Former Faculty and Staff

Erik Esckilsen

Faculty Advisor
Assistant Professor, CORE Division Erik Esckilsen

Erik Esckilsen has been a Champlain College instructor since 1997, teaching such writing courses as Creative Writing, Interactive Storytelling, Print Journalism, Rhetoric, and Screenwriting, as well as courses on the novel and on Middle Eastern cinema. He is the author of three novels for young-adult readers, all published by Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books: The Last Mall Rat (2003), Offsides (2004), and The Outside Groove (2006). Prior to becoming an educator, he had worked extensively as a journalist, both as an editor and as a reporter, publishing articles on art and culture in the Boston Globe, Entertainment Weekly, Seven Days, and other periodicals. A recent research and applied interest involves narrative design for electronic games; he has been involved in the development of a game, produced in conjunction with the United Nations Population Fund and the Population Media Center, that combines soccer gameplay with a storyline discouraging violence against women. He holds a B.A. in Writing and Government from St. Lawrence University, an M.A. in English Composition from San Francisco State University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. He is a native of Burlington, Vermont, to which he returned after living and working in Kyoto, Japan; Boston; New York City; and San Francisco.

Raymond McCarthy Bergeron

Project Director

Raymond McCarthy Bergeron was an employee of Champlain College since December 2001, starting in the Information Systems department, and joining the Emergent Media Center in November 2007. With both a B.S. in Multimedia and Graphic Design in 2004 and a B.S. in Computer Information Systems in 2007 from Champlain College, he leverages both the creative and technical sides of his brain to solve problems. Even though his primary focus was in managing projects at the center, he filled the gaps where necessary as a Creative, Technical and/or Artistic Technical director. He also is a member of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

As a student, Ray was recognized for his work in illustration, 2D and 3D animation, as well as video, in the 2002, 2003, and 2004 Champlain Media Awards, placing him in 1st and 2nd in several categories. In 2007, he won 1st place in Vermont's Independent Film Festival for Student Animation.

Ray continues developing and keeping his skills relevant as a freelance designer, video editor, and computer & technical consultant. He loves learning through teaching and enjoys helping out others whenever he can, especially when participating as the Video Editing Faculty during the Governor's Institute of Vermont in Information Technology camp since June 2004. In his spare time, if there is any, he explores digital photography, music, video creation, tactile arts, as well as 3D modeling and animation. He finally relaxes by spending time with his lovely wife, Corinn, and his crazy, lovable, fur-ball-of-a-cat Sam.

Brendan Holt

Artistic Technical Director

Brendan Holt joined the Emergent Media Center in December 2009. On the BREAKAWAY project, he defined the art pipeline and debugs technical production issues ranging from 3D asset creation to final render. In addition to directing students in character rigging and animation, he prepared tutorials and small tools for the authoring environment, Maya.

Brendan has always been fascinated with the technical and artistic aspects of creating visualizations for serious subject matter. In 2009, he wrote a master's thesis at Cornell University on the motion capture and reconstruction of wild bird flight. While an undergraduate in Cornell's biological engineering program, he worked with faculty on developing interactive online tutorials for visualizing neurobiology concepts and gained hands-on research experience in a biosensor lab. He also explored game development and was a co-finalist in the 2003-2004 Hidden Agenda educational game design contest. In spare time, he enjoys Vermont skiing as well as running and tennis.

Amanda Crispel

Program Director, Game Art & Animation and Game Design

Amanda Crispel has 16 years of experience in the electronic entertainment industry, specializing in projects for children and families. She's been on development teams at Mattel, Leap Frog, Lego, Brøderbund Software, The Learning Co., Animated Speech Corporation, Digital Chocolate and Plan B Enterprises. She has designed numerous popular CD-ROM titles in favorite family lines such as Carmen Sandiego, Kidpix, Lego Mindstorm, Rugrats, Leapfrog and Dr. Seuss. Several of her software titles have earned consumer software awards for excellence, including the Family PC Recommended award for her first title, Math Workshop. Other projects include designs for the web, mobile phones, console platforms and traditional board and card games.

Amanda joined the faculty at Champlain College in 2005 and is currently teaching courses in game design. She is the director of the Game Development program and is responsible for developing curriculum for the program as well as establishing contacts with industry leaders.

She believes play can provide a profound insight into understanding human culture. "Through the academic investigation of play and games we have great opportunities to not only create great games for entertainment," she says, "but to also use what we have learned in more meaningful ways such as in education, training, mass media and design." Amanda's goal is to educate her students in both the theory of play and games, as well as the production of rich and rewarding interactive environments.

