Our Story

Origin

Agents of Discovery was founded in 2015 by entrepreneur and former teacher Mary Clark. Mary worked with renowned wildlife artist and naturalist Robert Bateman for over a decade trying to determine best practices for how to engage youth with the natural world. Over time, it became apparent that although the original goal had been to get youth off screens and outdoors, “screen time could be green time.” Based on this idea and extensive research, Mary and her team began pursuing the goal of transforming education through fun, place-based augmented reality gaming.

Leading Innovation

At Agents, we believe that educators need access to cutting-edge tech tools that make learning fun, active and engaging for learners. That’s why we are working with premiere developers and a network of partners across the globe to change the face of education. We want educators, who have a vested interest in the well-being of their players, to be able to easily and seamlessly publish their learning experiences into safe and relevant locations so learners can experience education within the context of the real world.

Inclusion

The Agents of Discovery platform emphasizes inclusion by enabling educators to localize their content and make it available to learners at safe locations for self-guided experiences. The Text-to-Speech feature in the app enables learners with visual impairments or reading difficulties to fully participate in the experiences.

Meet Our Executive Team

MARY CLARK

Chief Executive Officer

Mary is a dynamic leader with a passion for creating education technologies that change the world. A visionary entrepreneur who brings a unique perspective to product development, Mary brings years of experience as a teacher and science textbook writer to her executive role. She holds a B.Sc. (Honors) and B.Ed. from the University of Alberta, as well as an M.Ed. (with a focus on education technology) from the University of British Columbia.

Mary has been the recipient of numerous awards, ranging from the Louise McKinney Award for Top Student at the University of Alberta in the Faculty of Education, Edwin Parr Teacher Award for Best First Year Teacher in Alberta, and Canada’s Top 50 women in STEM. Check out Mary Clark’s interview with Okanagan Edge discussing Kelowna Chamber of Commerce’s Top 40 Over 40 program.

LinkedIn

JOEL KRUPA, PhD

Chief Administrative Officer

Joel started his career as an intern in the office of former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has gone on to hold senior leadership and advisory roles in a range of sustainability-oriented public, private, and civil society organizations. At Agents of Discovery, Joel collaborates with public and private organizations across the United States, Australia, and Canada to improve their visitor experience and enhance engagement with youth. Joel completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Engineering after earning degrees from the University of British Columbia, Oxford, LSE, and the University of Toronto.