Meet our Team
Scotty Strachan, PI
Principal Research Engineer
NevadaNet
As Principal Research Engineer for the Nevada System of Higher Education, Scotty specializes in strategic planning, management, and end-to-end application of technology to improve and accelerate scientific and research workflow. Scotty’s strategic development plan for Nevada includes improving expertise in data acquisition, networking, research computing, data management, and software infrastructure.
Scotty’s Ph.D. is in Geography and Business Administration from the University of Nevada, Reno. He maintains core science activities in mountain climate and Great Basin ecohydrology, as PI or co-PI of over $33MM in grant-funded projects since 2018.
Joe Breen, Co-PI
Senior Computing Research Architect
Center for High Performance Computing
Get ready to learn more – detailed bio data arriving shortly.
Derek Masseth, Co-PI
Executive Director
Arizona Sun Corridor Network
Derek is a public servant, technologist, network architect, and innovator. Throughout his career he has been focused on building innovative solutions to address the most complex challenges faced by education today.
As the Executive Director Derek serves as the chief executive of Arizona’s fast-growing research and education network, The Sun Corridor Network (SCN). With over 20 years of experience in education technology his passion and enthusiasm for bringing technology to education is demonstrated throughout Arizona. Derek and the SCN team have been focused most recently on Digital Equity solutions, building Arizona’s first open-access middle-mile, and assisting schools to meet modern technology demands, particularly mid-pandemic.
Additionally, Derek currently serves on the Boards of Directors and advisory committees for a number of collaborative non-profits, including The Quilt, WestNet Research & Education Collaboration, and the Internet2.
Alongside his pursuits in education technology Derek is an avid outdoorsman, watersports enthusiast, and gearhead. Alongside his wife and sons he spends most of his spare time camping, wakeboarding, backpacking, or tinkering with cars, RZRs, and other off-road vehicles.
Jim Stewart, Co-PI
Chief Technology Officer
Utah Education and Telehealth Network
Jim Stewart has worked professionally as a technologist for more than 47 years. He is currently the Chief Technology Officer for the Utah Education and Telehealth Network (UETN.) UETN connects more than 1800 sites comprising participants from Public Education, Higher Education, libraries, health care facilities and more. He serves as a member of the Internet2 inCommon Steering Committee and as a Trustee for the Utah SAINT Organization and SAINTCON security conference.
Jim is a graduate of the University of Utah with a degree in economics, a discipline that has interested him nearly his entire life.
He is currently involved with several AI projects including collaborations with Internet2, The Quilt and the University of Utah Center for High Performance Computing. Other projects include private LTE/5G and Eduroam, expanding access and increasing system reliability in support of stakeholders in Utah and collaborators nationally.
His interests include gardening, cycling, running, astronomy, photography, restoring vintage electronics and many others that he has neither the time nor the funding to pursue to his satisfaction. His natural curiosity compels him to travel extensively and to seek out new experiences whenever possible.
WildWEST Engagement Structure
WildWEST team development is focused on creating new professional roles at regional education networks across three neighboring western states. NevadaNet, Utah Education Network, and Arizona Sun Corridor Network are equal partners in piloting and developing these new exciting technical roles for science and engineering technology support.
WildWEST development projects are focused on core science partners in our regional field research community. These partnerships allow new field technology professionals to engage in development and testing of solutions while solving real-world problems for scientists. Consultation, engagement, and dissemination of knowledge occurs through the NSF ACCESS community and the Computational Science Support Network (CSSN), helping evolve the layers of available expertise.
The higher-education and research technology community at-large will be able to leverage the practices and experiences developed in WildWEST to evolve the workforce and talent serving the nation’s academic research ecosystem.