Kirk Johnson

Dr. Kirk Johnson is the Sant Director of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History where he oversees the world’s largest natural history collection. The Museum hosts nearly 5 million visitors each year. In 2018, its scientists published 586 scientific research papers and named 310 new species. In 2019, the museum opened The David H. Koch Hall of Fossils-Deep Time, an exhibition that interprets the history of life on Earth and its relevance to the future of humanity.

Before his arrival at the Smithsonian in 2012, Kirk was a paleontologist at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science where led expeditions in 18 states and 11 countries. His research focuses on fossil plants and the extinction of the dinosaurs. In 2011, he led an ice age excavation near Snowmass Village in Colorado that recovered parts of more than fifty mastodon skeletons. He is known for his scientific articles, popular books, museum exhibitions, documentaries, and collaborations with artists.

His recent documentaries include Making North America and The Great Yellowstone Thaw, both of which aired on PBS channels. He is the host of NOVA's Polar Extremes, a documentary about the ancient climate of the Arctic and Antarctic, which premieres on February 5, 2020. His latest book, Cruisin’ the Fossil Coastline, The Travels of an Artist and a Scientist along the Shores of the Prehistoric Pacific explores the deep history of the West Coast from California to Alaska.

Kirk is originally from Bellevue, Washington, has a bachelor’s degree from Amherst College, a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in geology and paleobotany from Yale University.

“Dinosaurs Come Back To Life At The Smithsonian” 1A (June 11, 2019)

“The Dinosaurs Are Back!” The Kojo Nnamdi Show (June 10, 2019)

“Inside the Smithsonian’s Newly Renovated Dinosaur Hall” The Today Show (May 30, 2019)

“Museum Director Discovers His Mother’s Childhood Visit to the Smithsonian” Smithsonian Voices (May 11, 2019)

“The Relevance of Deep Time Climate” C-SPAN - Johns Hopkins Climate Symposium (May 3, 2019)

“The Future of Climate Change Is in the Past” Smithsonian.com (September 12, 2018)

