Mark has an extensive background in planetarium, nature center and museum work that spans more than twenty-five years. At Louisiana Tech University in Ruston Louisiana he was a Mechanical Engineering major and began his planetarium career as director of the university’s planetarium. At the same time, as president of a local astronomical society, he led the operation of the SPAR planetarium in his home town of Shreveport, Louisiana. For ten years as director of the planetarium he presented programs to tens of thousands of students and the public.
As the planetarium curator for the Audubon Louisiana Nature Center in New Orleans, Mark was responsible for the programming and financial success of the planetarium as well as maintaining exhibits throughout the center. He wrote and produced many educational programs and entertainment laser shows as well as performing repairs and maintenance on laser and projection equipment. He also worked as Operations Director for a major audio-visual company where he was directly responsible for the daily operation and supervision of all technical staff and scheduling for road shows.
As a Bowen Technovation Senior Project Manager, some of his most notable projects include Bibliotheca (Alexandria, Egypt), Shanghai Science Center, National Museum of the Pacific War and Computer History Museum. Since 2001 Mark has managed projects and installed technology packages in over fifty planetarium sites around the world. He has received training and certifications from several equipment vendors and manufacturers. In 2016 Mark was inducted as a fellow of the International Planetarium Society.
In addition to his career, he is a passionate space exploration history enthusiast and is a contributor to the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal hosted by NASA. He has also worked on design and fabrication in the archery business including writing software for calculating energy storage efficiencies of various bow designs.