CHRISTINE FLEENER, PHD
You remember that part in The Last Unicorn (1983) where Mommy Fortuna uses her illusory magic to put a fake horn on a REAL unicorn because no one could actually see the unicorn for who she really is?
Well, the world we live in is already a unicorn.
But sometimes you have to put a horn on it for people to really see that magic.
I've been designing, playing, and teaching role-playing games, immersive alternate reality games, escape room puzzles, and general weirding ways for years.
I'm also an outdoor educator and ever-learning naturalist committed to connecting humans with the more than human natural world.
And I've researched and taught about everything from stellar astrophysics to evolutionary biology.
My objective is to open a portal to a new way of experiencing and connecting with wild spaces through immersive puzzling, mystery, and story.
Encouraging us to stay weird and curious.
Past
EXPERIENCE
CREATION
Doc Fleen's Mystery Laboratory
Trackers Earth, Portland, OR
Woodland Puzzle Box
Crows Path, Burlington, VT
DESCRIPTION: Dungeons & Dragons inspired summer camp encouraging kids to build and inhabit characters that embark on several puzzling quests, introducing new perspectives of the land, canoeing to mysterious flags and diving for submerged tablets; testing their knowledge of tree species; orienteering through the forest; following unusual tracks; foraging for plants; making fires; carving tools; and cultivating a greater awareness of their surroundings as they work together to reunite four imperiled forces of nature and save the land as heroes in their own story.
The Parasite
The University of Chicago, IL
DESCRIPTION: An Alternate Reality Game (ARG) scaled for approximately 1,750 incoming undergraduate students during the 2017 University of Chicago orientation built to encourage collaboration, leadership, inclusivity, digital media and 21st century literacies, and to introduce new students to the spaces and resources available. The experience facilitated learning outcomes in time management, physical and mental health, asking for help, identifying resources, and conflict resolution, and it unfolded across multiple online platforms from May to September 2017 and nine site-specific participatory challenges in September 2017. See further details at WIRED, Howl Round, The Chronicle of Higher Education, UChicago News, and the UChicago Magazine.
The Mystery League
Chicago, IL
DESCRIPTION: Customized escape rooms and themed puzzling experiences for portability, versatility, or for any space or theme, both indoor and outdoor, public or private.
Notable spaces we designed for include the Atlanta Motor Speedway, Art Institute of Chicago, Lincoln Park Zoo, Field Museum, International Museum of Surgical Science, International Games Day at the Chicago Public Library, University campuses, convention centers, client homes, and more.
SCOPE AND AGES: 10 to 100 players from age 9 to infinity
C.V.
PhD, Comparative Human Development (Behavioral Biology Program)
The University of Chicago (2018)
BS, Astronomy & Anthropology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2009)
TEACHING
Renaissance School of Arts and Sciences (2023 - Present)
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K-8 Science Specialist
University of Vermont (2023)
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Games and Puzzles as Educational Worldbuilding, Professional Development Course for Educators
Portland Forest School (2019 - 2023)
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K-8 Instructor and Curriculum Design
Trackers Earth Programs (2019 - 2020)
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ONLINE Spark Backyard Classroom, Doc Fleener's Mystery Laboratory
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Woodland Artisan Camps
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Homeschool Outdoor Skills Programs
University of Chicago (2012 - 2018)
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Animal Behavior
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Evolution and Economics of Human Behavior
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Language, Culture, and Thought
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Methods of Data Analysis
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New Media and Games
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Primate Behavior and Ecology
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Transmedia Puzzle Design & Performance
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2010)
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Introduction to Astronomy
Orpheum Children's Science Museum (2010 - 2011)
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Camp Invention; Grossology; LEGO; Motion & Design; Nanodays; Robotics; Veterinary Medicine; Girls Do Science (Summer 2010, Summer 2011)
INVITED TALKS
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Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS) Conference (March 2021, October 2022)
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Psychology Colloquium, Reed College, OR (September 2019)
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Institute for Mind and Biology Proseminar, The University of Chicago, IL (February 2013, February 2014, January 2018)
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Anthrozoology Seminar, Canisius College, NY (November 2017)
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Developmental Psychology Symposium, The University of Chicago, IL (April 2017)
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Comparative Behavioral Biology Workshop, The University of Chicago, IL (March 2017)
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Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes, Lincoln Park Zoo, IL (April 2016)
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Animal/Nonhuman Studies Workshop, The University of Chicago, IL (April 2016)
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Animal Behavior Seminar, The University of Chicago, IL (April 2013)
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Early Child Development Laboratory, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (September 2006)
RESEARCH
University of Chicago Behavioral Biology Laboratory (2011 - 2018)
PI: Dr. Dario Maestripieri
Investigation of cognitive, physiological, behavioral, and socioemotional development in free-ranging rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) from birth to 3 years at the Caribbean Primate Research Center on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico with a focus on maternal-infant relationship, early exploration, independence, and impacts to social and spatial cognition. Research awarded the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship for Biopsychology and numerous grants from the UC Division of Social Sciences.
