Prof. Wendy Eisner of the University of Cincinnati is considering offering a short presentation at the NICOP conference on Second Life, an online "virtual universe" where individuals, represented by their personally created 3D representations or "avatars," can interact with one another, manipulate their environment, and exchange goods and services.

One aspect that makes Second Life unique is that the company, Linden Labs, provides the software and the servers that make up the universe, but it is the "residents" that have created virtually everything else. Not just for business and socializing, universities and government agencies worldwide are beginning to explore the uses of Second Life in communication, teaching, and research.

Prof. Eisner is interested in what the PRYN community sees as the potential of Second Life for permafrost scientists and engineers and she is trying to gauge the level of interest. Please contact her at wendy.eisner <at> uc.edu if you are interested in attending a presentation on Second Life. If there is interest and we can find a suitable time, she is willing to give an introduction and demonstration of Second Life at NICOP, and we could move into a group discussion.

There is also the possibility that some of you are already familiar with Second Life. In that case, there would be the potential for a pre-conference virtual PRYN meeting!