Virtual Worlds
I have been developing online active learning and meeting spaces since 2020, using the virtual world platform GatherTown. This page contains a summary of my favorite completed projects. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more about any of these environments, or if you are interested in commissioning creation of a custom virtual space.
AI-Enhanced Climate Change Class
This AI-enhanced virtual course on Arctic climate change over the past 80-million years. This six-level multi-environment virtual field course draws from place-based and active-learning pedagogical practices in creating a student-centered flexible content engagement experience. Use of an AI chat-bot specifically trained on the course content and syllabus provided students with 24-hour access to expert dialogue. This combination of an AI bot and a human faculty instructor proved to be a strong model when piloting the course at Fort Hays State University in 2024. Click here to explore the Arctic!
Virtual Natural History Museum
This fanciful virtual museum hosted the 2023 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Virtual Conference. Activities included synchronous poster sessions, talks, and panel discussion sessions. My design draws inspiration from famous natural history museums around the world, as well as classic retro adventure videogames. It includes a mix of science education content, deeply engaging exploration opportunities, and facilities for hosting group events. Click here to explore the museum!
Permian Karoo Biostratigraphy
This world is a biostratigraphically accurate re-creation of the Permian layers found in the Northwest quadrant of the Karoo supergroup in South Africa. It was created for a two-week virtual academic course for high schoolers who used the world to perform a college-level geologic mapping project. It includes abundant fossils and lithological markers, as well as distinct continuous geologic layers. This environment is idea for upper high school and college-level geologic mapping exercises and similar geology "field" activities. Click here to explore the Karoo!
Neotropical Rainforest
This world was built for a rainforest ecology program focused on poison dart frog ecotoxicology. The instructor, and expert in this field, collaborated on world-building, and supplied field-photos of the frogs with alphanumeric codes added. Students "collected" the frogs as field data, and were given toxin chemical data for each frog found. This data was used by to student to perform statistical analyses to study evolutionary patterns among frog sub-populations separated by streams that divide the environment. Click here to explore the rainforest!
