Originally from upstate New York, Todd received a B.A. in Earth Sciences from Dartmouth College in 1995. He interned for a year at Oak Ridge National Laboratory before entering graduate school at the University of Virginia, where he received an M.S. (1999) and Ph.D. (2002). He had two post-doctoral research appointments in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Ireland, Cork (2002-2003) and Princeton University (2003-2004), before returning to the University of Virginia. Aside from work, he enjoys playing basketball, hiking, canoeing, and spending time with his wife and daughter.