Mark Gaikowski

Mr. Gaikowski provides leadership for the activities being conducted at six USGS Water Resources Mission Area science centers and five Ecosystems Mission Area science centers across eleven states, spanning from the northern Rocky Mountains to the Great Lakes and south to Kansas. 

Mr. Gaikowski joined the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1993 before being realigned to the USGS in October 1996 as a Research Physiologist. In this role, he led studies to assess the efficacy, animal safety, human food safety and environmental safety of aquaculture drugs. His research supported the approval of three new drugs for use in U.S. aquaculture and supported expanded drug labels of two other drugs. He then took a position as a Supervisory Biologist, leading research to manage aquatic invasive species and to develop data to inform the use of drugs and chemicals in aquaculture and fisheries management. Mr. Gaikowski worked his way up to become the Director of the Upper Midwest Environmental Services Center in La Crosse, WI.  In this position, he led the multidisciplinary science center with specialists in ecology (amphibian, avian, fish, invertebrate, landscape, plant, river, and wildlife, etc.), animal physiology, analytical chemistry, zoology, ecotoxicology, pharmacology, statistics, geographic information systems, computer science, and information transfer. After nine years as Center Director, he was selected to become the Deputy Regional Director for the Midcontinent Region in July 2023.   

Mr. Gaikowski is a graduate of the University of South Dakota, where he earned both Master of Arts and Bachelor of Science in Biology. Mr. Gaikowski also served for 21 years in the Army National Guard, retiring in 2007 as First Sergeant of the 232d Military Intelligence Company in Madison, WI.