David VanZandt, Director and Chief Archaeologist (Deceased)
David was the (Semi-Retired) Senior Principal Engineer for ZIN Technologies, Inc., specializing in space flight hardware for NASA Glenn Research Center and had more than forty years of experience designing, building, testing, and operating fluids and combustion experiments on the Space Shuttle, sounding rockets, and International Space Station. He was also a Distinguished Engineer for the consulting firm Holt / Murphy Advisors, Ltd. principled by CLUE member Lorry Wagner. David began his diving career in 1995 and held dive certifications up through trimix and AIMA/NAS Level 3. He began searching for and finding shipwrecks off his boat, the Sea Dragon, in 2001 when he founded the Cleveland Underwater Explorers (CLUE). David graduated from Madison Heights High School in 1972 and Purdue University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering. He was also a graduate of Flinders University and held several archaeology degrees including a Masters of Maritime Archaeology. David is on the Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) and was a member of the Ohio Archaeological Council (OAC), the Association of Great Lakes Maritime History (AGLMH), the Great Lakes Historical Society (GLHS), and the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA). He was also a fellow in The Explorers Club (FN'08). Dave made the first dive of the 2024 season diving on the newly located shipwreck Clough when he experienced a medical emergency and did not return to the surface. He died doing what he loved.
Tom Kowalczk, Principal Director
Tom is currently retired and an avid shipwreck hunter off his boat Dragonfly. He is a lifelong resident of Ottawa county Ohio and grew up fishing and diving in Lake Erie. Tom began diving shipwrecks in 1965 and has been researching Great Lakes history ever since. He holds an International certification of safe scuba diving from NASDS and is a past scuba diving instructor. Active in the Great Lakes community, he is a past board member of The Association of Great Lakes Maritime History (AGLMH), a member of the Great Lakes Historical Society (GLHS), and Save Ontario’s Shipwrecks (SOS). Tom is an experienced researcher, side scan sonar operator, and scuba diver.
Rob Ruetschle, Research, Remote Sensing, and Diver
Rob is currently retired and the former CEO and founder of Assisting Hearts Home Care, of California. He is currently consulting other owners of Home Care Organizations and Assisted Living Communities with recruitment, training, marketing, and how to operate a compassionate, profitable, and compliance-oriented business serving our vastly expanding and sensitive senior communities. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and worked exclusively in the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing field for 25 years before becoming involved in the home health care business. Rob was raised around the water in the Great Lakes area where he learned to fish, water ski, and scuba dive in the Great Lakes with his family, who all are certified divers, and have been diving since early 1970’s. Soon after that he and his father became extremely interested in the history of the Great Lakes and began researching shipwrecks through the public libraries and museums around the Great Lakes. After locating several shipwrecks, they teamed up with Jim Paskert and Bob Tindal and became fully engaged in researching, locating, and documenting shipwrecks. Rob is an experienced researcher, side scan sonar operator, and scuba diver. He currently searches for and documents shipwrecks from his 32 foot Marinette Grand Sportsman, Scavenger.
Chris Kraska, Deputy Director of Archaeology
Chris is the son of an Irish mother and Polish Father who met and married in Scotland at the height of WWII. His father was a seaman in the Polish Navy and served aboard the escort destroyer ORP Kujawiak which sank in the Mediterranean during Operation Harpoon in June of 1942 after hitting a mine while escorting a convoy to Malta. Chris was part of the team which located the wreck in 2014 and recovered its bell in 2017. He is a divemaster and has made hundreds of dives in warm waters as well as on Lake Erie and served as the chairman of the board of the Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST) from 2012 until 2018. During which time he was the project manager for the survey of the Brig Sultan, which sank in Lake Erie in 1864. Chris has a BA in political science, an MED in education, a BA in anthropology, and is working on an MA in anthropology. He is a member of the Explorer's Club (MN '18) and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers. He has been involved in searches for World War II bombers in the Mediterranean and a missing World War II submarine in the north Atlantic. Most recently Chris was elected president elect of the Ohio Archaeological Council. Chris has taught public school in Cleveland for over 23 years and lives in Twinsburg with his wife Laurie.
Ken Marshall, Technical Diver and Surveyor
Ken is a retired Senior Consulting Engineer specializing in forensic engineering conducting root cause investigations and damage analysis. He has over 35 years of experience in the design, fabrication, assembly, operation, and maintenance of custom industrial equipment. Ken graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He also earned a Master in Business Administration from Cleveland State University. Ken is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.). He began his diving career in 1979 eventually becoming a YMCA/SEI O/W Instructor (retired). In addition, he holds certifications in numerous specialties including: gas blending, tri-mix, SCR rebreather, ice and cave. Ken’s interest in shipwrecks expanded in 1999 after taking the GLHS/MAST Nautical Archaeology for Divers Workshop, eventually earning his Underwater Archaeology Instructor certification. Ken is a past chair of the MAST Board of Directors and was a driving force behind the MAST historic shipwreck mooring program. Ken has managed that program since 2005, which provides seasonal dive boat mooring buoys for the protection of shipwrecks in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie's central basin. Ken continues as a member of the Great Lakes Historical Society (GLHS) and the Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST).