University of Illinois Energy Biosciences Institute (2010 - 2011)
PI: Dr. Erik Sacks
Phylogenetic research on the perennial grass Miscanthus, comparing genotypes to optimize sampling strategies for crop improvement and biofuel applications. Research featured in Natural Lands Trust and published in Global Change Biology Bioenergy.
Illinois Natural History Survey (2007 - 2009)
PIs: Dr. Paul Tinerella
Phylogenetic research of water boatmen (Insecta: Heteroptera: Corixoidea) and studies of species radiation in tiger salamanders and western painted turtles. Awarded the 2008 Illinois State Academy of Science Student Research Award.
University of Illinois Department of Astronomy (2008 - 2009)
PI: Dr. You-Hua Chu
Utilized Spitzer Space Telescope observations and WFPC2 images from the Hubble Space Telescope to determine the relationship between Young Stellar Objects (YSOs) and Massive Star Formation in NGC 2074, a star forming complex near 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Research published in The Astronomical Journal.
University of Illinois Animal Sciences, Integrative Immunology and Behavior Lab (2006 - 2007)
PIs: Dr. Keith Kelley & Dr. Jason O'Connor
Cognitive and behavioral research on behavioral disorders that eventually culminate in depression using rodent models.
PUBLICATIONS
Madrid JE, Mandalaywala TM, Fleener CE, Coyne SP, Hyde SA, Garner JP, Maestripieri D & Parker KJ. Prospective evidence for the curvilinear model of early life stress exposure in rhesus macaques. In preparation.
Fleener, CE (2018). Growing Up Rhesus: A Dynamic Systems Approach to Spatial Cognitive Development and Early Experience in Free-Ranging Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Chicago).
Zhao Y, Basak S, Fleener C, Egnin M, Sacks E, Prakash C, He G (2016). Genetic diversity of Miscanthus sinensis in US naturalized populations. GCB Bioenergy.
Mandalaywala T, Fleener C, Maestripieri D (2015). Intelligence in nonhuman primates. In: Handbook of Intelligence: Evolutionary Theory, Historical Perspective, and Current Concepts. Ed. By S. Goldstein, J. Naglieri. Berlin: Springer.
Fleener C, Ruber G, Maestripieri D (2013). Exploring behavioral responses to different types of novelty in free-range infant rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) on Cayo Santiago, Puerto Rico. American Journal of Primatology, 75 (1): 78.
Fleener C, Payne J, Chu Y-U, Chen C-H R, Gruendl R. (2010). Massive Star Formation in NGC 2074. The Astronomical Journal. 139: 158-167.
Fleener CE, Tinerella PP (2008). Comparison of an additional ribosomal DNA fragment (28S rDNA d2-d3 region) contributing to a molecular phylogeny of the water boatmen (Insecta: Heteroptera: Corixoidea). Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Sciences, 101: 52.