When Ashley Johnson stepped into the role of Interim Program Administrator for the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) and Chemical and Physical Biology (CPB) concentrations this past May, she brought with her not only a wealth of administrative experience, but also the perspective of a biologist, educator, and lifelong advocate for accessible science. In just a few months, she has become an essential presence behind the scenes—supporting faculty, connecting with undergraduates, and strengthening the programs that guide students through some of Harvard’s most rigorous scientific majors.
“I’ve only been in the role since May, so I’m still learning all the tasks,” Johnson says with a laugh. “But at its core, the position is really student-focused—planning events, helping undergraduates navigate the system, supporting concentration recruitment, and making sure that students feel connected and supported throughout their time in MCB or CPB.”
Johnson splits her time between MCB and the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology (HEB), where she has served as the Undergraduate Program Coordinator since April 2024. That dual role—born out of a hiring freeze and Johnson’s affiliation with the Science Division rather than a single academic unit—means she manages two distinct student communities, two sets of curricular needs, and two closely related but culturally different scientific departments.
A Strong Start
Despite arriving during the summer, when students are scarce and faculty rhythms shift, Johnson quickly began shaping the student experience. She now works with Domonic Mao, MCB Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies, helping oversee the MCB and CPB tutor programs, ensuring that each newly declared concentrator is matched with a mentor who will guide them academically and professionally. She also coordinates thesis courses, managing the complex workflow of draft submissions, faculty feedback, and cross-departmental communication.
A significant portion of her work focuses on demystifying Harvard’s administrative systems. “I do a lot of helping professors with anything related to my.harvard,” she explains. “Course catalog updates, scheduling, classroom assignments—anything that ensures students get the courses they need in the right place at the right time.”
Her efforts have not gone unnoticed. “Ashley Johnson is an outstanding fit for the program administrator role,” says Mao. “With a PhD in animal biology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and administrative experience at both the Broad Institute and HEB, she brings exceptional expertise. Combined with her deep understanding of Harvard’s staff, faculty, and students, she has hit the ground running and quickly established herself as the go-to person for all curriculum-related matters.”
Monique Brewster, Associate Concentration Advisor for MCB and CPB, echoes that sentiment. “Although Ashley has only been with us for a few months, she has already become an essential part of the MCB and CPB concentrations. She coordinates concentration events, manages our research and thesis records, oversees concentration-wide communications to keep our students informed, and handles many other concentration administrative tasks that arise. It has been a pleasure working with her, and we simply couldn’t do it all without her.”
A Scientist from the Start
Long before she was navigating Harvard’s course catalog, Johnson was learning about aquatic life in an entirely different setting—the New England Aquarium. After moving to Boston as a high-school sophomore, she participated in the city’s Red Shirts youth employment program and was placed at the Aquarium. It changed her life.
“I worked in the freshwater gallery, doing public education and helping care for the animals,” she recalls. “It opened my eyes. I realized, ‘Oh, I can be a biologist.’”
She kept returning to the Aquarium while studying biology at Wellesley College. By the time she graduated, she had spent years behind the scenes caring for fish and inspiring visitors—so much so that an anaconda in the collection was named after her. “Though she has passed away, she had lots of babies first,” Johnson says with a smile. “I like to think that legacy carries on.”
After college, Johnson worked as a lab technician, including a brief stint in the former MCB lab of Axel Nohturfft, before pursuing her PhD where she studied evolutionary biology, focusing on the evolution of fish color patterns in guppies and bluefin killifish.
“It’s classic evolutionary biology,” she says. “Guppies are the model organism for so many evolutionary principles. I basically watched fish mate all day.”
Graduate school also introduced her to her husband, a physicist whose career would shape her next steps. After several years of a long-distance relationship, when her husband and his advisor moved to UCLA, Johnson decided she would no longer be the one to stay behind. “I wasn’t going to do long-distance ever again,” she says. “So when he moved to San Francisco for a postdoc, I followed.”
A Passion for Teaching and Outreach
In San Francisco, Johnson pivoted to education, teaching biology, science, and math at a private high school for four years. She and her husband welcomed their first child during that time, and as family needs changed—especially as her mother became ill—she decided to return to Boston.
That move led her to the Broad Institute’s Office of STEM Engagement and Inclusion, where she spent six years running large educational outreach efforts. She coordinated the Broad’s signature program that brings scientists into every Cambridge eighth-grade classroom and helped researchers develop age-appropriate activities for students.
She also launched and expanded the Bio-Coding Club, an after-school program combining hands-on biology with Scratch programming for middle-schoolers. “Doing that through the pandemic was really hard,” she says. “But we made it work—and the program grew. We put the curriculum online so teachers anywhere could run their own clubs.”
Family, Cycling, and Community
Johnson now lives in Milton with her husband—a protein engineer at Ginkgo Bioworks—and their two children, ages eight and six. And while spare time is scarce, she is passionate about one hobby: bicycle commuting.
“I’m not a cyclist, but I’m a very passionate bicycle commuter,” she says. “I care a lot about safe streets, about making biking accessible. I bike from Milton—about ten and a half miles—to Harvard. I did most of the winter this year too, thanks to a folding bike which she was able to take on the T.”
This fall, Johnson immersed herself in supporting her students. Study breaks, recruiting events, and thesis preparation season all gave her a deeper connection to the undergraduates she serves.
“I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the MCB and CPB students during the concentration study breaks,” Johnson adds. “ I am always so impressed by how capable Harvard students are.”
With her scientific background, educational expertise, and deep commitment to student success, Ashley Johnson is already strengthening the MCB and CPB communities—and she’s just getting started.
