portrait of Karrie Bowen

Karrie Bowen became a faculty affiliate of VAR Lab in July of 2020. She is a communication professor at Penn State Behrend who specializes in social media and public relations. Karrie hopes to be able to use her skills to shape the public perception of the lab. Her skillset as an addition to the lab has been especially helpful because the lab is still in its start-up phase. Shaping the public perception of the lab is a crucial step in establishing the credibility of the lab, maximizing its effectiveness, and bringing on new collaborators, faculty affiliates, and students. VAR Lab has already had success in organizations collaborating with the lab. Some of these collaborators include: Behrend Psychology department, Behrend Nursing program, STEAM Fair, Fairview School District, Ft. LeBeouf School District, Ft. LeBeouf Historical Society, and Innovations Commons. With the help of Karrie and other members of the lab, VAR Lab will continue to seek more collaborators to demonstrate the real-world applications of VR/AR. By doing so VAR Lab will continue to show the scholarly merit of its work, enhance the undergraduate experience by providing opportunities to students, and produce quality research data for the betterment of the university and surrounding community.