John Todd (born 1939) is a Canadian biologist working in the general field of ecological design.
He addresses problems of food production and wastewater processing by using ecosystems technologies that incorporate plants, animals and bacteria. to create "living machines"
or "eco-machines". and Ocean Arks International (1981),
and the founder and president of the design and engineering firm John Todd Ecological Design Inc. (1989).
A research professor emeritus and distinguished lecturer at the University of Vermont,
Todd has published books on ecological design, as well as over 200 scientific papers, popular articles and essays. The area near his home included marshes and streams which were being badly damaged by pollution. The writings of Louis Bromfield offered Todd a "marvelous tale of hope" about the possibility of land restoration.
Career
John Todd joined the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, as an assistant scientist in 1970.
to "engage in scientific research in the public interest on ecologically and behaviourally planned agriculture systems and rural land based communities."
Although the New Alchemy Institute dissolved in 1991,
The idea that the wastes created in one part of a system provide valuable resources for another part of the system is fundamental to the design of such sustainable ecosystems.
Todd began to focus on other concerns relating to water, in particular the development of alternative approaches to conventional waste treatment. He applied ideas from aquaculture and organic agriculture to wastewater. His approach was to identify ecological pathways through which nutrients from waste could be recycled. Waste from one organism could become a food source for subsequent organisms, instead of being discarded as an unusable and toxic by-product.
Susan B. Peterson, previously an employee of OAI, became EEA's first president.
Co-founder John Todd preferred not to serve on its board, but was involved as an "ecological designer".
EEA registered the trademark "Solar Aquatic" specifically for waste treatment tanks with transparent water columns.
Living Technologies Inc.
Todd also co-founded Living Technologies Inc. (LTI), an ecological design, engineering, and construction company, in Burlington, Vermont. It was incorporated as a company on October 26, 1994, in the state of Florida.
In 1997, Living Technologies Inc. sought a second round of funding, which it obtained from Tom Worrell. In 1998, there was considerable reorganization of the company and its board. Worrell assumed ownership of the company in 1999 and acquired the rights to the original patents for Todd's "Living Machine". As of December 2000, in an out-of-court settlement, Worrell obtained the sole right to use "Living Machine" as a proprietary term. Worrell's company went through a number of name changes and relocations. Worrell Water Technologies, LLC of Charlottesville, Virginia currently holds the registered trademark for the name Living Machine. Worrell Water Technologies has redesigned Todd's original systems and patented a number of new technologies since 2002.
Through this company, Todd has developed his own later-generation wastewater treatment systems, under the name "Eco-machines".
As of 2014, John Todd Ecological Design registered the trademark for the term "Eco-machines".
Todd's son, Jonathan Todd, is the president of John Todd Ecological Design.
University of Vermont
Todd taught at the University of Vermont as a guest lecturer beginning in 1997. He became a research professor in 1999. He is now a research professor emeritus and distinguished lecturer.
Todd's approach is one of biomimicry, in which a complex natural ecosystem such as a marsh is studied, recreated and adapted.
Learning from the natural system, the ecological designer combines micro-organisms, fish, and plants into a functionally complex system
Todd emphasized the importance of establishing an ecosystem with a large number of diverse species and then allowing it to "settle" to a stable state, a process that could take weeks, months, or even years. He recommended seeding the ecosystem with local species, ones that had already demonstrated an ability to withstand conditions in the target environment.