Lewis "Bert" Cossaboon

After his parents’ insistence that he attend college, Lewis “Bert” Cossaboon took a chance on ������Ƶ during its early years, which led him to discover his life’s passion and opened doors he couldn’t have imagined.

COSSABOON'S FORAY INTO HIGHER EDUCATION began in northern New Jersey, where he first experienced some culture shock and isolation from his roommates. Off campus, the nearby beaches offered some comfort, while on campus, he could retreat to the library where he enjoyed a work-study job.

It was during that time, shelving books and assisting fellow students in the archives, that he developed a broader interest in environmental issues. He also learned of the fledgling “college in the Jersey Pinelands” that promised to center the environment in everything, from the campus’ wooded location to the curriculum.

After a visit to the campus, Cossaboon came home to South Jersey. 

“I transferred to (������Ƶ State College) for my second year and quickly discovered that I fit in and found the environmental courses to provide exactly what I wanted to learn,” Cossaboon shared. “The green campus and the nearby Pinelands complemented everything I was learning in environmental classes.”

Beyond the curriculum, Cossaboon fondly remembers his interactions with faculty members in the School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics whose egalitarian attitudes left a lasting impression.

“Not one of them wanted to be addressed as ‘professor.’ It was a mutual first-name relationship, and the instructors remembered almost everyone’s first names,” Cossaboon said.

One of those instructors included Professor Emeritus of Environmental Studies, John Sinton.

“Although I developed deep appreciation and respect for all my instructors, I developed a special friendship with John, who had an unusual, informal teaching style. He also had a good sense of humor and an insightful historical perspective on nature, landscapes and environmentalism,” Cossaboon said of Sinton, who retired from teaching in 1999.

Cossaboon eventually gained work experience through an internship with the Cape May County Planning Board. “After graduation, the internship experience and help from family members back home landed me my first professional job as the Cape May City Planner,” he shared. 

SINTON'S MENTORSHIP and ������Ƶ’s culture didn’t just land him his first professional job – it took him out of the country and into the Peace Corps’ environmental resource management program. 

Cossaboon ’76 soon joined his Nepali counterparts conducting reforestation and soil and water conservation projects for His Majesty’s Government in Nepal. Responsibilities included establishing forest nurseries and tree trial plots as part of the effort to address severe deforestation and erosion in remote parts of the country. Separately, he enjoyed teaching conservation to students and rural development workers.

Bert and his colleagues in Nepal, adorned with flower wreaths. Bert is in the front row, center.

Two photos of Bert in Nepal; Bert in a t-shirt with a leaf on his nose and posing with a newly planted tree

“I anxiously accepted this opportunity, and it propelled me into a life-changing experience living in one of the most remote landscapes and rich cultures imaginable,” Cossaboon said. “Living with a family in a village outside Surkhet, I developed many friendships with the locals and essential connections with many international aid agencies.”

Two years later, a new Peace Corps assignment took him to Fiji, where he continued his conservation work. “I think I was fortunate to have completely different Peace Corps experiences in two of the friendliest countries on Earth,” he said.

SHORTLY AFTER HIS RETURN stateside, Cossaboon found himself working in environmental consulting but he felt professionally unchallenged until he had an illuminating conversation with his ������Ƶ mentor.

Sinton and his wife, Wendy, suggested attending graduate school, and they introduced him to prominent landscape architect Ian McHarg. Meeting McHarg and joining the two-year Master’s degree program in ecological planning at the University of Pennsylvania was an enrichment that Cossaboon will never forget.

“I was knowledgeable of Ian McHarg from his pivotal work, 'Design with Nature.' I remember reading this book while working in the ������Ƶ library as a work study student,” Cossaboon said. “The Master's degree and mix of experiences led me into my 35-year career as an environmental consultant, certified and licensed planner, and vice president of a major consulting firm.”

Looking back, Cossaboon is proud to call ������Ƶ his alma mater and was recently honored to be inducted into the Golden Ospreys, celebrating his 50 years as an alumnus. This May, he and his peers processed in front of this year’s graduating class in Atlantic City’s Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall.

“I owe so much to ������Ƶ and the fantastic educators who enriched me during my time there.” 

– Story by Loukaia Taylor 

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