Seed Path is an interactive flowchart for gardeners who know they want to start—but not which guides, tools, or local resources to open first. Visitors answer one question at a time (containers vs. yard, food vs. pollinators, beginner vs. leveling up) and land on curated links.

Open Seed Path

The flow lives as a static app at /seed-path/ on this site, so it works on GitHub Pages with no backend.

Open full screen if the embedded view feels tight on your device.

How it works:

1. Draw a section: Choose to draw the top, middle, or bottom of a body
2. Save your drawing: Choose to save locally or share with the community
3. Generate combinations: The game randomly combines drawings from each category to create unique creatures!

Save Options:

• Local Save: Saves to your device only - you can use it in combinations on this computer
• Share: Downloads the file and opens your email to send it to me for community sharing

Categories:

• Top: Head, neck, and shoulders
• Middle: Torso, arms, and waist
• Bottom: Legs, feet, and tail (if applicable)

In the field of extension, our most enduring challenge is also our greatest opportunity: to translate complex, dynamic natural systems into clear, accessible knowledge. At the heart of this mission is the need for tools that not only inform but also inspire. It is from this need that inspired the modular, and interactive 3D printed model of the soybean plant.

From Abstract Concept to Tangible Reality

The vision was to move beyond two-dimensional imagery and create a three-dimensional teaching aid that could be deconstructed and reassembled. In order to foster a deeper, intuitive understanding of soybean morphology, development, and the tangible impact of environmental stressors.

The first step of this project was collecting resources and references to begin my design. When creating things like this its not as simple as directly copying what you see. You are limited by the manufacturing process and material constraints. In addition to that when creating a scientific model its important to synthesize all refrences down to the most essential information, while removing excess distracting and often unclear elements. This often means changing the shape, size, and organization of the model. Doing so in a way that does not take a way from the true representation of the specimen is a challenge.

Some detail has been removed from the interactive plant to keep things running smoothly

Through an iterative process of printing and refinement, a full-scale, physical representation of a soybean plant was created. The model’s core advantage is its modularity. Each leaf is a discrete unit that affixes securely to the stem via an internal clipping system. This design choice transforms the model from a passive display into an active learning experience, enabling educators to provide a tangible proxy for in-field observation, allowing individuals to practice identifying and locating specific structures. The majority of the feedback thus far has been on how it really stands out in an outreach setting and how great the interactivity elements are.

The Next Steps

The enthusiastic reception of this initial model is both validating and invigorating. It has recharged my motivation as we move into the next phase of development: the creation of a comprehensive library of interchangeable components that depict specific biotic stressors. This evolving library will soon enable educators to visually and tactilely demonstrate the distinct signatures of common threats:

-Damage from soy bean Gall Midge -The distinctive window-paning damage caused by bean leaf beetles. -The progressive defoliation patterns of injured plants

This capability will transform the model into a diagnostic toolkit, empowering individuals to recognize, differentiate, and discuss management strategies for these pests with greater confidence and accuracy.

A work in progress

This project is, at its core, a response to the needs of the educational community. The insightful feedback we’ve already gathered at recent events is the critical ingredient for its continued development. We are cultivating this tool not in isolation, but in partnership with you. We invite your collaboration. What specific modules—be it for disease, nutrient deficiency, or other pests—would most profoundly impact your educational programs? Your expertise is essential as we nurture this project to its full potential. This model represents a seed of an idea: that through creativity and technology, we can foster a more profound connection to the science that feeds our world. We look forward to sharing its continued growth with you.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with feedback or comments via email at JatomSynergies@gmail.com

Varius renders using cell shading techniques

First play the game. Swipe to move on phone. Arrow keys and spacebar on PC.

Play Finally Awake

I love the accessibility of Bitsy games. Its cool to see what you can come up with in such a constrained environment. Finally awake is the first game I’ve made in bitsy. Its themed off of my phytoria world building. Another project I’ve been working on for years at this point. Eventually there will be a post for it specifically. The goal of the worldbuilding was to have a narrative foundation to my work in various mediums. Like concept art of my own world.

In “finally awake” you play as someone from the old world. You seem to be the 2nd one to have woken up. before long you come across the remains of one of your own. Right now the game is only a demo of what it could be, ending after the skeleton encounter.