Before joining Champlain College, Amanda taught at Maple Woods College in Missouri. She earned a bachelor's degree in graphic design at the University of California, Davis and is completing a master's degree in electronic media through the University of Missouri. She is a member of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

Amanda is previously worked as a Faculty Advisor on the BREAKAWAY Game to Prevent Violence Against Women and as Faculty Advisor on the CIMIT RIPS project.

Megan Frenzen

Assistant Professor, Divison of Business

Dr. Frenzen has been on the Champlain faculty since 2003. Megan previously worked as a faculty advisor on the BREAKAWAY Game To Prevent Violence Against Women project. She teaches Introductory Marketing, Consumer Behavior and Research and Sophomore and Senior Internship courses at Champlain. Dr. Frenzen graduated at the top of her class with a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Vermont prior to working in Event Marketing for Travel and Leisure Magazine in New York City. After her tenure in the 'big city', she returned to Burlington to pursue her MBA, again, at the University of Vermont. Upon her graduation she worked in direct marketing, catalog management and public relations for various companies across the country. An insatiable appetite for learning sent Dr. Frenzen back to school at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst for her doctoral studies. She completed her Ph.D. in 2009 after defending her dissertation, entitled "Determinants of Environmentally Conscious Consumer Behaviors: Measuring the Value Consumer Environmentalism and Predicting Behavioral Intention to Purchase Environmentally Friendly Goods".

Heather Kelley

Creative Director, BREAKAWAY: Game to Prevent Violence Against Women

Heather Kelley is a computer and video game designer, formerly Creative Director on the BREAKAWAY Game to End Gender Violence under development at the Emergent Media Center at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont. As moboid, she creates game-based artwork. For the Spring of 2008, Heather was the Kraus Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, and Adjunct Faculty at the Entertainment Technology Center, both at Carnegie Mellon University. Heather's twelve-year career in the games industry has included AAA next-gen console games, interactive smart toys, handheld games and web communities for girls. She is co-founder of the Kokoromi experimental game collective, with whom she produces and curates the annual Gamma game event promoting experimental games as creative expression in a social context. Her game concept Lapis won the 2006 MIGS Game Design Challenge on sex in games. As moboid, she has created interactive projections using game engines such as Quake and Unreal. Her most recent art game work at Montreal's Hexagram Institute integrates gameplay into full-body interactive gallery installations.

For seven years, Heather served as co-chair of the IGDA's Women in Game Development Special Interest Group. She holds an MA from the University of Texas at Austin, where she is an alumna of the Advanced Communications Technologies Laboratory.

Joe Manley

Assistant Professor, Divison of Communication & Creative Media

Joe Manley is a Flash Developer/Designer, professor and artist. He has taught in Champlain College's Multimedia and Graphic Design program for over three years. Most of his work centers on creating interactive Flash games and educational software. In 2005, Joe worked with a group of Champlain faculty and students to develop and create an animated video and "serious" video game about the dangers of mercury for the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

Besides teaching three classes a semester at Champlain, Joe is a full-time Flash Developer for the University of Vermont. He's taught at the University of Colorado, Denver University, Red Rocks Community College, the Vermont Clay Studio and the Vermont State Craft Center at Frog Hollow. Joe's educational background includes a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Joe formerly worked as a Faculty Advisor on the Robert Wood Johnson Breath Biofeedback Game project with the Emergent Media Center and University of Vermont College of Medicine.

Elaine Young

Assistant Dean, Divison of Business
Assistant Professor, Division of Business & MFA in Emergent Media Program

Elaine Young is an Associate Professor of Marketing who teaches courses in Marketing, Internet-Marketing, Non-Profit and Social Marketing and Marketing Management. Elaine previously worked as a Faculty Advisor on the BREAKAWAY Game to Prevent Violence Against Women project. She also has developed the marketing course for Champlain's MBA and teaches both Core and Communication classes focusing on Technology and the impact of Technology on society and communication.

She has a Ph.D. in Organizational Management from Capella University, her dissertation research examined the technology use and adoption of college students and she developed a teaching model for faculty to follow when teaching a technology application in a classroom environment. She also holds a M.S. in Internet Strategy Management from Marlboro College, a B.S. in Communication and Public Relations from SUNY Brockport and an A.S. in Communication from Genesee Community College. She has over ten years of experience in the Marketing and Public Affairs profession, specializing in non-profits.

She has been teaching at Champlain since 2000.