Virtual Ecology
Background
Virtual Ecology is a student-faculty project at Washington State University that I started as an undergraduate student to provide students with virtual field trips in the time of distance learning and the COVID-19 pandemic. On the site, users can (1) access virtual field trips, (2) view wildlife videos, (3) learn more about local parks in the Palouse Region, (4) launch Virtual Reality (VR) experiences.
I worked on this website throughout my graduate school and as a teacher’s assistant in the course in the School of the Environment. In the past two years, over 500 undergraduate students have used this website to participate in classroom activities.
My decision to work on this project led me to be awarded the Digital Technology and Culture Distinguished Scholar in 2020 which inspired me to continue my education at Washington State University to pursue a master’s degree in the College of Education. As I continued my education in my master’s program, I was fortunate to win two technology grants for the virtual ecology project and raised $44,550 to continue to develop the virtual ecology website.