While normally something like this isn’t all that complicated. You just have to get an IP camera talking to OBS, than get OBS talking to a youtube live stream. Alas we had an epic struggle with government level firewalls. There was a lot of back and forth with their tech guy, who had to contact someone even higher to make the changes. Just like with most games of telephone, things tend to get muddled up.

In the end though we succeeded. We are making some final adjustments now for the mounting of the camera, but before long there should be an official link here to the stream!

For now we have the link to our first live stream

Beeleive it or not the UNL Bee lab is responsible for maintaining the bumble bee colony at Schramm. I actually got my first bumble bee sting setting up the colony in 2024. The Beelab also hosts a number of workshops there. I highly reccomend checking the location out, even on your own time. Its a beautiful nature center with lots of educational activities for the little ones. They also have some very cool animals to see. My personal favorite is the giant snapping turtle.

In addition to setting up the camera itself, I also created a custom mount for the camera and 3D printed it.

This was an amazing show. There isn’t too much to say about my role in things. I manned the light board and controlled Color & brightness of the lights. Most of the pictures I captured are very pink but the lights were typically slowly changing outside of a couple faster ques. I did end up getting quite a few complements on the lights specifically which felt great! Its always good to know the performers are enjoying whats going on.

Terminus was the capstone of my Emerging Media Arts Bachelors degree. It’s a first person stealth/puzzle shooter taking place on a giant arctic monorail. The project started during our senior year, with us having the summer before to put together the proposal. I was the last person to join the Terminus team.

My capstone was originally going to be a scale 3D model of the CEMA building. Then informed by a survey of students, I would design a speculative future for the building. Alas when I was invited to join Terminus, I didn’t hesitate to join. Especially since I was friends with all 3 of its members.

• Harry Strong - Director & Unreal Engine Whizz
• Say Wa - Lead 3D modeler & Texturer
• Caleb Kirilov - Sound & Set Design

I joined as the Level Designer & builder. Offering some of my 3D modeling skills as well. We worked on the project for the whole year culminating in a live showcase of 1 level of our game. Displayed in arcade cabinets we put together ourselves. The final showing was by far my favorite part of the experience, we got in costume and everything. Caleb had prepared the rest of the set to be like a retro living room. We took a vertical slice approach, opposed the also very common, minimum viable product approach. A “Vertical Slice” is when a developement team takes a small section of a game. Usually just one level or scene, and polishes it to completion. Whereas a minimum viable product would be looking at the scope of the whole game, and trying to make it playable beginning to end. Then going back and adding artistic details.

Rumor has it that developement may be continuing in the future…

My favorite model that I’ve worked on for this project has been this suitcase. Inside is a high tech device that I don’t want to reveal to much about…

Interactive 3D Suitcase Model

Here’s an interactive 3D model of the suitcase I created for Terminus. You can rotate, zoom, and explore the model to see the high-tech device inside!

To be honest though, the best moment for me working on terminus was the last couple days leading up to open studios, where we presented to the public for the first time. Working on the arcade cabinets for this project was a blast. We ended up making 5 massive cabinets with no time to spare. The stain was drying as we put up the exhibit the day of the show. We pulled it off though and were able to get people playtesting our game. Caleb also knocked it out of the part with the set design. It was very analog retro style. He ended up holding a whole furniture drive to get all the pieces together

Heres a photo of me and my family chatting with EMA’s director Megan Elliot.

I was the creative director & 3D modeler for this project.

This first film was inspired by the concept of an “Automated Ouiji Board” Its a bit of a perplexing idea isn’t it? We typically dont mix the spiritual world with our technology. It seems on some level the ideas oppose each other. Automating a Ouiji Board also just seems a bit dangerous, I mean, how are you supposed to say goodbye? On the other hand though, on some level Ouiji Boards have always been somewhat autonomous. Thats is the point isnt it? It give control to the ghost so they can speak through you. Anyways, enjoy this lighthearted video.

This next clip was made exploring making films with a robot arm. A bit of a tricky proccess, since making this project programming these arms has gotten much easier. We use it here to hold the camera and to get stable movement. Godzilla was added in post of course.