My name is Cliff Johnson and I am a Research Assistant Professor at Northwestern University in CIERA and the Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, and the Co-Director & Science Lead of the Zooniverse at the Adler Planetarium.
Astronomy
My current research focuses on understanding star formation behavior at spatial scales ranging from that of galaxies down to individual star-forming complexes through the combined study of stellar populations and the interstellar medium. Specifically, I study the formation and evolution of star cluster populations and young pre-main sequence star populations in the Local Group, focusing on how star and cluster formation processes depend on galactic environment.
I currently collaborate as a member of three survey teams: the SMC-SF & SMIDGE surveys, analyzing Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the Small Magellanic Cloud; the SMASH & DELVE surveys, analysing DECam imaging of the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds; and the PHAT/PHAST/PHATTER survey teams, analysing Hubble Space Telescope imaging of the Andromeda & Triangulum Galaxies.
I completed my PhD at the University of Washington under the co-supervision of Julianne Dalcanton and Anil Seth. I analyzed the star cluster population of M31 as part of the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) survey.
Publications List: via ADS
People-powered Research
Participatory science (commonly called citizen science) and crowdsourcing are important tools in my research. I am Director and Science Lead for the Zooniverse platform, the world’s most popular platform for people-powered research. I serve as Liaison for the platform’s NASA-Zooniverse partnership, where I support NASA research teams and encourage the development of new projects on our platform.