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Our Team

EPIC Leadership Team

Kirsten Butcher

Kirsten Butcher, Ph.D.

kirsten.butcher@utah.edu

EPIC P.I.

Kirsten is a Professor of Instructional Design and Educational Technology in the University of Utah’s Department of Educational Psychology. Her research focuses on multimedia learning and educational technologies, exploring how features of digital learning environments can enhance high-level cognitive processes (e.g., prediction, integration, and inference) and deep learning outcomes.

Mitchell J. Power, PhD

Mitchell J. Power, Ph.D.

mitchell.power@geog.utah.edu

EPIC co-PI

Mitch is a Professor of Geography at the University of Utah and Curator of the Natural History Museum of Utah’s Garrett Herbarium. His research explores linkages among vegetation, climate and natural disturbances over decades and centuries, including the critical role of natural disturbance in promoting biodiversity.

Jane

Madlyn Larson

mlarson@nhmu.utah.edu

EPIC co-PI.

Madlyn is the Associate Director of Education Initiatives at the Natural History Museum of Utah. Her work focuses on the development of technology-enabled learning experiences that enhance K-12 students’ critical thinking skills. Ms. Larson leads development of the Natural History Museum of Utah’s premier, digitally-delivered program: Research Quest.

EPIC Museum Collaborators

McKenna Lane

McKenna Lane

mllane2@illinois.edu

EPIC Digital Learning Specialist

McKenna is a Digital Learning and Curriculum Coordinator for the Natural History Museum of Utah and is, also, a PhD student at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign in the Curriculum and Instruction department. Her research explores multifaceted and complex intersections of formal and informal learning environments.

Merinda Davis

Merinda Davis

mdavis@nhmu.utah.edu

EPIC Digital Learning Specialist

Merinda is a Digital Learning and Curriculum Coordinator at the Natural History Museum of Utah as well as an award winning classroom teacher, a devoted life-long learner, and an innovator. She designs and develops interactive lessons and activities based on museum science and authentic research in collections.

EPIC Graduate Research Assistants

Matthew P. Orr

Matthew P. Orr

matt.p.orr@utah.edu

EPIC Research Assistant

Matt worked on this project as a PhD student studying Learning and Cognition in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah. He uses educational data mining, verbal protocol analysis, and video coding work to examine the impact of tangible and digital 3D representations on learner cognition.

Susana Velasquez-Franco

Susana Velasquez-Franco

susana.velasquez@utah.edu

EPIC Research Assistant

Susy worked on this project as a PhD student in the Department of Geography at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on the biogeography of neotropical disturbances at different spatiotemporal scales and how to employ the findings in ecosystem stewardship.

Michelle A. Hudson

Michelle A. Hudson, Ph.D.

michelle.hudson@utah.edu

EPIC Research Assistant

Michelle worked on this project as a PhD student in Learning and Cognition in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah. Her work explores the impact of digitized materials on observation and inference during online science instruction.

Vanessa J. Bailey

Vanessa J. Bailey

vanessa.bailey@utah.edu

EPIC Research Assistant

Vanessa worked on this project as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Geography at the University of Utah. Her research focuses on how ecosystems respond to climate change using vegetation models.

Epiphany Pecchia-Bekkum

Epiphany Pecchia-Bekkum

e.k.pecchiabekkum@utah.edu

EPIC Research Assistant

Pippi is a master's student at the University of Utah studying biogeography. Her thesis studies the diversity of plants and fungi across elevational gradients in Emigration Canyon, Utah. Her research interests include climate change, ecological communities, symbiotic relations, urban-wildlife interfaces, and conservation.

Tatum Steele

Tatum Steele

tatum.steele@utah.edu

EPIC Research Assistant

Tatum is a PhD student in the Counseling Psychology Program in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Utah. Her research examines the impact of social media and screen use on individual well-being.

Additional Collaborators

Scientific Collaborators

Christy Bills

Invertebrate Collections Manager, Natural History Museum of Utah

Cody Bedke

Entomology Lab Volunteer, Natural History Museum of Utah

Bryn Dentinger, Ph.D.

Curator of Mycology & Associate Professor of Biology (School of Biological Sciences), Natural History Museum of Utah & University of Utah

Katrina Derieg

Vertebrate Collections Manager, Natural History Museum of Utah

Patricia (Trish) Freeman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus

Emeritus Mammalogist/Wildlife Zoologist, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Eric Grimm

Director of Sciences Emeritus, Illinois State Museum

Stanley Kitchen, Emeritus

Research Botanist, Maintaining Resilient Dryland Ecosystems, US Forestry Service

Eric Rickart, Ph.D.

Curator of Vertebrates, Natural History Museum of Utah

Joseph Wilson, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Biology, Utah State University

Web Development Collaborators

Colby Bryson

Producer and Director, blnk-spce

Amanda Copeland

Web Developer, Art Coding Design

Michelle Dumas

UEN Web Designer, Utah Education Network

Ian J. Johnston

Animation Director, Revity

Alec Lyons

Director of Photography, blnk-spce

Thomas Pryor

Interactive Developer, Software Technology Group

Uinta Digital

Interactive Developers

Alyson Wilkins

Collections Digitization Coordinator, Natural History Museum of Utah