Clayton Johnson (BA Geology, 1994)

After graduating from CWU, I pursued my passion for computer technology and went into software. I started as a test engineer on Windows 95 and have mostly been working at Microsoft since.

I'm currently working in the Microsoft Operations Center in Redmond as an Analyst in Global Operations (think NASA mission control (tiered desks, projected images providing telemetry on the walls, and clocks labeled with capital city names)).

I monitor servers in datacenters located around the world. When there's a problem with a server, I verify it, fix it when possible, or raise the issue to other teams as necessary to prevent disruption for services hosted by Microsoft (SkyDrive/OneDrive, Bing, MSN, Office.com) or services we host for other companies / partners or governments.

As in Geology, I have to be able to read the information on the surface to infer what is happening at a distance. I have a recollection of a story of geologists figuring out where the German U-boats were during WWII.

I live in Bothell, Wa with my wife, 2 kids, a dog, a cat, and several pounds of bees.