Mark Gaikowski
Mark Gaikowski holds a M.A. and a B.S. in Biology from the University of South Dakota.
Mark has served as the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey's Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center since 2014. As Director, Mark is responsible for leading research scientists based in La Crosse, Wisconsin, whose work spans scales from the molecular level to continental modeling.
Before becoming Center Director at UMESC, Mark was a supervisory biologist and branch chief of a research branch at UMESC focused primarily on management of aquatic invasive species and the development of drugs and chemicals used in aquaculture and fisheries management. Prior to that, Mark was a research physiologist at UMESC leading studies to assess the efficacy, animal safety, human food safety and environmental safety of aquaculture drugs. Mark's research supported the approval of three new drugs for use in U.S. aquaculture and supported expanded drug labels of two other drugs. His professional interests include understanding the impact and management of biological threats in natural and managed systems and the toxicology and pharmacology of exogenous compounds in fish and other aquatic organisms.
