Iga Puchalska is a Polish-born, research-driven animator and educator hybrid, whose primary research focuses on the impact of teaching digital art and animation in historically underserved, marginalized, and immigrant communities. She is currently Co-Founder of New Genres Art Space in Rockford, Illinois and most recently lead the Experimental Animation department at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah.

She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Animation from Northern Illinois University and a Master in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Beyond teaching at other universities such as Illinois State University and Northern Illinois University, Iga has also worked in a variety of community settings including, after-school, nonprofit, and summer programs where she continually combined social justice issues with digital art in order to create culturally sensitive students.