Tod Cossairt
Director of Sustainability, Environmental and Earth Science Instructor, Hiking Coach
Tel: (805) 646 4343 Ext 123

Sustainability, Science, Athletics
Environmental Science and a Sense of Place, Advanced Environmental Studies, Historical Geology, Human Development, Hiking

Year Appointed: 1998



B.A. Antioch University

Tod and his wife Lizzy have lived and worked in the Ojai Valley since 1975. Their three children, Oliver, Ruby, and Will, all attended and graduated from Happy Valley/Besant Hill School, and the Cossairt family relationship with the school community and the Happy Valley land extends back to 1993 when oldest son, Oliver, joined the school as a freshman student.

In 1998 Tod and the Cossairt family came to work and live at Happy Valley School as a part of the full-time residential team. After two years, he was tapped to assume the administrative positions of Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life; positions he held for six years through the period of time Happy Valley School made the transition to Besant Hill School of Happy Valley.

In 2006, Tod shifted administrative responsibilities over to the development of a Sustainability Strategic Plan and Program for BHS, as the Director of Sustainability. Tod continues to devote his work to the cultivation of a culture of sustainability at BHS in his role as the Director of Sustainability and as an instructor of place-based environmental and earth science.