Brandon Gamm – UT Austin (TUE Team)

Brandon Gamm was born in the era when hot pink and teal were acceptable colors for everything from clothing to clinics. As a child he vacillated between reading every book in his local library on animals and creating elaborate but completely plausible spacecraft from Legos. Recently he was shocked to discover years of schooling had lied to him — sometimes one plus one equals three.

Brandon desperately wishes he was born either 500 years in the future or past, and tries to make do with the cards he’s been handed by eventually graduating and turning into a vagabond. Someday he will make the world paradoxically smaller and larger in his own mind by riding his bike across the Americas and then Eurasia while listening to David Bowie and Mogwai.

Mario Guerra Jr – UT Austin (TUE Team)

Mario works at the University of Texas at Austin in the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment. He is part of the Faculty and Graduate Student Instructor Development group that focuses on pedagogy. He teaches instructors and TA’s on the proper uses of instructional technology in classroom. These technologies include Blackboard and Second Life. He has been involved in the Division’s ongoing research in instructional use of Second Life. Mario graduated from Texas A&M University Corpus Christi with his Masters in Educational Technology.

Brian Li – UT Austin (TUE Team)

My name is Brian Li, I am currently a Computer Science student at UT. I spend most of my time with schoolwork, working for DIIA, and working at the physics lab. Of course but when all that is done, I enjoy my lifelong hobby of watching TV, playing games, and messing with computers. My friends always come to me when they have computer issues so I guess I found my ideal major. My favorite foods consist of sushi, gummy bears, and anything from the dollar menu. My other hobbies include anything from going to the gym to playing pool and even climbing trees.  I also enjoy long walks on the beach and getting free shirts on campus.

Crystal Lin – UT Austin (TUE Team)

My name is Crystal Lin (aka Aeriea Enyo).  I am a CS major at the University of Texas at Austin.  My post-graduate plan is to attend medical school, with the eventual goal of becoming a doctor, as well as continuing my programming work.   I can normally be found slaving over coding assignments for my CS classes in the computer labs.  In my spare time, I tutor celebrities on campus such as athletes from the UT football team and explore Second Life as a pioneer.  I am very passionate about technology, helping people and reading wonderful pieces of literature, as well as online bargain hunting.  I hope the work that the team does inspires and motivates many other educators to follow in our footsteps to accomplish better things as virtual environments get more exposure with more time.

Jessica Mullen – UT Austin (TUE Team)

Known as JessicaElizabeth Diabolito in Second Life, Jessica Mullen is a designer, lifestreamer, podcaster and MFA Design student at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her current research investigates lifestreaming as a lifestyle design methodology and online credibility mechanism. Jessica is the lead Graduate Research Assistant for the UT System Virtual Learning Community Initiative.

Amar Patel – UT Austin (TUE Team)

My name is Amar Patel, or if you want you can call me Platinum Nexen on Second Life. I am an undergraduate student at the University of Texas at Austin.  I am currently majoring in biology and pursuing a career in medicine.  My hobbies include working with computer hardware, playing video games, and playing sports such as soccer.  I am currently doing research with Professor Sarkar within the Developmental Biology Department at UT regarding disease mapping of Chagas Disease.   My favorite kind of food is Tex-mex and my favorite restaurant is right here in Austin: Trudy’s!  After I attend medical school I plan to specialize in Gastroenterology.

Teresa Shoffner – UT Austin (TUE Team)

Hello! I’m Teresa, aka Warrant Neximus. I study philosophy at the University of Texas – Austin and plan to go on to graduate school for library science after I graduate in December 2010. I want to study more about and work within the field of social networking. I enjoy searching for and gathering intel, and I like to pretend I’m an explorer or a spy when I do so. I’m a diligent worker and refuse to believe any piece of information may preclude me. I see Second Life as a virtual program with great potential for being a highly efficient workspace, and in the future I hope to see more professionals connecting and working “side-by-side” online. Being a humanitarian at heart, I’m flattered to have the opportunity to do work I love for a cause I genuinely believe in.

Carolyn Thomas – UT Austin (TUE Team)