Table of Contents
- New Mason summer program shows high school students the value of a STEM degree
- Discovering STEM pathways to 'get there'
- Mason Science ASSIP and Aspiring Inventors Programs cultivate future STEM workforce
- Mason led system supports USDA goal to increase crop production and decrease environmental footprint
- Mason collaboration receives $3.2 million to help military personnel combat hemorrhagic diseases
- In the news: Mason Forensic Lab could solve crimes across United States
- Mason interdisciplinary team receives $1.5 million grant from Department of Defense to research underwater explosions
- Removing invasive plants protects the ecosystem at the Potomac Science Center and beyond
- College of Science research overview
- College of Science research centers
Also in this issue:
New Mason summer program shows high school students the value of a STEM degree
by Tracy Mason
George Mason University’s College of Science partnered with the Virginia Latino Higher Education Network (VALHEN) to offer the VALHEN Hispanic STEM Academy (VHSA) at its Fairfax Campus in the last week of July 2023.
Designed for rising Virginia high school sophomores and juniors from Hispanic/Latine and other underserved communities, the program provided the opportunity for 48 participants to engage in a series of interactive and hands-on sessions across a range of STEM disciplines. During the three-day, two-night residential program, these potential future scientists toured Mason’s cutting-edge laboratories and facilities, learned about the forward-thinking research currently underway, and presented their own UN Sustainable Development Goal proposals.
“We are thrilled to partner with VALHEN to show high school students from diverse backgrounds the potential of a STEM degree,” said College of Science Dean Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm. “This program provided participants access to the fastest growing STEM careers and academic pathways to get them there.” Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/George Mason University.
Discovering STEM pathways to 'get there'
FOCUS (Females of Color and those Underrepresented in STEM Programs)
The FOCUS camp for middle school students began in 2014 and has since welcomed a total of 436 participants to the program. This week-long camp on the Fairfax campus of George Mason University invites rising 6 to 8 graders to engage in four different interactive and hands-on STEM workshops. On the last day, participants present what they learned in these workshops in a conference-style setting.
FOCUS Academy
The FOCUS Academy for high school students launched in 2018 to provide a more advanced and immersive college experience than the FOCUS middle-school programs. Sessions include college and SAT prep, goal setting, and fitness classes. Past workshops include topics on forensic science, chemistry, bioinformatics, mathematics, and astronomy.
STEM Summer Camps
The College of Science offers two summer camp opportunities for incoming freshmen: Math Boot Camp and STEM Bridge Camp. Incoming first-year College of Science students will experience science courses and the college lifestyle before the fall semester.
STEM Bridge Camp: This two-week program offers incoming students daily tutoring in mathematics, guidance on lab protocol and exam preparation, as well as the chance to attend sample classes from Mason faculty. Students also receive advising, career sessions, time to meet current Mason students, and chances to make new friends. At the end of the two-weeks, participants receive the opportunity to retake their math placement test. This summer, all students in the program earned a higher score, with many placing into a higher-level math class.
Math Boot Camp: Incoming students in need of additional mathematics coaching attend this one-week program to gain a deeper understanding of mathematical concepts in algebra, trigonometry, or calculus. Participants also receive one-on-one guidance from professors, graduate students, and undergraduate learning assistants, become better prepared for Mason’s Math Placement Test and future math coursework, and have the opportunity to take the math placement test on the first day (if needed) and last day of camp.
Mason Math Odyssey Enrichment Camp
The Department of Mathematical Sciences offered its first Math Odyssey Enrichment Camp this summer, bringing dozens of rising sixth through ninth graders to Mason’s Fairfax campus. The Mason Math Odyssey Enrichment Camp immerses students in fundamental mathematical concepts to explore geometry, topology, number theory, probability and algebra as well as modeling alongside their peers and experienced mathematicians.
Interstellar Dreams Space Center
For the first time this summer, rising fourth through ninth graders interested in what exists beyond Earth’s atmosphere experienced the role of a “mission specialist” and designed space missions with guidance from experts in the field. Throughout each of the five week-long camps, participants learned about physics and astronomy, computer and Arduino programming, and visited Mason facilities like the satellite development lab and the Mason Observatory. During the week-long programs, campers also learned about space mission roles and engineering tasks—culminating in a “press conference” at the end of the week to a small audience of family and professionals. Participants shared their lunar space station design, motivations and mission. Sign ups open this spring.
