Diane Johnston: Associate Director, Forecast Systems Integration and Innovation

Diane Johnston’s desire to learn, grow and contribute to her organization has been a constant motivation over her 30-year career at ECCC. As the Associate Director, Forecast Systems Integration and Innovation (MSC) and the Chair of the Women in Science and Technology Committee, Diane values excellence at all levels and enjoys learning something new with each role she has filled. Her experience has given her an appreciation for the depth of the specialties and expertise of her colleagues at ECCC.

When Diane began her career at ECCC, supercomputing was a new addition to the weather service that advanced and shaped our numerical weather prediction in positive ways. She believes that current advancements in the fields of artificial intelligence and machine learning will help bring our weather services to a new quantum level.

Diane feels privileged to have been lead and Chair of the Women in Science and Technology Committee for the past 20 years. She has worked to build the network so that it is diverse and inclusive, and is grateful to have always had the support she needed to continue her leadership role on the Committee.

Diane’s diverse career has provided her with many great memories. One of her favourite projects was working on the Pan American Games in 2015 in the Greater Golden Horseshoe region in Ontario. There she led the project to prepare and implement a mini-met service for the Games. Over the course of about four years, Diane worked with a team to plan and install a mesonet, a network of weather stations designed to observe mesoscale meteorological phenomena. She credits the success of this project to the dedication and expertise of her team.

To learn more about Diane Johnston’s work, please visit: Environment and Climate Change Canada - The Toronto 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games Experience

Here are a few random facts about Diane:

• What was your first job? 30 years ago, my first job in the Public Service was when I started working at Environment Canada in the Atmospheric Environment Service as a computer science professional supporting staff in the Service Desk. Before that, my very first job was in the private sector working at IBM reporting to their Vice President in charge of their Global Public Affairs division. I worked on a mainframe as a database designer and developer to track all sectoral, partner and client interactions by division staff.
• If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be? I would love to travel to Norway to see in-person the spectacular fjords.
• What is your favorite game or sport to watch and play? My favourite sport is Figure Skating particularly because that was the sport I was most involved in competitively, and later as a coach and judge.
• If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? I really enjoy preparing and eating Italian cuisine. If I could only eat one meal then it would be a hearty beef and veggie lasagna with a slice of bruschetta and a robust glass of Chianti.
• If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to? If I could go back in time, I would love to be 30 years old in the year 1955. Rock ‘n roll music was huge, poodle skirts were in, dresses were lovely and innovations were plenty. It was well past World War II and it was a time of positivity.
• What is your favourite flavour of ice cream? I really enjoy Rolo ice cream a lot! So many other flavours to try and so many calories to work off!
• What form of public transportation do you prefer? (air, boat, train, bus, car, etc.) For trips that are beyond a local or regular commute, I prefer taking the train for some longer trips. The pace is good and I don’t have to drive. I enjoy sitting back and looking at the scenery as it goes by.
• If you could share a meal with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? If I could share a meal with anyone, I would want to have dinner with Queen Victoria, with me in her era and not with her in present-day. I would ask her about her thoughts and experiences about being the most influential and powerful woman in the United Kingdom, if not the world. I’d ask about her fears, her values and how she would be deliberate about her legacy.
• What's your favorite holiday? My favourite holiday by far is Christmas, followed closely by Thanksgiving. I am certain this has a great deal to do with having a large turkey dinner with all the fixings with my entire family around me. There isn’t anything I could be more thankful for than to be surrounded with my loved ones and to put good food on my table.
• What's your favorite fast food? I still enjoy McDonald’s. It brings back great memories and I have always loved their fries. More recently, I’ve come to really enjoy their coffee.
• Do you love or hate rollercoasters? I love the thrill of rollercoasters but I dislike my stomach’s reaction to them.