He holds a Master's degree in Comparative Politics from the London School of Economics and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland - College Park. Prior to coming to Laurentian, Dr. Johns was the Researcher in Residence for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's High Commissioner on National Minorities in The Hague, Netherlands. He currently is an Executive Member for the Centre for Research on Canadian-Russian Relations and has recently been elected to the Advisory Board of the Minorities at Risk Project.