Alenka Poplin is an associate professor at Iowa State University and the director of the Game Design Major program. A multidisciplinary scholar, Dr. Poplin holds a PhD in Geoinformation Science from Vienna University of Technology; a Master of Business Administration from Clemson University, South Carolina; and a Master of Surveying and Spatial Planning from the University of Ljubljana. As an educator, she has broad experience in teaching applied methods in geographic information science, smart cities, and game design.
Dr. Poplin’s research concentrates on games for community engagement in planning, developing, implementin
g and testing digital geogames, and mapping emotions and places. Currently, she is working with several international teams that concentrate on the development and analysis of geogames. She collaborates with researchers from Italy, India, Slovenia, and Nepal, along with ISU students. One of her projects focuses on the design and implementation of The Emotions Geogame, a mobile location-based game that will enable players to map their emotions related to places they self-select. “The concept is exciting as the main premise includes an Alien that comes to planet Earth to explore life and learn about emotions and places”, Dr. Poplin shares enthusiastically. Other ongoing projects focus on the analysis of cybersecurity and disaster management games and on analogue serious games that train teachers and students on creating games for disaster prevention and education.
Dr. Poplin is also working on a cross-ISU campus collaboration in two different teams. One team concentrates on the concept and prototype of a game that will help caregivers with Parkinson's disease cope with everyday situations. The second team explored innovations in teaching and learning pedagogy of geotechnical engineering by introducing modules in which students learn how to create a game about a selected topic in geotechnical engineering.
In 2025, Alenka Poplin received her first grant from the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities (CEAH, Symposium Grant) for her research. With the funds, she aims to support the 3rd Geogames Symposium, to be held at Iowa State University from May 3 – 6, 2026. “This symposium represents a unique idea to bring researchers who work on Geogames under one umbrella to discuss current research, design, implementation, and development of Geogames”, Dr. Poplin notes.
The grant will facilitate Dr. Poplin and team to attract famous keynote speakers who will expand the knowledge and reputation of the newly established Game Design Major program at Iowa State University. It will also be used to cover other expenses of the symposium organizations. Anticipating a positive outcome, Dr. Poplin says, “With this grant, Iowa State will be able to provide a thriving and inspiring atmosphere in which science can be expanded and further developed, and game research can connect with game industry and ISU students.”
According to Dr. Poplin, research in the humanities is extremely important at Iowa State, and it complements the technical expertise needed to develop successful and playable games very well. She also adds, “The aspects of games are not only in their technical implementation, but also in developing an immersive story, being able to tell the story and write for games and envision creative environments for games that inspire and educate players.”
Through her scholarly pursuits, Dr. Poplin works to make Game Design a tool for real-life impact, establishing a bridge between the fields of technology and the humanities.