A team of students at Shenandoah University is wrapping up work on a groundbreaking virtual reality project that will change how people learn about and experience the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition.

The VR experience, titled “Following in Their Footsteps,” was developed by seniors Tyler Dossatt ’25 (Bachelor of Science in virtual reality design), Ann Fink ’25 (B.S. in VR design), Joey Miciotta ’25 (Bachelor of Arts in VR design) and Gabby Pieklo ’25 (Bachelor of Arts in media and communication), and is the result of a nine-month process that kicked off in August 2024, with a 12-day, cross-country, faculty-led road trip from Shenandoah’s main campus in Winchester, Virginia, to Astoria, Oregon. The project is funded in part by a $7,500 grant from the Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance.

Retracing the steps of the Corps of Discovery – the team composed of U.S. Army and civilian volunteers led by Meriweather Lewis and William Clark – as it explored the land acquired by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Shenandoah’s students, led by Immersive Media Specialist Lee A. Graff, M.Ed., stopped at many of the key sites along the path, capturing 360-degree video and other content that was used to develop the immersive VR program through the Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning (SCiL).

The VR experience provides a new level of interactivity and access to the significant sites and moments associated with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and aims to capture newer audiences and expand users’ understanding of this important piece of American history through the use of immersive media.

“We definitely should teach more about it in schools because so many people aren’t educated enough on this very impactful part of history,” Pieklo said. “The expedition is important, and it kind of represents what America stands for. You know about the Louisiana Purchase. That was a big thing, we hear about that. It’s one of the main things that I remember from my history classes. But I didn’t know what happened after that. We didn’t just get all of this land and people were just moving there. There was that point of discovery between those two major parts of our history.”

“Following in Their Footsteps” allows users to experience key locations from the expedition, which began on May 14, 1804, in Camp Dubois, Illinois, and ended at Fort Clatsop, Oregon, nearly two years later. Users can interact with artifacts and key items used during the journey, and hear the stories of Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and the rest of the Corps of Discovery from more than 20 experts on the expedition. The VR experience also tells the stories of the lesser-known individuals who played prominent roles in the Corps of Discovery.

“There’s a lot of pieces to it, but I think there’s a lesson in every story and there are several ways to look at stories,” Dossat said. “History should always be preserved so that we can learn from the past.”

In addition to the meticulous documentation of historical sites, Shenandoah’s team collected hours of interviews with historical experts and averaged six hours of travel each day. Shenandoah University’s location at the top of Virginia also provided easy access to significant Lewis and Clark locations on the East Coast, including Washington, D.C.; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, that students visited outside of the cross-country trip.

SU conducted the 12-day cross-country trip in close collaboration with the Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance (LCTA) and its director, Richard Hunt.

“I would have never had the opportunity to do this without the Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance’s support and without their donation,” Fink said. “When am I ever going to be able to do that again? … Being able to be funded, to go across the country and see everything Lewis and Clark saw – just experiencing it and seeing it in person is a completely different thing than reading about it. It was an amazing experience.”

Students’ work on the project continued after the August 2024 trip across the country, and includes 3D modeling and environment creation, as well as video editing by students Ethan Swope ’25 (B.A. in VR design), Jacob Eisenhart ’25 (B.A. in VR design), Kadin Myers ’27 (B.S. in VR design), Aaron Van Rens ’27 (B.A. in VR design and B.A. in film production), and Pieklo. Original music is being composed by Jaden Galloway ’27 (B.A. in collaborative audio arts).

SCiL intends to launch “Following in Their Footsteps” in Fall 2025, and it will be available to the public. 

Graff is also producing a video series detailing the expedition that will be presented to the LCTA at its national meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, in September 2025.

“I always thought of Lewis and Clark as these two guys in a canoe exploring the land. The story is so much more than that. It is about exploration, but it’s also about diplomacy, biology, geography, loss, and adventure. It’s about incredible luck and amazing circumstances,” Graff said. “These people did an amazing feat and I almost missed this story. I’m so glad that the students and I have learned this amazing story. Now we get to share it with everyone else in a new and immersive way.”