Dr. John Scheibe

Dr. John Scheibe of the Department of Biology is interested in the evolution of mammalian gliding, locomotor performance, and the functional morphology of gliders.

Not one to think of himself as having hobbies, Scheibe considers his pursuits to be missions in life, or curses.

“It depends on how things are going,” Scheibe said.

Or, perhaps, by how long they last. “I’m in the middle of two antique auto restorations ᾰ and have been for the last 20 years,” he said. “One of the vehicles is a 1949 Kaiser Deluxe sedan, the other a 1965 Chevy pickup. The Kaiser is a frame-off restoration. The Chevy is easy.”

Scheibe came to Southeast in 1983 from an assistant professorship at the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M. Since then, he has served as research advisor for 31 graduate students and numerous undergrads. He’s had 14 articles in peer-reviewed journals, eight chapters in four books, made more than 30 research presentations and activated more than $100,000 in external research grants. He has a sustained habit of making presentations at area schools and maintains the reptile and mammal collections for the department. Dr. Scheibe has also worked with the BBC and the Missouri Department of Conservation on video presentations.

Missions in life/curses aside, his interests include landscape photography and jazz ᾰ Be-bop through jazz-blues fusion.