Lyme Disease Coming to Idaho? This Video Game Helps Students Analyze Spread of Ticks
August 05, 2021
This story by Sophia Charan was published by the Idaho Statesman on Aug. 4.
Sporting glasses with black rims and a yellow jacket, a boy with blue hair swims through a river next to a forest. He jumps off cliffs and bounces on large mushrooms. He can whip out a net to capture the opossum, which flips over to play dead when someone gets too close. If kids did this outside, they might get covered in ticks. University of Idaho game designers instead created a video game that would let students experience and analyze the spread of tickborne diseases, without the risk — and time — it would take in the real world. Barrie Robison, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Idaho, co-founded Polymorphic Games to incorporate evolutionary and ecological principles into video games. Read more.
About the University of Idaho
The University of Idaho, home of the Vandals, is Idaho’s land-grant, national research university. From its residential campus in Moscow, U of I serves the state of Idaho through educational centers in Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Idaho Falls, nine research and Extension centers, plus Extension offices in 42 counties. Home to nearly 11,000 students statewide, U of I is a leader in student-centered learning and excels at interdisciplinary research, service to businesses and communities, and in advancing diversity, citizenship and global outreach. U of I competes in the Big Sky and Western Athletic conferences. Learn more at uidaho.edu