Dr. Kirk Johnson, paleobotanist and educator extraordinaire
at the Denver Museum of Nature and Scientist, gave a farewell speech October 1,
2012. The Smithsonian Museum saw an energetic, creative scientist with a vision
for popular education and snatched him from our midst. Assuming he follows the course he set for
himself in Denver 22 years ago, he will transform the Smithsonian into an even
more effective interface between people and what they need to know about their incredibly
old and complex world.
Johnson still has the playful instincts of a child. In fact,
he considers the world his sandbox and relishes each treasure he finds
there—like the trove of fossils excavated in Snowmass Colorado last
year—fossils that graphically illustrate an ice age world most of us would find
hard to imagine. He wants people to understand and marvel at ancient heritages
that lie beneath our feet, telling tales of struggle and evolution that
ultimately produced our own imperfect, but sometimes promising, species.
Johnson emphasized the special time and place we occupy with
mind-blowing timelines and scenes of Earth’s dynamic beauty. As a species we
are poised to transform the Earth—either to benefit or decimate the rest of the
living planet. We can’t act responsibly unless we know what that world contains
and how it got here.
Johnson discovers, explains, and inspires like few people
can. Those are three skills Washington D.C. could certainly put to good use. He
promises to come back and charges Coloradoans to take care of “his museum” in
the meantime—an institution that inspires more volunteers than any other
natural history museum in the world!
Artist Ray Troll captured Johnson’s intensity and obsession
with fossil plants in this illustration for Cruisin’
the Fossil Freeway (Fulcrum, 2007). Troll also captured me on a volunteer
trip to Western Colorado that unearthed fossils for a museum in Vernal, Utah.
I’m the Paleonerd on the right!
