Nathan Johnson is an assistant professor in the Polytechnic School at Arizona State University and the director of the Laboratory for Energy And Power Solutions (LEAPS). His 20-person research team takes energy innovations from concept to construction with a focus on distributed energy resources, smart networks, microgrid controls, and off-grid solutions. Johnson manages a one-acre microgrid test bed to combine simulation-based design with hands-on fabrication and testing to create next-generation solutions to current market needs. Before joining ASU, he spent 10 years in industry and academia working in business development for the energy sector. He now helps start and advise small businesses. Johnson is also an active educator with training and capacity building programs both inside and outside standard university curricula. In his spare time, he runs marathons and regularly paces the Boston qualifying time to help individuals meet their personal goals. 

Johnson is also a member of the graduate faculty in the School of Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy and the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. He is a senior sustainability scientist with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and an affiliate faculty member with the Consortium for Science, Policyand Outcomes at ASU.