Great news! The National Science Foundation has funded the Opportunities for Enhansing the Diversity in the Geosciences (OEDG) Planning Grant. This funding will enable us to begin the pilot study that will lead to the development of the immersive virtual reality environment that will allow students who are mobility impaired to experience sections of Mammoth Cave National Park. This will be a 12-month project that will consist of NAGD collaboration and direct assistance in the development of the environment from the very students we aim to support. In addition, an abstract has been submitted to publicly present the project details to the Geological Society of America annual meeting in Portland, Oregon in October.
Thank you to all involved: Ohio Supercomputer Center, Advanced Computer Center for Arts and Design, US Department of Interior-Mammoth Cave National Park, National Cave and Karst Research Institute, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Ohio STEM Abilities Alliance. It is going to be a great collaboration!