International environmental policy

In the fall of 2000, Joe Johnson was the first environmental professional hired at Microsoft. Since then, he has expanded his job beyond its original “compliance manager” aspect into the policy arena. He now manages a group of three people.

He tracks worldwide environmental regulations that affect Microsoft products and business operations, and implements compliance strategies to address these requirements. Most Americans are unaware of European or Asian regulations, such as restrictions on use of heavy metals in product packaging and consumer electronics, and Johnson often gets a surprised reaction when people hear what he does at Microsoft.

Among other things, he has helped to manage and reduce the company’s overall “environmental footprint.” Given the size of Microsoft’s operations worldwide, he feels this is an opportunity to make a positive impact on the environment.

After finishing his master’s degree under the guidance of Associate Professor John Kissel, Johnson was hired by The Boeing Co. in a “design-for-environment” program to reduce the use of hazardous substances in metal-finishing operations.

He moved on to manage Boeing’s remediation projects under state and federal waste management regulations, such as the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Superfund. He managed several local sites at the Duwamish River and Boeing Field, and others across the United States. He moved briefly into consulting, but “when Microsoft called with the opportunity to get in front of the cleanup issue instead of chasing behind, I took it.”

He finds that working at Microsoft “can be a lot like grad school—you need to be dedicated to and passionate about your work, or you won’t succeed.” The hours are equally long, but the pay is a lot better, he quipped.

He encourages students to “take time to discover what truly motivates you, then begin visualizing work that will allow you to express that motivation.” It could take awhile to get there, he cautions, even a decade or more, but “the clearer you are, the faster it can happen.”

He sees expanding opportunities to do environmental work in industry with the evolution of standards for corporate social and environmental responsibility. He encourages students interested in this field to “check out what’s happening and learn about it.”

Johnson has always enjoyed playing sports, and was a member of the 1982 US national and 1983 world championship teams in Ultimate Frisbee. While in grad school, his masters division teams won the 1992 national and 1994 world (and University of Washington intramural) championships. He has since added the 2000 and 2001 national and 2002 world masters titles.

Joe Johnson, Master of Science, Environmental Health, 1994; Environmental Regulatory Manager, Microsoft.

#44 Joe Johnson defending in the finals of the 2002 World Ultimate Championships in Honolulu. His team won. Eric Reader, Chasing Plastic Magazine