Danny Pimentel

Dr. Danny Pimentel is an Assistant Professor of Immersive Media Psychology and an Environment Initiative Fellow at the University of Oregon, as well as a Public Voices Fellow at Yale’s Program on Climate Change Communication.

As a researcher and creative technologist, Danny’s research explores how extended reality (XR) technologies – augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) – can inspire prosocial and pro-environmental attitude and behavior change in various contexts. His XR experiences have received grant funding and support from The Sea Turtle Conservancy, National Geographic, Snapchat, and Meta, among others. His work has been published in reputable academic journals and conferences, including Nature Scientific Reports, The Journal for Nature Conservation, and IEEEVR, among others. Danny’s creative works have also received recognition from organizations like Meta, Snap Inc., and Games 4 Change.

Along with Dr. Geraldine Fauville and Dr. Erika Woolsey, Danny co-founded IREEF, and an organization dedicated to highlighting and understanding how XR experiences can facilitate marine education and ocean literacy. Additionally, he serves as Research Advisor for The Hydrous, a non-profit dedicated to building ocean empathy through immersive storytelling, and President of the Board for The Meridian Treehouse Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to immersive learning.