Team

Collaboration between NOAA Ocean Service and Montgomery College

This game is a joint project between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Montgomery College. This partnership was created out of the desire to teach science-based, environmental concepts with an exciting new serious gaming medium.

The Waterlife team works out of the NOAA Ocean Service/Education Branch and the Montgomery College/Computer Gaming and Simulation Program. We have an ecclectic team with a variety of skills: programmers, writers, artists, and designers.

Game Development Team

Peg Steffen - NOAA Ocean Service Education Branch Chief (acting)
Prof. Deborah Solomon - Project Manager/Producer (http://studygaming.com)
Marina Kraus - NOAA Ocean Service Education Project Lead

Writers:

Peg Steffen, Amy Clark and Lisa Hill – Technical Writing
Brian Perry - Lead Narrative Writer

Animators/Artists:

Lida Fernandes - Lead Artist/Animator

Supporting Artists/Animators:

Sarah Palaszynski - 2D Artist/Storyboarder
Teras Tymczyna - Environmental and Game Artist/Animator
Jason Soleil – Game Artist/Animator
Brian Doyle – Game Artist/Animator
Namsik Cho – Interface Artist/Animator
William Gallagher – Game Character Artist/Animator

Programmers:

Michael Wiles - Lead Programmer - framework and Food Chain Restoration game
Jing Wang - Programmer – River Clean up game and Trash Disposal game
Brian Cosgrove - Programmer - Monster Battle game
Brian Doyle - Quiz Programmer - Estuary Quiz

Audio/Video:

Jen Tonon - Soundtrack and Trailer Design (music & trailer)
Steve Coupe – Dialogue and Assembly (dialogue and assembly)

Voice Actors:

Valerie - Lida Fernandes
Doctor - Brian Perry
Valerie’s Mother – Carla Coupe
Claminator - Tom Hedgpeth
Oscar - Michael Wiles
Baby Otter - Tesla Wiles
The Oracle - Carla Coupe
Bane - Steve Coupe

Scientific Content, NOAA Consultants:

Atziri Ibanez and Amy Clark, NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserves
Megan Forbes, NOAA Marine Debris
Elkhorn Slough Reserve Staff, NOAA NERRS
Lisa Hill

- Education Writer

Additional Contributors:

Chris Krawiec - technical document editing
Rosanne Lieber – story editing
Joe Curtin – programming contributions
Laura Myers Sommer – contributions to waterway clean up game

Special Thanks:

Our junior testers and advisors from Rockville, MD. middle schools
Our testers and their families from NOAA/NOS Communication and Education Division
Staff of NOAA/NOS Communication and Education Division
Staff at Chesapeake Bay Estuary Reserve, Jug Bay
The Montgomery College Foundation
Taleb Fernandes

Translators

Foreign Language Disclaimer:

In an effort to better serve our website visitors, volunteers have provided language translations for many of the pages in the WaterLife: Where Rivers Meet the Sea game. The translators are associated with the faculty at Montgomery College and University of Maryland. They are noted in the credits. Translation accuracy is not guaranteed, but the NOS Education team is appreciative of the volunteers who have worked to expand the potential audience of the game. If you have any comments, please contact us at: oscarotter@noaa.gov

Language	Main Translator	Additional Reviewer
Arabic	Enas�Elhanafi Montgomery College	Hind Essayegh Montgomery College Rana Jarrar Montgomery College
Chinese	Ruby Costea Montgomery College
Hebrew	Michal Fram-Cohen Aleph Translations, and Advanced Special Student at the University of Maryland	Marina Kraus NOAA Education
Hungarian	Viktor Gyorffy Montgomery College
Italian	Christina Gentile Montgomery College
Korean	Namsik Cho Montgomery College
Russian	Serhii Kalynovskyi Montgomery College	Alla Webb Montgomery College Marina Kraus NOAA Education
Spanish	Percy Pacheco NOAA scientist
Sinhala (Sri Lanka)	Dilki Jayasekera Montgomery College
Turkish	Sadi Sahbazian Montgomery College	Esat Atikkan Montgomery College
LOLSpeak	:)	:)