prof.dr. AKAJ (Alexander) Klippel

Prof. Klippel was born in Northern Germany, just two hours from Wageningen. He received a master's degree in physical geography from the University of Trier, Germany, but focused early on in his career on visualization (cartography) and geoinformatics and developed a deep interest in human communication, behavior, and decision-making in their spatial environments. For his Ph.D. studies, he joined a transdisciplinary graduate program and german science foundation priority program on spatial cognition. Following his supervisor, Prof. Christian Freksa, he received his Ph.D. in Informatics and Mathematics from the University of Bremen, Germany.

Alexander was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the CRC for Spatial Information, Geomatics Department, The University of Melbourne. He also spent time at the Geography Department and Cognitive Science Emphasis at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Before joining WUR, Alexander was a professor at The Pennsylvania State University, at the Department of Geography, affiliated professor in Information Science and Technology, and a co-hire at PSU's Institute for Computational and Data Science (ICDS). He led Penn State's research efforts in immersive technologies and became the inaugural Director of Penn State's Center for Immersive Experiences (CIE), a signature strategic planning initiative involving 12 colleges and ICDS.

Alexander's research interests are eclectic. Topics include, but are not limited to, XR, embodiment, virtual field trips, spatial cognition, wayfinding, geographic event conceptualization, formal characterizations of dynamic spatial processes, location-based services, landscapes and land cover concepts, crowd-science and crowd-sourcing, and featured prominently in recent projects, Virtual Reality, and 3D modeling.