Professor Katherine Johnson is a Professor in Psychology at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, within the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences. As Principal Investigator and Laboratory Director of the Attention Dynamics Lab, she conducts research on attention dynamics across the lifespan, investigating how infants, children, and adults focus and sustain attention amid distractions. Employing methods including behavioral analyses, eye-tracking, and EEG, her work elucidates cognitive and physiological differences in developmental disorders such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorder, with autism listed as her primary research interest. Johnson also explores the impact of nature exposure, including city green roofs and greenery, on concentration restoration, alongside studies on children's classroom attention, its links to learning, and early attention and memory development in infants. She contributes to the Brain & Mental Health Hub and Cognitive Neuroscience Hub.

Johnson's academic career includes her appointment at the University of Melbourne since June 2010, previously serving as Lecturer at Queen's University Belfast (March 2009–May 2010) and Research Associate at Trinity College Dublin, School of Psychology (December 2004–March 2009). Holding a PhD, she has authored over 128 scholarly works, garnering more than 4,500 citations. Key publications encompass 'Using contemplative nature engagement practices to address ecological distress' (2025), 'A Systematic Review of the Associations Between Biodiversity and Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing' (2024), 'Translational validity of neuropsychological tasks of sustained attention between rodents and humans: A systematic review of three rodent tasks' (2024), 'Quicker Exogenous Orienting and Slower Endogenous Orienting in Autistic People' (2024), 'Examining the facets of mindful engagement and mind wandering in nature' (2024), 'Daily arousal variation has little effect on sustained attention performance' (2023), 'Maternal warmth is associated with network segregation across late childhood: A longitudinal neuroimaging study' (2022), and 'City green roof views boost attention' (2014).

Professional Email: kajo@unimelb.edu.au