John Todd

Dr. Todd is has been a pioneer in the field of ecological design and engineering for nearly five decades.

He is the founder and senior partner of John Todd Ecological Design .

Dr. Todd has degrees in agriculture, parasitology and tropical medicine from McGill University and a doctorate in fisheries and ethology from the University of Michigan.

He is professor emeritus and distinguished lecturer at University of Vermont’s School of Natural Resources and a fellow of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics.

He is a co-founder of New Alchemy Institute, a research center that has done pioneering investigation into organic agriculture, aquaculture and bioshelters.

He has been an assistant scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute and assistant professor at San Diego State University.

His numerous honors include the 2008 Buckminster Fuller Award for the best idea/concept to help save the planet/humanity; the Environmental Protection Ageny’s Chico Mendes Award and Environment Merit Award; a lifetime achievement award from the New York Open Center; Global Visionary Award from the City of Chicago; and many others.

He is also co-editor of the “Solutions Journal”; a fellow of the Lindisfarne Association; a member the Society of Ecological Restoration and the Ecological Society of America; and serves on the advisory board of Ecological Engineering, and the Journal of Ecotechnology. His patented Eco-Machine™ was exhibited by Smithsonian Institution’s Design Triennial at the Cooper–Hewitt Museum of Design in New York City.

In 2007 he was named one of top 100 visionaries of the 20th century by “Resurgence & Ecologist” magazine.
He also received an E.P.A. Award for his restorer technology on Lake Punawai, Four Seasons Resort, Hualai, Hawaii, for the promotion of innovative ideas, addressing environmental problems and its ability to be widely replicated.

His work was recognized in the “Genius Issue” of Esquire and he was profiled as one of top 35 inventors in “Inventing Modern America” by David Brown.

Other honors:

Hero of the Planet Award, Time Magazine
Honorary Doctorate, Green Mountain College
Bioneers Lifetime Achievement Award
Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award
Honorary Doctorate in Engineering, McMaster University
Daimler/Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design
Discovery Award for Technological Innovation
Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Award
United Nations Recognition for Contributions to the Global Environment
Threshold Award for Contributions to Human Knowledge
Horace H. Rackham Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis, University of Michigan


Dr. Todd’s patents include:

1990 U.S. Patent #5087353 Solar Aquatic Waste Apparatus
1994 U.S. Patent # 5389257 Method for Treating Waste
1995 U.S. Patent # 5486291 Ecological Fluidized Bed
1996 U.S. Patent # 56618413 EFB System

He has designed over 100 Eco-Machines™ for waste treatment, food production, fuel generation and environmental restoration in sites around the world.

Dr. Todd is the author of over 200 scientific, technical and popular articles and six books.