Journal Article

• Johnson, Kirk R., Owens, Ian F. P., and Global Collection Group. 2023. "A global approach for natural history museum collections." Science, 379, (6638) 1192–1194. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adf6434.
• Kipp, Michael A., Stüeken, Eva E., Strömberg, Caroline A. E., Brightly, William H., Arbour, Victoria M., Erdei, Boglárka, Hill, Robert S., Johnson, Kirk R., Kvaček, Jiří, McElwain, Jennifer C., Miller, Ian M., Slodownik, Miriam, Vajda, Vivi, and Buick, Roger. 2023. "Nitrogen isotopes reveal independent origins of N2-fixing symbiosis in extant cycad lineages." Nature Ecology & Evolution, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02251-1.
• Butrim, Matthew J., Royer, Dana L., Miller, Ian M., Dechesne, Marieke, Neu-Yagle, Nicole, Lyson, Tyler R., Johnson, Kirk R., and Barclay, Richard S. 2022. "No Consistent Shift in Leaf Dry Mass per Area Across the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary." Frontiers in Plant Science, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.894690.
• Maccracken, S. Augusta, Miller, Ian M., Johnson, Kirk R., Sertich, Joseph M., and Labandeira, Conrad C. 2022. "Insect herbivory on Catula gettyi gen. et sp. nov. (Lauraceae) from the Kaiparowits Formation (Late Cretaceous, Utah, USA)." Plos One, 17, (1). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261397.
• Wilf, Peter, Wing, Scott L., Meyer, Herbert W., Rose, Jacob A., Saha, Rohit, Serre, Thomas, Cúneo, N. Rubén, Donovan, Michael P., Erwin, Diane M., Gandolfo, Maria A., Gonzalez-Akre, Erika, Herrera, Fabiany, Hu, Shusheng, Iglesias, Ari, Johnson, Kirk R., Karim, Talia S., and Zou, Xiaoyu. 2021. "An image dataset of cleared, x-rayed, and fossil leaves vetted to plant family for human and machine learning." PhytoKeys, 187 93–128. https://doi.org/10.3897/phytokeys.187.72350.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 2020. "Presentation of the 2019 Harrell L. Strimple Award of the Paleontological Society to James L. Goedert." Journal of Paleontology, 94, (5) 1015–1015. https://doi.org/10.1017/jpa.2020.55.
• Erdei, Boglárka, Coiro, Mario, Miller, Ian, Johnson, Kirk R., Griffith, M. Patrick, and Murphy, Vickie. 2019. "First cycad seedling foliage from the fossil record and inferences for the Cenozoic evolution of cycads." Biology Letters, 15, (7). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2019.0114.
• Fuentes, Anthony J., Clyde, William C., Weissenburger, Ken, Bercovici, Antoine, Lyson, Tyler R., Miller, Ian M., Ramezani, Jahandar, Isakson, Vincent, Schmitz, Mark D., and Johnson, Kirk R. 2019. "Constructing a time scale of biotic recovery across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, Corral Bluffs, Denver Basin, Colorado, U.S.A." Rocky Mountain Geology, 54, (2) 133–153. https://doi.org/10.24872/rmgjournal.54.2.133.
• Hagen, Eric R., Royer, Dana L., Moye, Ryan A., and Johnson, Kirk R. 2019. "No Large Bias within Species between the Reconstructed Areas of Complete and Fragmented Fossil Leaves." Palaios, 34, (1) 43–48. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2018.091.
• Lyson, T. R., Miller, I. M., Bercovici, A. D., Weissenburger, K., Fuentes, A. J., Clyde, W. C., Hagadorn, J. W., Butrim, M. J., Johnson, K. R., Fleming, R. F., Barclay, R. S., Maccracken, S. A., Lloyd, B., Wilson, G. P., Krause, D. W., and Chester, S. G. B. 2019. "Exceptional continental record of biotic recovery after the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction." Science, 366, (6468) 977–+. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aay2268.
• Kowalczyk, Jennifer B., Royer, Dana L., Miller, Ian M., Anderson, Clive W., Beerling, David J., Franks, Peter J., Grein, Michaela, Konrad, Wilfried, Roth-Nebelsick, Anita, Bowring, Samuel A., Johnson, Kirk R., and Ramezani, Jahandar. 2018. "Multiple Proxy Estimates of Atmospheric CO ₂ From an Early Paleocene Rainforest." Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology, 33, (12) 1427–1438. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018PA003356.
• Clyde, William C., Ramezani, Jahandar, Johnson, Kirk R., Bowring, Samuel A., and Jones, Matthew M. 2016. "Direct high-precision U–Pb geochronology of the end-Cretaceous extinction and calibration of Paleocene astronomical timescales." Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 452 272–280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.07.041.
• DiEuliis, Diane, Johnson, Kirk R., Morse, Stephen S., and Schindel, David E. 2016. "Opinion: Specimen collections should have a much bigger role in infectious disease research and response." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 113, (1) 4–7. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1522680112.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Baysinger, Dave. 2016. "In his own words." Acta Geologica Polonica, 66, (4) III–XIII. https://doi.org/10.1515/agp-2016-0030.
• Stockey, Ruth A., Rothwell, Gar W., and Johnson, Kirk R. 2016. "Evaluating Relationships among Floating Aquatic Monocots: a New Species of Cobbania (Araceae) from the Upper Maastrichtian of South Dakota." International Journal of Plant Sciences, 177, (8) 706–725. https://doi.org/10.1086/688285.
