Biography:

Mark Schlueter was born in Austin, Texas in 1969.  A few months later, he moved to Florida.  Mark’s father was in the space program (NASA) and the family lived near Cape Canaveral, where the rockets and spaceships were launched.  He met several astronauts, saw rocket launches, and viewed spacecrafts.  But alas, he was never allowed to fly in one of the spaceships – a surprise since he was so small he could have been easily stuffed behind someone’s seat. 

Most of Mark’s childhood was spent in Florida, except for a three year period he spent in Virginia during the 9 -11th grades.  Mark spent most of his childhood engaged in typical activities such as little league baseball, cub scouts, and playing with his younger brothers Daniel and Andy.

He attended the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, where he took a diverse mix of classes.   He had a hard time choosing a major and potential career.  He earned a B.A. in psychology after just 3 years and stayed a fourth year to earn a B.S. in Biology.  He enjoyed history, especially ancient history.  Mark earned a history minor, and was just one class short of earning a history degree.  At the age of 19, during his sophomore summer he traveled by himself to Italy, Greece, Israel, and Egypt.  As an independent study and in conjunction with his travels, he wrote a 50+ page research paper on the ancient history of these lands.   Although Mark found history interesting, he had even stronger interests in animals and biology.  During his time at UNF, he was trained and certified as a SCUBA diver.  Friends, classmates, and biology teachers introduced Mark to the wonders of the ocean and amazing wildlife of Florida.

He traveled up north for graduate school attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.  Dr. Sheldon Guttman served as Mark’s research mentor.  At Miami University, Mark earned both a M.S. and Ph.D. in Zoology.  His Master’s degree focused on environmental toxicology.  His master’s thesis examined the effects of copper (a toxic heavy metal) on the survival and genetic diversity on fish populations.  He changed gears a little for his Ph.D., plus, he found a way to tie his work back to the ocean and scuba diving.  His Ph.D. dissertation focused on the genetics and gene flow of coral reef fish populations.  Mark performed over 100 dives gathering fish and data.  Most of the trips were relatively uneventful; however, a few were noteworthy.

A few of his “true – real life” adventures are briefly mentioned here.  For the complete tale, you must visit Mark at his GGC office.  Some of the best adventures include: “Lost at sea”, “Swim fast, swim faster” and “Trapped by a moray eel”. 

Lost at sea is the tale of when Mark was adrift alone in the Gulf of Mexico after his boat capsized and was lost.  His unlikely rescue was quite a miracle. Swim fast, swim faster is a tale of a nasty encounter with an aggressive Lemon shark.  Once again, Mark has a narrow and quite lucky escape. Trapped by a moray eel is the tale of a large Moray eel and Mark fighting over some of the fish he had collected for his research.   In the end, the Moral eel won the encounter dragging Mark into his hole.   As a field biologist, Mark has many additional tales to tell as well.  Swing by his office anytime to hear more of these tales or perhaps plan a new adventure into our large and exciting world.

While working on his Ph.D., between adventures and school, Mark started a family.  Just a month after being lost and rescued in the Gulf of Mexico, Mark met Sarah Thaeler in the summer of 1994.  Sarah and Mark were married a few months later.  The rest of the family joined them shortly thereafter, Catherine in the 1995 and Peter in 1996.Catherine and Peter are Mark’s greatest joys and blessings.

In the summer of 1998, Mark and his family moved to New Orleans for his first faculty position.  Mark had accepted the opportunity to serve as an Assistant Professor of Biology at Xavier University of Louisiana.  He spent 6 years teaching and conducting research at Xavier.  He mentored 15 undergraduate research assistants, performed many experiments, and developed excellent teaching techniques.  Several of Mark’s research students won student Poster competitions at regional scientific conferences.

In the summer of 2004, Mark and his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska for his second faculty position.  Mark had accepted the opportunity to lead the biology program at the College of Saint Mary.  In this leadership position, Mark's skills and experience grew very fast.  As part administrator/ part teacher, Mark gained valuable experience in program accreditation, curriculum revision, hiring and managing faculty, started an on-campus undergraduate research program, creating a new forensic science program, and much more.  His efforts at CSM were very successful (e.g. receiving a $500,000 NSF grant).   Mark was well rewarded at CSM receiving a promotion to Associate Professor and many other benefits. 

One of the new classes Mark developed was the Natural History and Culture of Costa Rica.  In this course, students first learn about the biodiversity, geography, and culture of Costa Rica and then the students travel to Costa Rica spending 2 weeks engaged in hands-on interactions within the rainforest, other environments, and with the native people.  He hopes to develop a similar course at GGC.  

In the summer of 2007, Mark and his family moved to Georgia for his third faculty position.  He had accepted the opportunity join the faculty at Georgia Gwinnett College.  He looks forward to the opportunity to help create the first new 4 year college in the US in the 21st century.

Mark’s main GGC goals for 2008/2009 are to:
(1) Start a new undergraduate research program
(2) Develop a Natural History and Culture of Costa Rica course with an international travel component
(3) Fine tune the teaching method “Show & Tell: College Style”

In the community, he plans to continue to use his biological expertise to support community organizations (e.g. Boy Scouts) and schools (e.g. science fairs). He also plans to participate in local stream monitoring programs in Gwinnett County (e.g. Georgia Wildlife Federation - Adopt a stream program).