A MAN AND HIS MOUNDS: CONTRIBUTIONS OF DONALD L. JOHNSON TO THE FIELD OF MIMA MOUND RESEARCH

Donald L. Johnson was not the first scientist to investigate the “controversial” field of Mima mound studies; but he was one of the most dedicated, thorough, and passionate scientists to ever conquer this field. Don brought mima mounds to the forefront of biogeomorphology conversations, and showed that biota can indeed alter landforms and landscapes on a large scale. A tireless researcher, Don sought out every obscure 19^th and 20^th century reference to mima mounds he could find. He and his wife, Diana, also travelled to nearly every known and previously unknown moundfield in the western United States to conduct research. Don approached mound studies from nearly every technical angle he could; field excavations, laboratory analyses, aerial photography, LiDAR, GIS, and more. Using this holistic approach, and bringing together colleagues from various disciplines, he was able to uncover the role of animal bioturbation in mima mound creation and maintenance, the modern and historic coverage of mounds in the U.S., the presence of double stone layers in mounds, and the surprisingly fast rate at which mounds can re-build after destruction. The culmination of Don’s decades-long mound research was the publication, shortly before his passing, of the GSA Special Paper Mima Mounds: The Case for Polygenesis and Bioturbation.