How one graduate student is helping communities shape climate research
Donor investment helps CSE students like Sean Dorr make an impact
Minneapolis/St. Paul (05/18/2026) — Sean Dorr, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering, believes climate science becomes more meaningful when it begins with people — their stories, relationships to place and generations of lived knowledge.
At the Interactive Visualization Lab in the newly renovated Shepherd Labs on the Twin Cities campus, Dorr is creating immersive data experiences that help Indigenous communities reconnect with their lands, waters, skies and cultural traditions while engaging directly with climate research.
In the video below, watch how graduate students are using immersive tech for real-world impact.
Working alongside Dakota, Ojibwe and Micronesian communities, Dorr helps create immersive experiences that feel deeply human and accessible. In one project, community members navigate their home waters in Chuuk Lagoon, Micronesia, using a full-scale outrigger canoe while sharing stories connected to stars and ocean swells. In another, Dakota elders and families experience pre-settlement skies and waterways through an immersive virtual canoe journey projected onto the walls of the Como Planetarium.
This work is part of a growing movement of human-centered research happening inside Shepherd Labs, where University of Minnesota faculty and students are using immersive technologies to help people better understand complex challenges and feel more connected to solutions.
“These mixed reality environments can serve as a mediator between these groups and empower community participation in scientific discussion,” Dorr said.
For Dorr, the University of Minnesota’s Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship made this work possible.
“Winning that fellowship was immensely important for me to develop as a scholar,” he explained. “I got the opportunity not just to step back and work on my own work, but to come into this community of scholars across the University tackling really hard problems.”
As demand for graduate fellowship support grows, donor investment helps ensure students like Dorr can pursue research that strengthens communities and advances climate understanding.
Faculty mentor Daniel Keefe, a Professor in the Department of Computer Science & Engineering and Distinguished University Teaching Professor, said graduate students are “the heart of everything that we do here” — helping transform ambitious ideas into research that serves communities in Minnesota and beyond.
Story by Kristin Kelker
Support University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering grad students advance research and community impact by giving to the CSE Endowed Fellowship Fund.