Fire Experience
Editor
California Academy of Sciences
Visualization Studio
State of Nature Exhibit 2024
Format: 5-Screen Vertical Multi-Display Installation | Synchronized 9-Speaker Cubed Spatial Audio
Project OverviewCalifornia: State of Nature is a flagship interactive exhibition exploring the state’s complex ecosystems. For the focal Fire Experience installation—a semi-circle of five vertical screens embedded into a circular gallery structure—Cheryl served as the Lead Editor. The semi-immersive media installation balances scientific rigor and human-centric narrative, tracking active wildfire research in the Sierras, detailing healthy ecosystem regeneration, and amplifying the perspectives of Indigenous tribal members on the ecological vitalness of cultural burning practices.
Fire Experience | Demo
Fire Experience: Outer Structure
Fire Experience Control Panel: Multi-language selection
Fire Experience: Entryway
Fire Experience: Video Playback across 5 vertical screens, set semi-circle, with 9-channel spatial audio
Fire Experience: Credits
Production & Creative Execution
Multi-Display Technical Editing: Personally executed the assembly, pacing, and color correction for a custom, synchronized five-screen vertical canvas, seamlessly mapping narrative and visual assets across a non-traditional multi-display physical layout.
Spatial Audio Infrastructure: Source-hired the specialized audio designer and composer to engineer a custom soundscape tailored for a complex 9-speaker cubed spatial audio environment, ensuring true sonic immersion within the physical exhibit structure.
Cross-Functional Editorial Alignment: Partnered closely with writer/producer Molly Michelson, the exhibits content team, engineering, and internal scientific advisors to transition complex Sierra ecological data into a high-impact public script.
Ethical Alliance & Asset Sourcing: Collaborated with Indigenous tribal advisors to ethically capture and preserve oral histories, while managing asset procurement pipelines for specialized B-roll and drone cinematography (collaborating with videographer Nick Perez and Visualization Studio team).