Concurrent 2A: Second Life and Beyond

Joanna Scott is a member of Nature Publishing Group’s Web Publishing Department. She began in industry and technical research, and for the last two years has worked primarily on the Elucian Islands, NPG’s presence in the virtual world of Second Life, organizing live lectures, discussions and conferences. Prior to joining NPG, she obtained a biology degree at Oxford University.

John Lester joined Linden Lab (the creators of Second Life) in 2005, bringing experience in online community development as well as a background in the fields of healthcare and education. Previously, John was the Information Systems Director for the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he pioneered the use of the web in 1993 to create online communities supporting patients dealing with neurological disorders. As a Research Associate in Neurology at Harvard Medical School, he also created online collaborative education environments for professors and students to advance the case-based teaching method in medical education.

John currently serves as Linden Lab’s Boston Operations Director, coordinating the growth of Linden Lab’s East Coast presence. He also leads Linden Lab’s Proactive Education and Healthcare Mentoring Program, acting as a mentoring resource and academic evangelist for people using Second Life for teaching, academic and healthcare research, medical education/simulation, and scientific visualization.

John lives in Boston, and is commonly referred to by his avatar’s name in Second Life – “Pathfinder Linden.” He frequently gives presentations at universities and conferences on how Second Life can be used as a platform for education and healthcare, focusing on strategies for success and best practices. For more information, please see www.pathfinderlinden.com.