About
Joan Johnson is an TV Associate Producer for QUEST. Joan got her start making science television back in 1998 when she joined the team at Sea Studios in Monterey, working as a researcher and production coordinator on National Geographic Television projects for 4 years. Following that she pursued a career in features and network television down in Los Angeles, working on seven full length feature films, three television shows and several pilots. Joan graduated in 1993 from U.C. Santa Cruz with honors in Biology, and spent several years working as a marine biologist, naturalist and SCUBA guide. Originally from San Francisco, Joan is thrilled to be home and working on QUEST, fulfilling a long-term goal of combining her interests in science and entertainment.
Website: http://www.kqed.org/quest
All Contributions by Joan:
Geothermal Heats Up
Solar and wind power may get the headlines when it comes to renewable energy. But another type of clean power is heating up in the hills just north of Sonoma wine country. The Geysers, the world's largest power-producing geothermal field, has been providing electricity for roughly 850,000 Northern California households, and is set to expand even further.
Video on May 04, 2011
Searching for Life on Mars
After multiple unmanned missions to Mars, we still don't know if life has ever existed there. NASA scientists are hoping a new high-tech rover will help them solve the mystery. The Mars Science Laboratory is scheduled for launch in late 2011 and will search for any evidence that the Red Planet was once capable of supporting life.
Video on May 04, 2011
Into the Deep with Elephant Seals
Thousands of northern elephant seals — some weighing up to 4,500 pounds — make an annual migration to breed each winter at Año Nuevo State Reserve, on the San Mateo County coast. Marine biologists are using high-tech tools to explore the secrets of these amazing creatures, which can hold their breath for an hour and dive a mile below the surface.
Video on May 04, 2011
Cool Critters: The Golden Eagle
Although not as famous as its bald cousin, Golden Eagles are much easier to find in Northern California – one of the largest breeding populations for Golden Eagles is right here in the Mount Diablo valley. Meet one of the largest birds of prey as QUEST visits the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, CA.
Video on Jul 28, 2009
Why I Do Science: Healy Hamilton
Could you have a career studying rare Amazon River Dolphins, tiny octopuses and endangered sea horses? Healy Hamilton does, and she works with kids to encourages them to become scientists.
Video on Jul 07, 2009
Profile: Sylvia Earle
She's spent much of the last five decades exploring and protecting the world's oceans. Find out why legendary marine biologist Sylvia Earle thinks that we may only have a few years left to save what she calls "the blue heart of the planet."
Video on Jul 07, 2009
Producer's Notes – Why I do Science: Healy Hamilton
When I first head about Healy Hamilton at a meeting QUEST was having with the California Academy of Sciences, I just knew I was going to like her.
Post on Jul 07, 2009
Cool Critters: Turkey Vultures
Ever wonder why a vulture's head is bald? QUEST visits the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, CA, to meet their resident Turkey Vulture and learn about what life is like in the Bay Area for these bald "beauties."
Video on Jun 16, 2009
Producer's Notes: Seahorse Sleuths
This planet may have seemed endlessly bountiful 2000 years ago, but today we can no longer afford to take the survival of non-human species for granted.
Post on May 19, 2009
Seahorse Sleuths
Seahorses are some of the most enchanting and mysterious creatures in the ocean. They are struggling to survive in threatened habitats around the world, while large-scale trading of seahorses for the traditional Chinese medicine market goes unchecked. Meet the Seahorse Sleuths – local scientists who are working to save them from extinction.
Video on May 19, 2009
Web Extra: Raising Seahorses in Captivity
Seahorse aquarist Jonelle Verdugo of the Monterey Bay Aquarium talks with Quest about the biology of seahorses on some of the challenges of raising them in captivity.
Video on May 19, 2009
Cool Critters: Opossums
Did you know that opossums are good to have in your backyard? Learn why and a bunch of other cool critter facts when we visit the wildlife ambassadors that live at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, CA.
Video on Mar 31, 2009
Producer's Notes for Cool Critters: Opossums
Did you know that opossums are good to have in your backyard? Learn why and a bunch of other cool critter facts when we visit the wildlife ambassadors that live at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek, CA.
Post on Mar 31, 2009
Asteroid Hunters
Everyone knows that eight planets orbit the Sun. But thousands of other objects, including icy comets and football field-sized asteroids, are also zooming around our solar system. And some of them could be on a collision course with Earth. QUEST explores how these Near Earth Objects are being tracked and what scientists are saying should be done to prevent a deadly impact.
Video on Mar 24, 2009
Zeppelins Resurrected
In 1935, the USS Macon went down in 1000 feet of water off the coast of Monterey, California. Now, as scientists study the recently-discovered wreckage, dirigibles are returning to the Bay Area. But these aren't the same dirigibles – these are new and improved.
Video on Mar 17, 2009
Producer's Notes: Zeppelins Resurrected (Bonus)
It's easy to see how these new, nearly silent zeppelins could be used in a myriad of ways – from spying on whales to aerial photography to weather and climate monitoring.
Post on Mar 17, 2009
Inside an Explosion
What happens when something explodes? Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory are now getting a first glimpse of the microscopic properties of an explosion.
Video on Nov 25, 2008
Bio-Inspiration: Nature as Muse
For hundreds of years, scientists have been poaching design ideas from structures in nature. Now, biologists and engineers at UC Berkeley are working together to design a broad range of new products, such as life-saving milli-robots modeled on the way cockroaches run and adhesives based on the amazing design of a gecko's foot.
Video on Oct 21, 2008
Producer's Notes for Bio-inspiration: Nature as Muse
Bio-inspired design borrows its creative inspiration from models and systems in nature, that is, plant and animal parts that have been slowly tweaked for over 3.8 billion years. But that doesn't mean that nature's designs are perfect.
Post on Oct 21, 2008
HIV Research: Beyond the Vaccine
Over the past 15 years, the number of people who die of AIDS each year in the United States has dropped by 70 percent. But AIDS remains a serious public health crisis among low-income African-Americans, particularly women. QUEST meets two Bay Area research groups studying innovative approaches that could lead to new treatments and possibly a cure.
Video on Oct 14, 2008
