Dr. Sara Kassis is an adjunct faculty member in the Departments of Engineering and Physics & Astronomy at Sonoma State University. She is currently the PI on an NSF grant (#2421374) studying the effectiveness of teaching foundational STEM skills using virtual learning environments, and a Co-PI on an NSF grant (#2316453) in developing a network of researchers to create virtual field experiences for undergraduate STEM courses. She started SSU’s Immersive Learning program and opened the university’s first VR lab in Spring 2018, where students use virtual reality in conjunction with their classes to learn course content. Since then, she has also overseen many software development projects, allowing students to develop educational Extended Reality (XR) content and learn real-world skills while working on multidisciplinary teams. Dr. Kassis holds a PhD in Condensed Matter Physics and has over 18 years of experience teaching engineering and physics courses at the higher education level.