• Barclay, Richard S., Rioux, Matthew, Meyer, Laura B., Bowring, Samuel A., Johnson, Kirk R., and Miller, Ian M. 2015. "High precision U–Pb zircon geochronology for Cenomanian Dakota Formation floras in Utah." Cretaceous Research, 52A 213–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2014.08.006.
• Pigati, Jeffrey S., Miller, Ian M., and Johnson, Kirk R. 2015. "The Snowmastodon Project: Cutting-edge science on the blade of a bulldozer." GSA Today, 25, (9). https://doi.org/10.1130/GSATG240GW.1.
• Blonder, Benjamin, Royer, Dana L., Johnson, Kirk R., Miller, Ian, and Enquist, Brian J. 2014. "Plant ecological strategies shift across the cretaceous-paleogene boundary." PLoS biology, 12, (9) 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1001949.
• Donovan, Michael P., Wilf, Peter, Labandeira, Conrad C., Johnson, Kirk R., and Peppe, Daniel J. 2014. "Novel Insect Leaf-Mining after the End-Cretaceous Extinction and the Demise of Cretaceous Leaf Miners, Great Plains, USA." PLoS ONE, 9, (7) 1–35. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0103542.
• Johnson, Kirk R., Miller, Ian M., and Pigati, Jeffery S. 2014. "The Snowmastodon Project." Quaternary Research, 82, (3) 473–476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2013.12.010.
• Miller, Ian M., Pigati, Jeffrey S., Scott Anderson, R., Johnson, Kirk R., Mahan, Shannon A., Ager, Thomas A., Baker, Richard G., Blaauw, Maarten, Bright, Jordon, Brown, Peter M., Bryant, Bruce, Calamari, Zachary T., Carrara, Paul E., Cherney, Michael D., Demboski, John R., Elias, Scott A., Fisher, Daniel C., Gray, Harrison J., Haskett, Danielle R., Honke, Jeffrey S., Jackson, Stephen T., Jiménez-Moreno, Gonzalo, Kline, Douglas, Leonard, Eric M., Lifton, Nathaniel A. et al. 2014. "Summary of the Snowmastodon Project Special Volume : A high-elevation, multi-proxy biotic and environmental record of MIS 6–4 from the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado, USA." Quaternary Research, 82, (3) 618–634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2014.07.004.
• Pigati, Jeffrey S., Miller, Ian M., Johnson, Kirk R., Honke, Jeffrey S., Carrara, Paul E., Muhs, Daniel R., Skipp, Gary, and Bryant, Bruce. 2014. "Geologic setting and stratigraphy of the Ziegler Reservoir fossil site, Snowmass Village, Colorado." Quaternary Research, 82, (3) 477–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2.
• Wilf, Peter, Escapa, Ignacio H., Cúneo, N. Rubén, Kooyman, Robert M., Johnson, Kirk R., and Iglesias, Ari. 2014. "First South American Agathis (Araucariaceae), Eocene of Patagonia." American Journal of Botany, 101, (1) 156–179. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1300327.
• Wing, Scott L., Johnson, Kirk R., Peppe, Daniel J., Green, Walton A., and Taylor, David Winship. 2014. "The Multi-Stranded Career of Leo J. Hickey." Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, 55, (2) 69–78. https://doi.org/10.3374/014.055.0201.
• Zaiss, Jessica, Ravizza, Greg, Goderis, Steven, Sauvage, Justine, Claeys, Philippe, and Johnson, Kirk R. 2014. "A complete Os excursion across a terrestrial Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary at the West Bijou Site, Colorado, with evidence for recent open system behavior." Chemical Geology, 385 7–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2014.07.010.
• Carvalho, Mónica R., Wilf, Peter, Hermsen, Elizabeth J., Gandolfo, Maria A., Cúneo, N. Rubén, and Johnson, Kirk R. 2013. "First record of Todea (Osmundaceae) in South America, from the early Eocene paleorainforests of Laguna del Hunco (Patagonia, Argentina)." American Journal of Botany, 100, (9) 1831–1848. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.1200637.
• Clyde, W. C., Gingerich, P. D., Wing, Scott L., Röhl, U., Westerhold, T., Bowen, G., Johnson, Kirk R., Baczynski, A. A., Diefendorf, A., McInerney, F., Schnurrenberger, D., Noren, A., and Brady, K. 2013. "Bighorn Basin Coring Project (BBCP): a continental perspective on early Paleogene hyperthermals." Scientific Drilling, 16 21–31. https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-16-21-2013.
• Ellis, Beth and Johnson, Kirk R. 2013. "Comparison of Leaf Samples from Mapped Tropical and Temperate Forests: Implications for Interpretations of the Diversity of Fossil Assemblages." Palaios, 28, (3) 163–177. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2012.p12-073r.
• Archibald, S. B., Johnson, Kirk R., Mathewes, Rolf W., and Greenwood, David R. 2011. "Intercontinental dispersal of giant thermophilic ants across the Arctic during early Eocene hyperthermals." Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278, (1725) 3679–3686. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2011.0729.
• Gandolfo, María A., Hermsen, Elizabeth J., Zamaloa, María C., Nixon, Kevin C., González, Cynthia C., Wilf, Peter, Cúneo, N. Rubén, and Johnson, Kirk R. 2011. "Oldest Known Eucalyptus Macrofossils Are from South America." PLoS ONE, 6, (6) e21084. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021084.
