He received his B.S. and M.S. from the University of Virginia and his Ph.D. from Drexel University and is the author or co-author of more than 20 peer-reviewed journal publications. His research interests include non-equilibrium plasmas; micro- and nano-scale plasmas; electric propulsion for spacecraft; plasma enhanced materials processing and synthesis; plasma enhanced fuel conversion and combustion; biological and medical plasma applications; and laser and spectroscopic diagnostics. Staack received the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation in 2011.