As Director of the Sustainability Division, Dr. Gottschalk leads the state's work in partnering with businesses and institutions on a variety of multi-media resource efficiency and waste reduction programs that promote environmental stewardship and create a culture of conservation across Georgia.

Prior to joining the Sustainability Division, Dr. Gottschalk served in the Director's Office of the Environmental Protection Division (EPD), first as a Senior Policy Advisor and then as Policy Coordinator. His responsibilities there included planning and policy projects that integrated environmental policy and planning with transportation, land use and energy policy and planning by other state, regional and local agencies.

Over his nearly 28-year career with DNR, Dr. Gottschalk also led EPD's Mobile & Area Sources Program, reducing air pollution from cars, trucks, buses and other transportation sources in the Atlanta region, and managed programs for the clean-up of releases from underground storage tanks and for the investigation of abandoned hazardous waste sites.

Dr. Gottschalk has his Ph.D. in Ecology from Emory University in Atlanta. He was born in Milwaukee, raised in Florida, and has lived in Atlanta since 1968.