Shenandoah University’s ‘Lewis And Clark VR’ Project Wins 2 Telly Awards

An educational virtual reality experience developed by the Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning at Shenandoah University that allows users to explore key locations and stories from the historic Lewis and Clark expedition recently won two accolades at the 47th Annual Telly Awards.

“Lewis and Clark VR,” a student-led project that was released on the Meta Store in late 2025, was a Silver winner in the “General-Student” subcategory of the Telly Awards’ “Immersive, Interactive, and Mixed” category, and a Bronze winner in “General-History” under the same category.

Established in 1979, the Telly Awards honor excellence in video and television across all screens and are judged by leaders from video platforms, television, streaming networks and production companies. The 2026 winners included industry heavyweights such as Paramount TV, Warner Bros. Discovery, FOX Entertainment, Sony Music, ABC News, Variety, People Inc., and many others.

“Lewis and Clark VR” aims to capture newer audiences and expand users’ understanding of the cross-country expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark that traversed the western portion of the U.S. acquired in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 by providing a new level of interactivity and access to the significant sites located along the nearly 5,000-mile trail.

Through a series of “hubs,” users can interact with artifacts and key items used at different sites along the journey, and hear from over 20 history experts about the stories of Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea, and the rest of the Corps of Discovery.

To gather the necessary content to develop the VR experience, four Shenandoah students – Tyler Dossat ’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) – followed the Lewis and Clark Trail during a 12-day, cross-country road trip led by Adjunct Instructor of VR Design and Immersive Media Specialist Lee A. Graff ’19, M.Ed., in August 2024. On the trip, students captured 360-degree video, created 3D scans of important artifacts, took still images, and conducted interviews with history experts.

Fellow students Jacob Eisenhart ’25 (B.A. in VR design), Ethan Swope ’25 (B.A. in VR design), Aaron Van Rens ’27 (B.A. in VR design and B.A. in film production), Kadin Myers ’27 (B.S. in VR design), Jaden Galloway ’27 (B.A. in collaborative audio arts), El Lillard ’27 (B.A. in VR design), and Kacey Graff also contributed to the project’s development. Lee Graff (project lead and content director), Immersive Technology Specialist Wes Brown (VR experience director), SCiL Operations Manager Mariah Arant (producer) and SCiL Co-Director and Director of the Bachelor of Arts in VR Design Program Nathan Prestopnik, Ph.D. (executive producer), served as the project’s leadership team.

The project was funded in part by a $7,500 grant from the Lewis and Clark Trail Alliance, and future content updates for “Lewis and Clark VR” are being planned. In late May, another group of Shenandoah AR/VR students – Myers, Van Rens, Ezgi Pinar ’28 and Ramzie Phillips ’28 – began a second cross-country trip with Graff to collect information and assets to develop the additional content. 

The 2026 Telly Awards included 13,000 entries from all over the globe from top video and television content producers. Winners were chosen by The Telly Awards Judging Council, which features more than 250 experts across the world of video. This year’s new judges included Tamara Kruger, head of content and sponsorships at Google; Janet Graham Borba, executive VP of production at HBO; Phil Cook, chief marketing officer of the WNBA; and Andrea Wertheim, senior manager post production at Netflix.

The full list of the 47th Annual Telly Awards winners is available at tellyawards.com/winners.

For more information about the Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning at Shenandoah University, visit su.edu/scil.