Mark was born in a secluded section of central Wisconsin where kids still ran free around the neighborhoods and the woods were never far away. When he got good at disappearing outside for hours at a time, he was transplanted down in the eastern region of Missouri. Raised around cows, and Boy scouts, he became passionate about canoeing down the Ozark rivers and exploring caves.

Mark went to college to become a teacher and eventually instructed environmental education in the swamps of Florida, the South Padre Islands of Texas, and finally the Redwoods, kelp forests, and mountains of California. He went back to college to earn his Masters in Environmental Science.

After teaching at UCSB, Mark decided to work with Ken Clarkson at Fish and Wildlife and then followed him to the Riekes Center. To quote Mark, "The Riekes Center is a confluence of possibilities that lend to the mentoring of healthy and happy people."

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