• Peppe, Daniel J., Royer, Dana L., Cariglino, Barbara, Oliver, Sofia Y., Newman, Sharon, Leight, Elias, Enikolopov, Grisha, Fernandez-Burgos, Margo, Herrera, Fabiany, Adams, Jonathan M., Correa, Edwin, Currano, Ellen D., Erickson, J. Mark, Felipe Hinojosa, Luis, Hoganson, John W., Iglesias, Ari, Jaramillo, Carlos A., Johnson, Kirk R., Jordan, Gregory J., Kraft, Nathan J. B., Lovelock, Elizabeth C., Lusk, Christopher H., Niinemets, Uelo, Penuelas, Josep, Rapson, Gillian et al. 2011. "Sensitivity of leaf size and shape to climate: global patterns and paleoclimatic applications." New Phytologist, 190, (3) 724–739. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03615.x.
• Schulte, Peter, Alegret, Laia, Arenillas, Ignacio, Arz, Jose A., Barton, P. J., Bown, Paul R., Bralower, Timothy J., Christeson, Gail L., Claeys, Philippe, Cockell, Charles S., Collins, Gareth S., Deutsch, Alexander, Goldin, Tamara J., Goto, Kazuhisa, Grajales-Nishimura, Jose, Grieve, Richard A. F., Gulick, Sean P. S., Johnson, Kirk R., Kiessling, Wolfgang, Koeberl, Christian, Kring, David A., MacLeod, Kenneth G., Matsui, Takafumi, Melosh, Jay, Montanari, Alessandro et al. 2010. "The Chicxulub Asteroid Impact and Mass Extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary." Science, 327, (5970) 1214–1218. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1177265.
• Wilf, Peter, Singer, Brad S., Zamaloa, María del Carmen, Johnson, Kirk R., and Cúneo, N. Rubén. 2010. "Early Eocene ⁴⁰ Ar/ ³⁹ Ar Age for the Pampa de Jones plant, Frog, and Insect Biota (Huitrera Formation, Neuquén Province, Patagonia, Argentina)." Ameghiniana, 47, (2) 207–216. https://doi.org/10.5710/AMGH.v47i2.7.
• Sarzetti, Laura C., Labandeira, Conrad C., Muzón, Javier, Wilf, Peter, Cúneo, N. Ruben, Johnson, Kirk R., and Genise, Jorge F. 2009. "Odonatan endophytic oviposition from the Eocene of Patagonia: The ichnogenus Paleoovoidius and implications for dragonfly behavioral stasis." Journal of Paleontology, 83, (3) 431–447. https://doi.org/10.1666/08-121.1.
• Wilf, Peter, Little, Stefan A., Iglesias, Ari, del, Carmen Zamaloa, Gandolfo, María A., Cúneo, N. Rubén, and Johnson, Kirk R. 2009. "Papuacedrus (Cupressaceae) in Eocene Patagonia: A new fossil link to Australasian rainforests." American Journal of Botany, 96, (11) 2031–2047. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.0900085.
• Bogner, Josef, Johnson, Kirk R., Kvaček, Zlatko, and Upchurch, Garland R., Jr. 2007. "New fossil leaves of Araceae from the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene of western North America." Zitteliana, A47 133–147.
• Gonzalez, Cynthia C., Gandolfo, Maria A., Zamaloa, Maria C., Cúneo, Nestor R., Wilf, Peter, and Johnson, Kirk R. 2007. "Revision of the Proteaceae Macrofossil Record from Patagonia, Argentina." Botanical Review, 73, (3) 235–266. https://doi.org/10.1663/0006-8101(2007)73[235:ROTPMR]2.0.CO;2.
• Iglesias, Ari, Wilf, Peter, Johnson, Kirk R., Zamuner, Alba B., Cúneo, N. Rubén, Matheos, Sergio D., and Singer, Bradley S. 2007. "A Paleocene lowland macroflora from Patagonia reveals significantly greater richness than North American analogs." Geology, 35, (10) 947. https://doi.org/10.1130/G23889A.1.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 2007. "Forests frozen in time." Nature, 447, (7146) 786–787. https://doi.org/10.1038/447786a.
• Raynolds, Robert G., Johnson, Kirk R., Ellis, Beth, Dechesne, Marieke, and Miller, Ian M. 2007. "Earth history along colorado's Front range: Salvaging geologic data in the suburbs and sharing it with the citizens." GSA Today, 17, (12) 4. https://doi.org/10.1130/GSAT01712A.1.
• Royer, Dana L., Sack, Lawren, Wilf, Peter, Lusk, Christopher H., Jordan, Gregory J., Niinemets, Ulo, Wright, Ian J., Westoby, Mark, Cariglino, Barbara, Coley, Phyllis D., Cutter, Asher D., Johnson, Kirk R., Labandeira, Conrad C., Moles, Angela T., Palmer, Matthew B., and Valladares, Fernando. 2007. "Fossil leaf economics quantified: calibration, Eocene case study, and implications." Paleobiology, 33, (4) 574–589. https://doi.org/10.1666/07001.1.
• Stockey, R. A., Rothwell, G. W., and Johnson, Kirk R. 2007. "Cobbania corrugata gen. et comb. nov. (Araceae): a floating aquatic monocot from the Upper Cretaceous of western North America." American Journal of Botany, 94, (4) 609–624. https://doi.org/10.3732/ajb.94.4.609.
• Sun, Ge, Arhmetiev, Mikhail A., Golovneva, Lina, Bugdaeva, Eugenia, Quan, Cheng, Kodrul, Tatyana M., Nishida, Harufumi, Sun, Yeuwu, Sun, Chunlin, Johnson, Kirk R., and Dilcher, David. 2007. "Late Cretaceous Plants from Jiayin along Heilongjiang River, Northeast China." Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg, 258 75–83.
• Wilf, Peter, Labandeira, Conrad C., Johnson, Kirk R., and Ellis, B. 2006. "Decoupled plant and insect diversity after the end-Cretaceous extinction." Science, 313 1112–1115.
• Archibald, S. B., Pigg, Kathleen B., Greenwood, David R., Manchester, Steven R., Barksdale, Lisa, Johnson, Kirk R., Sternberg, Michael, Stockey, Ruth A., DeVore, Melanie L., and Rothwell, Gar W. 2005. "Wes Wehr dedication." Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 42, (2) 115–117. https://doi.org/10.1139/e05-013.
• Burnham, Robyn J., Ellis, Beth, and Johnson, Kirk R. 2005. "Modern Tropical Forest Taphonomy: Does High Biodiversity Affect Paleoclimatic Interpretations?" Palaios, 20, (5) 439–451. https://doi.org/10.2110/palo.2004.P04-60.
