Dr. Lucas Joppa is Microsoft’s first Chief Environmental Officer, leading the company’s sustainability efforts through technology innovation, program development, policy advancement, and global operational excellence. With a Ph.D. in Ecology from Duke University, extensive publications in leading academic journals, and recognition by Fortune magazine in its “40 Under 40” list, Dr. Joppa is a uniquely accredited voice for sustainability in the tech industry.

In 2020, Dr. Joppa was named to Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list in the environment and ecology fields. He is an Associate Editor in Chief for the Ecological Society of America’s EcoSphere journal and an honorary Fellow at the UN Environment Program World Conservation Monitoring Center (UNEP-WCMC), and he serves on the boards of leading scientific organizations.

In 2017, he founded Microsoft’s AI for Earth program—a five-year, $50 million cross-company effort dedicated to delivering technology-enabled solutions to global environmental challenges. More recently Dr. Joppa led Microsoft’s ambitious plans to become a carbon negative, water positive, zero waste company and to build a new planetary computing platform that will transform the way we monitor, model, and manage Earth’s natural systems.