Verna Johnston's papers contain her notes, writings, clippings, correspondence and photographs pertaining to California and Alaskan ecology. She has arranged most of the papers in alphabetical subject files. Johnston's photographs are also organized in an alphabetical filing system that lists each image by subject and provides a history of submissions for publication. The collection includes a selection of periodicals and government reports pertaining to subjects represented in the papers. The total extent of the Verna Johnston Collection is approximately 39 linear ft. more than half of which consists of photographs, slides and negatives.

Verna Johnston, ecologist and photographer, was born in Berwyn, Illinois (1918) and educated at the University of Illinois (M.S. in Zoology, 1941). After six years teaching in Illinois and California high schools (1939-1945), Johnston became a science instructor at San Joaquin Delta Community College in Stockton, California(1945), where she remained until retirement (Sp 1982).

Collection is open for research.