• Wilf, Peter, Johnson, Kirk R., Cúneo, N. Rubén, Smith, M. E., Singer, Bradley S, and Gandolfo, Maria A. 2005. "Eocene Plant Diversity at Laguna del Hunco and Río Pichileufú, Patagonia, Argentina." American Naturalist, 165, (6) 634–650. https://doi.org/10.1086/430055.
• Wilf, Peter, Labandeira, Conrad C., Johnson, Kirk R., and Cuneo, N. Ruben. 2005. "Richness of plant-insect associations in Eocene Patagonia: A legacy for South American biodiversity." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102 8944–8948.
• Burnham, Robyn J. and Johnson, Kirk R. 2004. "South American palaeobotany and the origins of neotropical rainforests." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences, 359, (1450) 1595–1610. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1531.
• Wilf, Peter and Johnson, Kirk R. 2004. "Land plant extinction at the end of the Cretaceous: a quantitative analysis of the North Dakota megafloral record." Paleobiology, 30, (3) 347–368. 2.0.CO;2">https://doi.org/10.1666/0094-8373(2004)030<0347:LPEATE>2.0.CO;2.
• Barclay, Richard S., Johnson, Kirk R., Betterton, William J., and Dilcher, David L. 2003. "Stratigraphy and megaflora of a K-T boundary section in the eastern Denver Basin, Colorado." Rocky Mountain Geology, 38, (1) 45–71. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsrocky.38.1.45.
• Ellis, B., Johnson, Kirk R., and Dunn, Regan E. 2003. "Evidence for an in situ early Paleocene rainforest from Castle Rock, Colorado." Rocky Mountain Geology, 38, (1) 73–100. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsrocky.38.1.173.
• Hicks, Jason F., Johnson, Kirk R., Obradovich, John D., Miggins, Daniel P., and Tauxe, Lisa. 2003. "Magnetostratigraphy of Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) to lower Eocene strata of the Denver Basin, Colorado." Rocky Mountain Geology, 38, (1) 1–27. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsrocky.38.1.1.
• Johnson, Kirk R., Reynolds, Michele L., Werth, Kevin W., and Thomasson, Joseph R. 2003. "Overview of the Late Cretaceous, early Paleocene, and early Eocene megafloras of the Denver Basin, Colorado." Rocky Mountain Geology, 38, (1) 101–120. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsrocky.38.1.101.
• Raynolds, Robert G. and Johnson, Kirk R. 2003. "Synopsis of the stratigraphy and paleontology of the uppermost Cretaceous and lower Tertiary strata in the Denver Basin, Colorado." Rocky Mountain Geology, 38, (1) 171–181. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsrocky.38.1.171.
• Wilf, Peter, Cúneo, N. Rubén, Johnson, Kirk R., Hicks, Jason F., Wing, Scott L., and Obradovich, John D. 2003. "High plant diversity in Eocene South America: evidence from Patagonia." Science, 300, (5616) 122–125. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1080475.
• Wilf, Peter, Johnson, Kirk R., and Huber, Brian T. 2003. "Correlated terrestrial and marine evidence for global climate changes before mass extinction at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 100 599–604.
• Harries, Peter J., Johnson, Kirk R., Cobban, William A., and Nichols, Douglas J. 2002. "Marine Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary section in southwestern South Dakota: Comment and Reply." Geology, 30, (10) 954. 2.0.CO;2">https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2002)030<0955:MCTBSI>2.0.CO;2.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 2002. "A Tropical Rainforest in Colorado 1.4 Million Years After the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary." Science, 296, (5577) 2379–2383. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1072102.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Raynolds, Robert G. 2002. "Introduction to special issues: Paleontology and stratigraphy of Laramide strata in the Denver Basin." Rocky Mountain Geology, 37, (2) 103–103. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsrocky.37.2.103.
• Labandeira, Conrad C., Johnson, Kirk R., and Wilf, Peter. 2002. "Impact of the terminal Cretaceous event on plant-insect associations." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 99 2061–2066.
• Raynolds, R. G. and Johnson, Kirk R. 2002. "Drilling of the Kiowa Core, Elbert County, Colorado." Rocky Mountain Geology, 37, (2) 105–109. https://doi.org/10.2113/gsrocky.37.2.105.
• Sun, G., Akhmetiev, M., Dong, Z. M., Ashraf, A. R., Sun, Y. W., Bugdaeva, E., Dilcher, D. L., Golovneva, L., Harding, I., Johnson, Kirk R., Kezina, T., Kodrul, T., Lu, J. S., Markevich, V., Nishida, H., Okada, H., Park, S. O., Sun, C. L., Xiong, X. Z., Xing, Y. L., and Zhou, Z. L. 2002. "In Search of the Cretaceous - Tertiary Boundary In Heilongjiang River Area of China." Journal of Geoscience Research NE Asia, 5, (2) 105–113.
• Burnham, Robyn J., Pitman, Nigel C. A., Johnson, Kirk R., and Wilf, Peter. 2001. "Habitat-related error in estimating temperatures from leaf margins in a humid tropical forest." American Journal of Botany, 88, (6) 1096–1102. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657093.
• Pearson, Dean A., Schaefer, Terry, Johnson, Kirk R., and Nichols, Douglas J. 2001. "Palynologically calibrated vertebrate record from North Dakota consistent with abrupt dinosaur extinction at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary." Geology, 29, (1) 39–42. 2.0.CO;2">https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0039:PCVRFN>2.0.CO;2.
