Kelli O’Mara, Class of 2015, Sports

“At USC, I got to work on challenging projects I never would have had the chance to otherwise, whether that was learning how to shoot mini-documentary about obstacle course racing or building an entire interactive website from scratch. My thesis advisor walked me through the steps I needed to code and build my website, which was designed to be a choose-your-own-adventure exploration of how athletes make a living. The idea was that by clicking different buttons and following different branches of logic, the user would be able to see the very different outcomes athletes face when trying to create a career.”

Please click for a link to her Final Project. 

Susan Valot, Class of 2015, Science

California Explorer is a scientific tour of California’s state and national parks.  The site and yet-to-be-launched iPad app let you explore current scientific studies happening in the parks today.  The thesis project includes four parks, chosen to represent land, sea and air.  They include Yosemite National Park, Channel Islands National Park and Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.  The site includes audio stories, video stories and photos.  I coded it by hand, starting with a blank page.  I also designed the iPad app myself.  If I could fund the project long-term, the idea is that you could use the app as a park ranger in your pocket, changing how you experience California’s parks.