Michael D. Winans holds a PhD in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics from Arizona State University and is a Specialist in Applied Linguistics at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). His research focuses on the intersections of language, the internet, and globalization, which results in an environment where inequities continue to develop in increasingly multicultural and technological societies. His current line of inquiry focuses on extended reality (XR), which includes the integration of augmented, mixed, and virtual reality with the affordances of artificial intelligence. He serves as the Editor for OnCALL, which is TESOL International’s Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) Interest Section Publication and is the founder of Upstate CALL, a conference which will first be held in October, 2025 at RIT.  He has been published by Second Language Teacher Education, Language Learning & Technology, CALICO Journal, and RELC Journal, and TESOL Press, among others. He has presented research at AAAL, CALICO, TESOL Doctoral Research Forum, and EuroCALL. He served as a Communication Electronic Technician in the US Navy on a ballistic missile submarine, where he spent a year of his life under water, and as a Peace Corps volunteer in Albania.