Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** with growing awareness of the…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** with growing awareness of the adverse and disparate health impacts of air pollution, there is a need for increasing the diversity and number of qualified environmental engineers in the workforce, dedicated to protecting air quality, while maintaining optimal farm productivity and profitability. In this regard, adopting educational approaches that go beyond the dissemination of theoretical content (such as a 'virtualized' learning environment that provides exposure to experiences moving from 'learning about practical application', to 'learning for practical application' to 'learning through practical application') can offer significant benefits while training the next generation of stem professionals.softworthy's interactive virtual environment laboratory (SWIVEL) would serve as such a simulation-based framework that supports learning experiences through different pedagogical models (e.g. 'project-based' and 'problem-based' approaches) to encourage innovative thinking, with a focus on 'learning while doing', rather than on 'learning then doing'. By combining 'serious simulation' technology (e.g. physics-based air pollutant emission and dispersion models) with game-technology (e.g. realistic, interactive multimedia visualization techniques), the framework would allow the creation and exploration of systems and scenarios for the real-time development, verification, and validation of environmental conservation concepts, associated with air quality, weather conditions and agricultural activity, in an enriched, virtual world. The adoption of SWIVEL is expected to result in impactful stem educational and training experiences for diverse learners, and offer unique value propositions, associated with (I) increased interest in stem education, as well as environmental science and engineering careers, (II) improved comprehension of knowledge related to air quality and agricultural activity, and (III) promotion of 'serious gaming' technologies in delivering stem content to enhance learning among graduate-level students.