Mark Schleifstein

Co-author of Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms: www.pathofdestructionbook.com Environment reporter Mark Schleifstein has worked at NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune since Oct. 1, 2012. He worked at The Times-Picayune from April 1984 to Sept. 30, 2012. In 2011, he was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Press Club of New Orleans. His stories on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil spill were among The Times-Picayune work honored with the 2010 Edward J. Meeman Award for environmental reporting from the Scripps-Howard Foundation National Journalism Awards program, and with a second place award in the 2011 John B. Oakes Awards program. He was the co-author of a March 2007 series entitled “Last Chance: The Fight to Save a Disappearing Coast,” about Louisiana’s coastal erosion problems, which won the 2008 Communications Award of the National Academy of Sciences and the 2007 John H. Oakes Prize for Environmental Reporting from Columbia University. He’s also the co-author of a December 2008 series entitled “Losing Louisiana,” explaining the role of global warming, sea level rise and subsidence on the future of the Louisiana coastline. His reporting during and after Hurricane Katrina was among the newspaper's stories honored with 2006 Pulitzer Prizes for Public Service and Breaking News Reporting and the George Polk Award for Metropolitan Reporting. He is the co-author with John McQuaid of “Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Age of Superstorms,” published by Little, Brown & Co., in August 2006. Stories he and McQuaid wrote prior to Katrina on coastal science issues were honored in 2006 with a special award from the American Geophysical Union. Among them was the 2002 series he co-authored, "Washing Away: How south Louisiana is growing more vulnerable to a catastrophic hurricane," which also won the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2003 Excellence in Media award and the 2003 National Hurricane Conference media award. It also was a finalist for the 2003 Edward J. Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting for newspapers with over 100,000 circulation. He also was co-author of the 1996 series, "Oceans of Trouble: Are the World's Fisheries Doomed?”, which won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service from the Society of Professional Journalists. Schleifstein also was the co-author of the 2001 series, "Unequal Opportunity: How local programs to help disadvantaged businesses are enriching wealthy entrepreneurs," which won the 2002 Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, and was a finalist for the Taylor Family Award for Fairness in Newspapers. He co-authored the 1998 series, "Home Wreckers: How the Formosan termite is devastating New Orleans," which was a finalist for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting and won awards from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Biological Sciences. The 1994 series, "Stacking the Deck: The Birth of Louisiana Gambling," which he co-authored, won the 1995 Associated Press Managing Editors award for public service journalism, the 1995 Selden Ring Award for investigative reporting, and the 1995 Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. He also was the co-author of the 1991 series, "Louisiana in Peril," which was a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism. While at The Times-Picayune, Schleifstein, 60, has also covered the mayor and city hall, the 1988 Presidential campaign, the 1987 Louisiana Governor's campaign, and the environment. Schleifstein’s work also has won numerous awards from the Press Club of New Orleans and the Louisiana Press Association. Before joining The Times-Picayune, he worked for the Jackson, Miss., Clarion-Ledger, the Norfolk, Va., Virginian-Pilot, and the Suffolk, Va., News-Herald. While at the Clarion-Ledger, he co-authored “Empire of Waste,” an investigation of Browning-Ferris Industries’ history of hazardous waste and garbage disposal, which won the 1980 Edward J. Meeman Award for papers under 100,000 circulation. Schleifstein was a three-time president of the Press Club of New Orleans and a former member of its Gridiron Committee. He was a member of the board of directors of the Society of Environmental Journalists from 1999 to 2009. He is married to Diane Schleifstein, and they have two grown children and two grandchildren.