Curriculum Vitae

Education

MLIS (Archives) University of South Florida – Tampa, Florida, 2025 (Anticipated)
MA (Archaeology) University of Sheffield – Sheffield, England, 2008
BA (Anthropology) University of Florida – Gainesville, Florida, 2006
AA (Liberal Arts) St. Johns River State College – Palatka, Florida, 2004

Professional Experience

Special Collections/Archives: Putnam County Library System, Palatka, Florida
November 2017 – Present
Maintaining and curating the county’s archival collections, and public education through research assistance and programming.  For the library in general: Programming, graphic design, social media management, circulation services, teen and adult programming, grant writing and administration, and administrative assistance.

Archaeology Assistant: City of St. Augustine Archaeology Program, St. Augustine, Florida
November 2013 – May 2016
Excavation and monitoring, lab analysis, records management, volunteer supervision, public archaeology, volunteer training (lab and field)

Graphic Designer: Fountain of Youth Archaeology Park, St. Augustine, Florida
May 2013 – August 2013
Interpretive Signage Design: Creation of signage for various historical aspects of the park, including Native American history, Spanish occupation, and excavation history

Graphic Designer: Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN), St. Augustine, Florida
June 2013 – July 2013
Presentation Design: Creation of PowerPoint Presentations to be used at public archaeology and advocacy lectures and workshops throughout Northeast Florida

Archaeological Technician: University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
March 2013 – August 2013
Excavations at the Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park included on-site excavation of Native American and Spanish colonial structures and features, and on-site interpretation to 500+ visitors daily. Later work entailed lab analysis and database entry at the Florida Museum of Natural History for the same excavations.

Curator and Graphic Design: City of St. Augustine Archaeology Program, St. Augustine, Florida
June 2012 – September 2012
Visitor’s Information Center: Selection and curation of artifacts to be displayed as an award-winning exhibit on 18th Century St. Augustine. Design of interpretive signs,
artifact labeling, advertising, and creation of a 20-minute video presentation detailing the first 200 years of St. Augustine’s history.

Archaeological Technician: University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
October 2011 – December 2011
Excavations at the Fountain of Youth Park and Nombre de Dios Shrine included site setup and layout, excavation of Spanish colonial structures and features, and on-site interpretation to 500+ visitors daily.

English Language Instructor: ピノキオ英会話教室 (Pinocchio English School), Tokyo, Japan
April 2009 – March 2011
Conversational English instructor for all ages, mostly elementary and middle school. Duties included organizing cultural exchange tours to the United States, cultural holiday parties for up to 300 students of all ages, representing the foreign instructors in parent-to-school relations meetings, lesson planning, and cultural awareness training for new foreign teachers.

Volunteer Experience and Service

Putnam County Historical Society, Palatka, Florida
June 2016 – Present
On the board of directors.  Served as newsletter editor 2016-2017, vice president 2018-2019, president, 2020-2023, immediate past president 2024, and general board member 2025 to present.

Bartram Trail Society of Florida
March 2015 – Present
Serving on the planning committee as graphic designer and social media and marketing manager. Grant writer for 2016, designer of the “Passport to the Past” youth program.

Field and Lab Volunteer: City of St. Augustine Archaeology Program, St. Augustine, Florida
June 2011 – November 2013
Lab analysis of prehistoric and historic materials, field excavations and monitoring, office maintenance. Assisted in the organization of volunteers, curating special artifact collections, writing and digitizing field reports and maps, and conducting field site tours for visitors.

Public Archaeologist: Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN), St. Augustine, Florida
March 2013
Sunny Point Archaeology Survey: FPAN conducted a shovel pit survey and archaeology outreach workshop for local schools, consisting of over 200 elementary students across the yard of the historic Bronson Mulholland House at Sunny Point in Palatka, Florida. Served as a field archaeologist, teaching students about surveying, artifacts, stratigraphy, and field methods.

Professional and Public Papers and Posters

Johns, Mischa.  Resuscitating a Dying City: Instilling Pride Through Public History and Archaeology.  Presented at The 82^nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018

Johns, Mischa.  Like Rings on a Tree: Using Archaeology to Map St. Augustine’s Growth.  Poster presentation at the 83^rd Annual Meeting of the Florida Anthropological Society, Jacksonville, 2017.

Johns, Mischa and Carl Halbirt. Well, Well, Well: A Look Into the Varieties and Distribution of Wells in Colonial St. Augustine. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Orlando, 2016.

Johns, Mischa and Carl Halbirt. America’s Enduring Colony. Interpretive poster created for St. Augustine’s 450th Celebration, St. Augustine, September 2015.

Halbirt, Carl and Mischa Johns. Back Under the Spanish Fold: 18th Century Yamasee Mission Sites in St. Augustine, Florida. Presented at the First Meeting of Franciscan Florida: In Pan-Borderlands Perspective, St. Augustine, March 2014, and First Meeting of the Yamassee Conference, St. Augustine, April 2015.

Halbirt, Carl and Mischa Johns. In the Shadow of Castillo: Further Analysis of the Wooden Fort. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Tampa, November 2013.

Halbirt, Carl and Mischa Johns. Twenty-Five Years of Discovery: St. Augustine Archaeological Preservation Ordinance. Presented at the monthly meeting of the St. Augustine Archaeological Association, November 2013.

Johns, Mischa, and Carl Halbirt. Art and Arson: Uncovering Evidence for Drake’s 1586 Raid in Downtown St. Augustine. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Florida Anthropological Society, St. Augustine, FL, May 2013.

Johns, Mischa and Carl Halbirt. Found Anything Interesting? Presentation presented for the Florida Humanities Council, 2013.

Johns, Mischa. Art and Archaeology. Presentation and workshop given to students of the St. Augustine Art Association’s Youth Summer Camp, June 2012.

Halbirt, Carl and Mischa Johns. The Legacy of El Dragon: The 1586 Raid of Francis Drake on St. Augustine. Presentation for the St. Augustine Art Association, June 2012.

Halbirt, Carl and Mischa Johns. Discovering Growth and Change Through Exploration: What St. Augustine’s Preservation Ordinance Has Taught Us About Our Remarkable City. Presentation given to the City Commission meeting, March 2012.

Johns, Mischa and Carl Halbirt. In the Shadow of Castillo de San Marcos: Decoding the Archaeological Evidence for One of St. Augustine’s Wooden Forts. Poster presented at the Annual Meeting of the Florida Anthropological Society, Tallahassee, May 2012.

Halbirt, Carl and Mischa Johns. Twenty-Five Years of Discovery: St. Augustine’s Archaeological Preservation Ordinance. Presentation given at the Annual Meeting of the Florida Anthropological Society, Tallahassee, May 2012.