• Wilf, Peter, Labandeira, Conrad C., Johnson, Kirk R., Coley, Phyllis D., and Cutter, A. D. 2001. "Insect herbivory, plant defense, and early Cenozoic climate change." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 98 6221–6226.
• Wilf, Peter, Labandeira, Conrad C., Kress, W. John, Staines, Charles L., Windsor, Donald M., Allen, A. L., and Johnson, Kirk R. 2000. "Timing the radiations of leaf-beetles: Hispines on gingers from Latest Cretaceous to Recent." Science, 289 291–294.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Troll, Ray. 1999. "Night of the Giant Ammonites Why did ancient, tire-sized shellfish congregate and then perish en masse? A paleontologist and an artist imagine a romantic scenario." Natural History, 108, (6) 14–17.
• Leggitt, M. C. and Johnson, Kirk R. 1999. "From fossil plants to scientifically-accurate dioramas: the fabrication of prehistoric ecosystems." Journal of Natural Science Illustration, 3, (1) 3–6.
• Gemmill, Chrissen E. C. and Johnson, Kirk R. 1997. "Paleoecology of a Late Paleocene (Tiffanian) megaflora from the northern Great Divide Basin, Wyoming." Palaios, 12 439–448. https://doi.org/10.2307/3515382.
• Hopkins, Dennis J., Jr. and Johnson, Kirk R. 1997. "First Record of Cycad Leaves from the Eocene Republic Flora." Washington Geology, 25, (4) 37.
• Harris, Jerald D., Johnson, Kirk R., Hicks, Jason F., and Tauxe, Lisa. 1996. "Four-toed theropod footprints and a paleomagnetic age from the Whetstone Falls Member of the Harebell Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Maastrichtian), northwestern Wyoming." Cretaceous Research, 17, (4) 381–401. https://doi.org/10.1006/cres.1996.0024.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 1996. "The Role of the Republic Flora in Documenting the Floristic Evolution of the Northern Hemisphere." Washington Geology, 24, (2) 41–42.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 1993. "Extinctions at the antipodes." Nature, 366, (6455) 511–512. https://doi.org/10.1038/366511a0.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 1992. "Leaf-fossil evidence for extensive floral extinction at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, North Dakota, USA." Cretaceous Research, 13, (1) 91–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/0195-6671(92)90029-P.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 1991. "Down under the canopy: Leaf litter from an Australian tropical rain forest sheds light on the nature of ancient fossil forests." Discovery (New Haven), 22, (2) 2–9.
• Johnson, Kirk R., Nichols, Douglas J., Attrep, Moses, and Orth, Charles J. 1989. "High-resolution leaf-fossil record spanning the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary." Nature, 340, (6236) 708–711. https://doi.org/10.1038/340708a0.
• Hickey, Leo J., Johnson, Kirk R., and Dawson, Mary R. 1988. "The Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Fossils of the Haughton Formation: A Post-Impact Crater-Fill, Devon Island, N.W.T., Canada." Meteoritics, 23, (3) 221–231. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1945-5100.1988.tb01284.x.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 1987. "The return of the native: east Asian plants whose fossils show that they once inhabited North America have been reintroduced to this continent as exotics." Discovery (New Haven), 20, (1) 22–27.
• Nelson, C. H. and Johnson, Kirk R. 1987. "Whales and walrus as tillers of the seafloor." Scientific American, 256 112–119.
• Nelson, C. H. and Johnson, Kirk R. 1987. "Whales and Walruses as Tillers of the Sea Floor." Scientific American, 256, (2) 112–117. https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0287-112.
• Nelson, C. H., Johnson, Kirk R., and Barber, John H. 1987. "Gray Whale and Walrus Feeding Excavation on the Bering Shelf, Alaska." Journal of Sedimentary Research, 57, (3) 419–430. https://doi.org/10.1306/212F8B4D-2B24-11D7-8648000102C1865D.
• Omar, Gomaa, Johnson, Kirk R., Hickey, Leo J., Robertson, P. B., Dawson, Mary R., and Barnosky, Cathy W. 1987. "Fission-Track Dating of Haughton Astrobleme and Included Biota, Devon Island, Canada." Science, 237, (4822) 1603–1605. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.237.4822.1603.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 1986. "The bizarre diet of the walrus: a look at the history and natural history of the most unusual animal on two teeth." Discovery (New Haven), 19 2–7.
• Dawson, Mary R. and Johnson, Kirk R. 1985. "Discovery of a Dermopteran skull from the Paleogene of Arctic Canada National Geographic Research." National Geographic Research, 2, (1) 112–115.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 1985. "Paleocene bird and amphibian tracks from the Fort Union Formation, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming." Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming, 24 1–10.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Nelson, C. Hans. 1984. "Side-Scan Sonar Assessment of Gray Whale Feeding in the Bering Sea." Science, 225, (4667) 1150–1152. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.225.4667.1150.

