Kris Johnson, Ph.D.

Kris Johnson is the Associate Director for Science and Planning for the North America Agriculture Program. A skilled collaborator across programmatic and geographic borders, Kris leads efforts to translate scientific information into strategies that lead to large-scale adoption of conservation practices in agricultural landscapes.

Prior to joining the North America Agriculture Program, Kris was a senior scientist for TNC’s North America Water Program. In that role, he led collaborative scientific projects around the country that highlighted opportunities for improved river and watershed management to support communities and to sustain healthy and productive ecosystems.

Before joining TNC in 2012, Kris was the Sustainability Scientist at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment. He received a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College and completed an M.S. and Ph.D. in conservation biology at the University of Minnesota. Kris was a Fulbright Scholar, a MacArthur Scholar and remains a Senior Fellow in Sustainable Agricultural Systems at the University of Minnesota.