Blair Johnson is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, entitled “Stratified Mixing in Sheared and Zero-Mean-Shear Turbulent Environments.”
She and her research group, the JETlab (Johnson Environmental Turbulence Laboratory) will be studying how mixing occurs across density interfaces in several different types of flows, with applications in coastal zones, oceans, estuaries, and industrial sites. Johnson is interested in understanding how turbulence contributes to the generation of internal waves and instabilities that drive mixing and entrainment, which she hopes to uncover through experiments at her laboratory at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus. She will also be bringing fluid mechanics to the Science Mill, a science museum in Johnson City, Texas. She and the museum are planning to build a new exhibit on internal waves, and to design experiments for the museum’s Homeschool Days program, where homeschooled K-12 students spend a day at the museum doing hands-on experiments.
The National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