Book

• Johnson, Kirk R. and Bonnell, Mary Ann. 2021. Trees Are Made of Gas: The Story of Carbon and Climate. Chicago, Illinois: Chicago Review Press.
• Carrano, Matthew T. and Johnson, Kirk R. 2019. Visions of lost worlds: the paleoart of Jay Matternes. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Books.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Troll, Ray. 2018. Cruisin' the fossil coastline: the travels of an artist and a scientist along the shores of the prehistoric Pacific. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Clyde, Will. 2016. Ancient Wyoming: A Dozen Lost Worlds Based on the Geology of the Bighorn Basin. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.
• Johnson, Kirk R., Armstrong, Betsy R., Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Chip, Kruger, F., Haglund, K. A., and Krell, F. T., editors. 2013. Denver's Natural History Museum: A History. Denver, Colorado: Denver Museum of Nature & Science. In Denver Museum of Nature & Science Annals, 4.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Miller, Ian. 2012. Digging Snowmastodon: Discovering an Ice Age World in the Colorado Rockies. Aspen: People's Press.
• Ellis, B., Daly, D. C., Hickey, Leo J., Johnson, Kirk R., Mitchell, J. D., Wilf, Peter, and Wing, Scott L. 2009. Manual of Leaf Architecture. Cornell University Press.
• Nichols, Douglas J. and Johnson, Kirk R. 2008. Plants and the K-T Boundary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Bonnell, Mary Ann. 2007. Gas Trees and Car Turds: Kid's guide to the roots of global warming. Golden, CO: Fulcrum.
• Labandeira, Conrad C., Wilf, Peter, Johnson, Kirk R., and Marsh, F. 2007. Guide to Insect (and Other) Damage Types on Compressed Plant Fossils (version 3.0). Smithsonian Institution.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Raynolds, Robert G. H. 2006. Ancient Denvers : scenes from the past 300 million years of the Colorado Front Range. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Stucky, Richard Keith. 2006. Prehistoric Journey: A History of Life on Earth. 2nd ed. Golden: Fulcrum.
• Evanoff, Emmett, Gregory-Wodzicki, Kathryn M., and Johnson, Kirk R., editors. 2001. Fossil flora and stratigraphy of the Florissant Formation, Colorado. Denver, CO: Denver Museum of Nature and Science. In Proceedings of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, 4, no. 1.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Stucky, Richard Keith. 1995. Prehistoric journey : a history of life on earth. Denver: Denver Museum of Natural History.
• Johnson, Kirk R., Hickey, Leo J., and Hoover, Cynthia, editors. 1991. Crossroads of continents : the material culture of Siberia and Alaska. Washington, D.C; New Haven, CT.: Smithsonian Seminar on Material Culture.

Presentation/Lecture

• Lyson, Tyler R., Rossetto, Gabriella, Evans, Erica S. J., Bercovici, Antoine, Johnson, Kirk R., and Pearson, Dean. 2016. Dinosaur skeleton occurrence in the latest Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) Hell Creek formatin of Southwestern North Dakota and Souteastern Montana [presentation]. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting, September 27, 2016. Denver, CO.

Book Review

• Johnson, Kirk R. 2015. [Book review] "Surrounded by science." Science, 347, (6222), 618–618. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aaa0840.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 2007. [Book review] "Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed. Life of the Past. Edited by Philip J Currie and , Eva B Koppelhus . Bloomington (Indiana): Indiana University Press. $49.95. xxiii + 648 p + 20 pl; ill.; index. ISBN: 0‐253‐34595‐2. [CD‐ROM included.] 2005." The Quarterly review of biology, 82, (3), 268–268. https://doi.org/10.1086/523131.

