Professional experience:  Mississippi National River and Recreation Area: Superintendent, August 2014-December 2020; Chief Resource Management 2010-August 2014; Historian and Cultural Resources Specialist June 2000 to 2010; District Historian, St. Paul District, Corps of Engineers, 1980-2000 (Chief, District Cultural Resources Staff 1997-2000).

Education:  B.A., History and Anthropology, M.A. and Ph.D., History, University of Minnesota.

Member of FMR Board since: 1994 (nonvoting since August 2014)

Board committees:  Policy and Planning

Professional interests:  John is the author of The River We Have Wrought: A History of the Upper Mississippi (University of Minnesota Press, 2005) and an author of River of History: A Historic Resources Study of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (2003).

Interesting book: Systems Thinking: A Primer, by Donella Meadows.

Favorite Mississippi River location:
Favorite historical place:  Meeker Island Lock and Dam Site, Minneapolis 
Favorite scenic site, urban:  Mounds Park, because of the viewshed of Saint Paul and the floodplain
Favorite scenic site, rural:  Pine Bend Scientific and Natural Area

Favorite animal: My cat Sweet Pea, a tabby.

Last memorable vacation:  Summer vacation trip through Taos, Santa Fe, Chaco Culture, Durango and other places in the Southwest.

Conservation/Environmental heroes:  Will Dilg, the primary author of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.