Lorry Wagner, Survey Diver
Dr. Lorry Wagner, President of Lake Erie Energy Development Corporation (LEEDCo), has a 35 year history of engineering and consulting expertise in a wide range of industries including electrical, industrial, nuclear, and financial services. A pioneer in the design and development of proprietary processes for industry, he has been awarded two patents, a trademark, and was the Purdue University Distinguished Engineering Alumnus for 1999. His current endeavor is developing a pilot off-shore wind turbine energy generation program in Lake Erie to develop green electricity for North East Ohio. Lorry started diving in 1976 and holds an Open Water dive certification. In his off time, he coaches swimming for the Solon Stars USA Swimming Club.
Tom is currently retired and an avid shipwreck hunter off his boat Dragonfly. He is a lifelong resident of Ottawa county Ohio and grew up fishing and diving in Lake Erie. Tom began diving shipwrecks in 1965 and has been researching Great Lakes history ever since. He holds an International certification of safe scuba diving from NASDS and is a past scuba diving instructor. Active in the Great Lakes community, he is a past board member of The Association of Great Lakes Maritime History (AGLMH), a member of the Great Lakes Historical Society (GLHS), and Save Ontario’s Shipwrecks (SOS). Tom is an experienced researcher, side scan sonar operator, and scuba diver.
Rob is currently retired and the former CEO and founder of Assisting Hearts Home Care, of California. He is currently consulting other owners of Home Care Organizations and Assisted Living Communities with recruitment, training, marketing, and how to operate a compassionate, profitable, and compliance-oriented business serving our vastly expanding and sensitive senior communities. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry and worked exclusively in the Pharmaceutical Manufacturing field for 25 years before becoming involved in the home health care business. Rob was raised around the water in the Great Lakes area where he learned to fish, water ski, and scuba dive in the Great Lakes with his family, who all are certified divers, and have been diving since early 1970’s. Soon after that he and his father became extremely interested in the history of the Great Lakes and began researching shipwrecks through the public libraries and museums around the Great Lakes. After locating several shipwrecks, they teamed up with Jim Paskert and Bob Tindal and became fully engaged in researching, locating, and documenting shipwrecks. 
Chris is the son of an Irish mother and Polish Father who met and married in Scotland at the height of WWII. His father was a seaman in the Polish Navy and served aboard the escort destroyer ORP Kujawiak which sank in the Mediterranean during Operation Harpoon in June of 1942 after hitting a mine while escorting a convoy to Malta. Chris was part of the team which located the wreck in 2014 and recovered its bell in 2017. He is a divemaster and has made hundreds of dives in warm waters as well as on Lake Erie and served as the chairman of the board of the Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST) from 2012 until 2018. During which time he was the project manager for the survey of the Brig Sultan, which sank in Lake Erie in 1864. Chris has a BA in political science, an MED in education, a BA in anthropology, and is working on an MA in anthropology. He is a member of the Explorer's Club (MN '18) and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers. He has been involved in searches for World War II bombers in the Mediterranean and a missing World War II submarine in the north Atlantic. Most recently Chris was elected president elect of the Ohio Archaeological Council. Chris has taught public school in Cleveland for over 23 years and lives in Twinsburg with his wife Laurie. 
Ken is a retired Senior Consulting Engineer specializing in forensic engineering conducting root cause investigations and damage analysis. He has over 35 years of experience in the design, fabrication, assembly, operation, and maintenance of custom industrial equipment. Ken graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He also earned a Master in Business Administration from Cleveland State University. Ken is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.). He began his diving career in 1979 eventually becoming a YMCA/SEI O/W Instructor (retired). In addition, he holds certifications in numerous specialties including: gas blending, tri-mix, SCR rebreather, ice and cave. Ken’s interest in shipwrecks expanded in 1999 after taking the GLHS/MAST Nautical Archaeology for Divers Workshop, eventually earning his Underwater Archaeology Instructor certification. Ken is a past chair of the MAST Board of Directors and was a driving force behind the MAST historic shipwreck mooring program. Ken has managed that program since 2005, which provides seasonal dive boat mooring buoys for the protection of shipwrecks in the Ohio waters of Lake Erie's central basin. Ken continues as a member of the Great Lakes Historical Society (GLHS) and the Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST).