Will Johnson – 2025 Wonderfest Science Envoy

Will Johnson is interested in how organisms and their environment come together to form patterns at an ecosystem level in marine habitats. Inspired by being a long-term diver in California, his research is primarily focused on how kelp forest boundaries are influencing species abundances and distributions as well as future implications of increasingly fragmented forests. In the Palumbi Lab at Stanford’s Hopkins Marine Station, Will leverages environmental DNA to characterize how invertebrate communities shift around the ecosystem boundary between urchin barrens and kelp forests in the Monterey Bay. Will is passionate about ways to improve science communication, how best to get the context behind research across, and how to adapt to many groups of people. Outside of science you will find Will devouring fantasy series, designing and maintaining aquariums, or diving!