For maximizing efficiency in hazardous waste cleanup and protecting the environment

Project Manager/Environmental Engineer/Emergency Response Scientific Scuba Diver at Environmental Protection Agency | New York, New York, United States

When it comes to work, project manager, environmental engineer, and emergency response scientific scuba diver Joshua Willard says, “The idea of having a desk job terrifies me more than jumping into toxic waste.” While he’s laughing as he says this, you can tell that he is a person who doesn’t like to sit around in what he calls “a little cubicle typing on my little computer.”

Joshua is one of roughly 50 scuba divers in the United States employed by the government who are certified to dive into hazardous-waste-laden waters. He admits there’s a huge adrenalin rush every time he puts on a vulcanized rubber dry suit (so that no liquid can get in or out, for obvious reasons) that has an air supply at the water’s surface and a full face and head mask. But for Joshua, the importance of the work outweighs the adventure.

“From the beginning, working at the EPA, I was able to lead projects and program management initiatives to streamline hazardous waste cleanup throughout the country,” says Joshua. “Some projects can reach tens of millions of dollars and take 30 to 50 years. Maximizing efficiency when we’re spending that kind of taxpayer money means I hit the ground running as soon as I started.”

Joshua got his feet wet in the project management world when he was living and working in remote villages in Peru for the Peace Corps. The job entailed building potable water sanitation systems in areas that didn’t have access to clean water. “We had to build community-based teams, schedule projects, and manage them. There was no one there to do that and it got me thinking from a project management perspective on how to make these and other projects more complete,” he explains.

When Joshua returned from Peru, he decided to take his nascent project management knowledge and formalize it with Project Management Professional (PMP)^® certification, which he completed in 2020. “I wanted to demonstrate to future employers that I walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Completing my PMP gave me the confidence that I could do this, that I’m on the right path.”

Joshua says that now when he’s leading a project, he no longer has that “I’m feeling my way around in the dark” sensation. “I have the structure and background now to say that this can get done in this time frame, with this much money and manpower. I’ve got the framework to talk schedule, budget, risk mitigation and can fluently speak the language of contractors and other federal agencies to run projects efficiently beyond the engineering background I came from.”

While cleaning up national waste sites is fascinating to Joshua, this is only the beginning for him. In December 2023, Joshua completed his Master of Science in Sustainability Management at the Columbia Climate School, at Columbia University in New York, NY, because he says climate change is the most important issue of his generation. “I’ve always dreamed of building clean energy systems internationally.” Peru gave him a taste of that, and he says being pushed out of his comfort zone, in the field, learning a new language, and bringing clean energy where there isn’t even electricity, was a dream job.

Joshua is still figuring out where his career path will take him next. For now, armed with a PMP and master’s degree, he feels that he can “take pride knowing my job impacts things in a positive way to make the environment more livable for future generations.” If Joshua has it his way, future adventures will continue to exclude the dreaded cubicle.