Book Chapter

• Johnson, Kirk R. and Stucky, Richard Keith. 2013. "Paleontology: Discovering the ancient history of the American West." In Denver's Natural History Museum: A History. Johnson, Kirk R., Armstrong, Betsy R., Colwell-Chanthaphonh, Chip, Kruger, F., Haglund, K. A., and Krell, F. T., editors. 231–282. Denver, Colorado: Denver Museum of Nature & Science. In Denver Museum of Nature & Science Annals, 4.
• Miller, Ian M., Johnson, Kirk R., Kline, Douglas E., Nichols, Douglas J., and Barclay, Richard S. 2013. "A LateCampanian Flora from the Kaiparowits Formation, Southern Utah, and a Brief Overview of the Widely Sampled but Little-Known Campanian Vegetation of the Western Interior of North America." In At the Top of the Grand Staircase: The Late Cretaceous of Southern Utah. Titus, Alan L. and Loewen, Mark A., editors. 107–131. Indiana University Press.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 2009. "Climate in Geologic Time and My Lifetime." In How the West was Warmed. Conover, Beth, editor. 80–86. Golden: Fulcrum.
• Barclay, Richard S. and Johnson, Kirk R. 2004. "West Bijou Site Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, Denver Basin, Colorado." In Field Trips in the Southern Rocky Mountains, USA ; GSA Field Guide 5:. 59–68. Geological Society of America. 5 https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-0005-1.59.
• Hicks, Jason F., Johnson, Kirk R., Obradovich, John D., Tauxe, Lisa, and Clark, David. 2002. "Magnetostratigraphy and geochronology of the Hell Creek and basal Fort Union Formations of southwestern North Dakota and a recalibration of the age of the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary." In The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains: An Integrated continental record of the end of the Cretaceous ; Special Paper 361. Hartman, Joseph H., Johnson, Kirk R., and Nichols, Douglas J., editors. 35–55. Geological Society of America. 361 https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-2361-2.35.
• Johnson, Kirk R. 2002. "Megaflora of the Hell Creek and lower Fort Union Formations in the western Dakotas: Vegetational response to climate change, the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary event, and rapid marine transgression." In The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains: An Integrated continental record of the end of the Cretaceous ; Special Paper 361. Hartman, Joseph J., Johnson, Kirk R., and Nichols, Douglas J., editors. 329–391. Geological Society of America. 361 https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-2361-2.329.
• Johnson, Kirk R., Nichols, Douglas J., and Hartman, Joseph H. 2002. "Hell Creek Formation: A 2001 synthesis." In The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains: An Integrated continental record of the end of the Cretaceous ; Special Papers 361. Hartman, Joseph J., Johnson, Kirk R., and Nichols, Douglas J., editors. 503–510. Geological Society of America. 361 https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-2361-2.503.
• Labandeira, Conrad C., Johnson, Kirk R., and Lang, Peter. 2002. "A preliminary assessment of insect herbivory across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary: extinction and minimal rebound." In The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in the Northern Great Plains-An Integrated Continental Record at the End of the Cretaceous. Hartman, James H., Johnson, Kirk R., and Nichols, DonaldJ, editors. 297–327. Geological Society of America. In Geological Society of America Special Papers, 361.
• Murphy, Edward C., Hoganson, John W., and Johnson, Kirk R. 2002. "Lithostratigraphy of the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota." In The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains: An Integrated continental record of the end of the Cretaceous ; Special Paper 361. Hartman, Joseph H., Johnson, Kirk R., and Nichols, Douglas J., editors. 9–34. Geological Society of America. 361 https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-2361-2.9.
• Nichols, Douglas J. and Johnson, Kirk R. 2002. "Palynology and microstratigraphy of Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary sections in southwestern North Dakota." In The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains: An Integrated continental record of the end of the Cretaceous ; Special Paper 361. Hartman, Joseph H., Johnson, Kirk R., and Nichols, Douglas J., editors. 95–143. Geological Society of America. 361 https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-2361-2.95.
• Pearson, Dean A., Schaefer, Terry, Johnson, Kirk R., Nichols, Douglas J., and Hunter, John P. 2002. "Vertebrate biostratigraphy of the Hell Creek Formation in southwestern North Dakota and northwestern South Dakota." In The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains: An Integrated continental record of the end of the Cretaceous ; Special Paper 361. Hartman, Joseph H., Johnson, Kirk R., and Nichols, Douglas J., editors. 145–167. Geological Society of America. 361 https://doi.org/10.1130/0-8137-2361-2.145.
• Johnson, Kirk R., Nichols, Donald K., Labandeira, Conrad C., and Pearson, Dean. 2000. "Devastation of Terrestrial Ecosystems at the K-T Boundary in North America: The First Calibrated Record of Plant and Animal Response to the Chixulub Impact." In Catastrophic Events & Mass Extinctions: Impacts and Beyond (Vienna, July 9-12). 85–86. Houston, Texas: Lunar and Planetary Institute. In Lunar and Planetary Institute Contribution, no. 1053.
• Johnson, Kirk R. and Hickey, Leo J. 1990. "Megafloral change across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains, U.S.A." In Geological Society of America Special Papers. Sharpton, Virgil L. and Ward, Peter D., editors. 433–444. Geological Society of America. 247 https://doi.org/10.1130/SPE247-p433.

Map

• Johnson, Kirk R. and Troll, Ray. 2007. "Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway Map: the Ultimate Prehistoric Road Map to the Best of the American West." Golden: Fulcrum.