Lindsay Persohn, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in Literacy Studies at the University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee Campus. Her research focuses on stories through arts-based qualitative methodologies, scholarly podcasting, and children's literature. With experience as an educator, teacher-educator, librarian, and coordinator of school library services, she teaches foundational literacy courses to graduate and undergraduate students. Lindsay is the host and producer of the Classroom Caffeine podcast, connecting educational research with practical teaching applications. She also leads a team of researchers and developers to design and test a prototype VR application that blends Alice’s Wonderland with the Hero’s Journey to promote youth community-based inquiry and problem-solving through virtual experiences.