform Conservation." PLOS ONE, 11, (9) 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0162207. 2016
Affiliation
Member Of
- National Museum of Natural History Associate Director of Science and Chief Scientist 2020 -
- Australian Academy of Forensic Sciences 2014 -
- Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales Fellow 2014 -
- Society for Wildlife Forensic Science Director of Membership and Outreach 2009 -
- Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society
- Genetics Society of Australia
- International Society for Animal Genetics
- International Society for Forensic Genetics
- Royal Society of New South Wales
Contact
Location
- National Museum of Natural History Academic Department
