The CLUE Team


David VanZandt, Director and Chief Archaeologist

David is the (Semi-Retired) Senior Principal Engineer for ZIN Technologies, Inc., specializing in space flight hardware for NASA Glenn Research Center and has 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 is also the Distinguished Engineer for the consulting firm Holt / Murphy Advisors, Ltd. principaled by CLUE member Lorry Wagner. David began his diving career in 1995 and currently holds dive certifications up through trimix and AIMA/NAS Level 3. He began searching for and finding shipwrecks off his boat 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 is also a graduate of Flinders University and holds several archaeology degrees including a Masters of Maritime Archaeology. David is on the Register of Professional Archaeologists (RPA) and is 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 is also a fellow in The Explorers Club (FN'08).

Tom Kowalczk, Deputy 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.

Jim Paskert, Director of Archival Research

Jim is a Production Planner for ZIN Technologies, Inc. He learned to dive in 1966 and began researching Great Lakes shipwrecks, ultimately making his first discovery, the steamer Sand Merchant, in 1969. Jim has been researching and discovering shipwrecks in the Great Lakes ever since. For over 40 years he has been involved with locating the majority of the shipwrecks in the Cleveland, Ohio, area of Lake Erie. An accomplished researcher, Jim has assembled a massive library on Great Lakes maritime history. Specializing in primary sources for his information, his collection includes data not commonly found in traditional shipwreck research. His resume includes a long list of diving, shipwreck finds, and related accomplishments.


Rob Ruetschle, Research, Remote Sensing, and Diver

Rob is currently Semi-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.

Kevin Magee, Survey Diver

Kevin is the co-founder of CLUE and was certified for scuba in 1984. He moved to the Cleveland, OH, area in 1993 and discovered shipwreck diving in the Great Lakes shortly afterwards. He enthusiastically practices diving shipwrecks in Lake Erie as well as the other Great Lakes. He was trimix certified in 1999 and has visited many of the pristine deep water wrecks that technical diving allows. Kevin has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters of Science in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He is a Senior Mechanical Engineer for ZIN Technologies, Inc., and is a contract engineer at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Kevin designs, builds, tests, and operates fluids and combustion experiments for the Space Shuttle, sounding rockets, and International Space Station. Kevin is a member of the Great Lakes Historical Society (GLHS) and several local scuba clubs. He also maintains his own web site on diving Great Lakes shipwrecks.

Cindy LaRosa, Survey Diver

Cindy began diving the Great Lakes in the early 1990s and has over 1,000 logged dives and holds numerous dive certifications up through Advanced Nitrox. She is an Official Court Reporter for Cleveland Municipal Court, which makes her uniquely qualified for recording the oral histories of Great Lakes maritime history. Cindy is a published author of an oral history and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Baldwin-Wallace College and a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice/Justice Administration from Tiffin University. She is a Registered Professional Reporter with the National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), is a Certified Reporting Instructor, and has taught court reporting theory at a local college. Cindy is a member of the Great Lakes Historical Society (GLHS), Maritime Archaeological Survey Team (MAST), and several local scuba clubs. She regularly assists in the shipwreck survey work performed by CLUE.

Ken Kusanke, Survey Diver

Ken is a retired mechanical engineer after a long career in the automotive, aeronautical, and aerospace fields. He holds a Bachelors of Science and Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Cleveland State University.  He has been a certified diver since 1977 and assists CLUE with shipwreck searching and surveying.

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