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  • John Anderson

  • Associate Professor, VTL Manager
  • John Anderson is an associate professor and co-founder of the Virtual Technology and Design program at the University of Idaho. His teaching and research are focused in the areas of trans-architectures, tele-present environments, decision support technologies, and design visualization technologies with an emphasis on complex system design and analysis. He is a design thinker who leads interdisciplinary communities of virtual design experts, scientists, engineers, educators, and artists where the focus in in the incorporation of virtual technology in all aspects of education, research, modeling, and simulation.

  • Contact: email, or on the web


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  1. Roger Lew

  2. Assistant Professor, VTL Co-Manager
  3. Over 10 years of simulation research experience related to human visual perception, transportation, nuclear control human factors, and virtual social-ecological systems.

  4. Contact: email


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  1. Matt Ziegler

  2. VTL media designer, world builder
  3. Virtual world builder, video producer, and documentarian.  Special interest in the use of machinima to capture emergent stories within virtual worlds. Research interest in design of mixed reality environments for use in visualization, simulation, and entertainment.


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  1. Melo Maiolie

  2. VTL Nydus Worm
  3. none


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  1. Seth Haynes

  2. VTL World builder
  3. 3D generalist with an emphasis in Character Development and AI development. Graduate work includes: Development on the Alaska ACE Epscor SalmonSim collaboration. "My work involves the design and development of 3d worlds with an emphasis on character design and interaction."


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  • Jocelyne Helbling

  • Communication designer, complex system analyst
  • I am a communication designer, with emphasis in complex system visualization. Merging the analytical with the creative to design solutions that serve as a platform for collaborative explorations, which provide insight and social discovery through visual storytelling and graphic design.

    Current projects include application of social network analysis and mapping to explore collaboration patterns in large-scale research groups, socio-political influence in mid-size cities, and coupled social and biophysical systems.


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  • Nicholas R. Wood

  • VTL World Builder, content designer
  • Assest develpment and Ui development. Graduate work includes: Salmon Sim, WC-Wave Watershed workshop.
    "My work is focused around exploring the combination of narrative and embeded real world data."


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  • Jens Hegg

  • Salmon Ecology and Biology Advisor
  • Jens is a PhD candidate at the University of Idaho in the interdisciplinary Water Resources Program, working with Dr. Brian Kennedy, an Associate Professor in the Fish and Wildlife Sciences Department, studying recent migratory changes of Fall Chinook Salmon in the Snake River of Idaho. His PhD research centers on the ecology of animal movement and migration, specifically the trade-offs that animals must balance to optimize their ultimate fitness within an environment of complex and changing biotic and abiotic conditions. Further, his research includes the exploratory use of data sonification to understand movement timing of juvenile salmon using the isotopic location data stored within their earbones (called otoliths), a precise record which can provide detailed movement data due to the unique isotopic signature of each watershed. Jens serves as an advisor to the project on salmon behavior and biology, as well as contributing to the incorporation of sonification into the Salmon Sim development. Contact Jens on Twitter (@AFishInSchool), at his personal blog (www.afishinschool.blogspot.com), or as an editor and writer on the PLOS Ecology Community blog (www.blogs.plos.org/ecology).


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  • Jake Cooper

  • VTL Research Staff, Multimedia Designer
  • Jake is a designer with a decade of practice in the entertainment industry. Highlights of his experience lighting design in live theatre, teaching 3D modeling in a University of Idaho classroom, and grant based research through interactive programming and world building in Unity3D.