Quantum Week 2023
The Quantum Science and Engineering Center (QSEC) hosted Quantum Week 2023 to recognize the awe-inspiring quantum technologies of today and in the future. The event took place on Mason’s Fairfax Campus and livestreamed on Zoom, and consisted of technical seminars, a tech showcase, research posters, career panel discussions, casual talks, as well as quantum game playing and interactive sessions. Academic scholars, industry researchers, startup foundries, and Mason students came together to discuss state-of-the-art technologies, business visions, and quantum education and career opportunities.
Mason Science ASSIP and Aspiring Inventors Programs cultivate future STEM workforce
by Tracy Mason
Mason Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program (ASSIP) began more than ten years ago as a small group of students across the physical sciences. Now this in-demand summer research experience has expanded, supporting an unprecedented 272 total participants with more than 70 mentors.
ASSIP 2023 applicants hailed from 33 states, and the District of Columbia, with students reporting home addresses from six countries, (including the U.S.). Selected students were paired with research mentors across all science disciplines as well as from other Mason disciplines and campuses, including the College of Engineering and Computing, College of Visual and Performing Arts, the School of Public Health, and Costello College of Business.
In addition to the summer long personally mentored research project and poster presentation, some students also participated in Mason’s Aspiring Inventor’s Fellowship Club to expand their creative thinking skills and experience the processes to develop and patent their bold scientific ideas.
The programs, orchestrated by Mason scientists, Lance Liotta, Marissa Howard, and Amanda Haymond Still, have a competitive application process and are always seeking partners who understand the value of providing such impactful learning opportunities.
The 2024 ASSIP application is now open. You can submit application materials until 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 11, 2024. Submit your application early to avoid possible last-minute technical problems. Photo by Sierra Guard/Creative Services/George Mason University.
Mason led system supports USDA goal to increase crop production and decrease environmental footprint
by Laura Powers
The USDA Agricultural Innovation Agenda calls for increasing U.S. agricultural production by 40 percent while cutting its environmental footprint in half by 2050. Sound crop management decision-making is a key in reaching this ambitious goal. Successful crop production involves smart management decisions that, traditionally, farmers make based on their experience. While valuable, those decisions hardly account for changing crop growth environment, unforeseen weather patterns, or changes in the market.
George Mason University Geography and Geoinformation Science Professor and Center for Spatial Information Science and Systems (CSISS) Director, Liping Di, leads a multidisciplinary research team building scientific data modeling tools to take the guesswork out of crop management decisions.
The team received $749,972 from the National Science Foundation’s Convergence Accelerator to design the user-inspired CropSmart Digital Twin (CSDT)—a public facing decision support system that provides the crop farming industry real-time data on the conditions of area crops, soil, weather and markets, decision trade-off, and optimal decision advice.
This funding supports the first phase of CSDT’s development, as well as development of an additional proposal for $5M in phase II funding that will ultimately support the implementation and operation of CSDT.
Mason collaboration receives $3.2 million to help military personnel combat hemorrhagic diseases
by Katie Maney
Deployed military personnel frequently face numerous health and safety hazards as part of their daily activities in service to their nation. Among many dangers is the possibility of encountering hemorrhagic fever viruses (HFVs), a group of highly infectious pathogens such as the Ebola virus. Many of these diseases do not currently have effective therapeutics and can be prevalent in areas where service members are deployed, putting them at risk of exposure.
Mason Science infectious disease researcher Aarthi Narayanan has partnered with the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), the only Department of Defense BSL4 Laboratory and National Laboratory within the CDC Laboratory Response Network, and Wake Forest University, a biotechnology company based in Canada, to identify potential broad-spectrum therapeutics for illnesses triggered by HFVs and similar pathogens.
“This project allows us to combine unique assets of the university with outside expertise,” said Narayanan. “Collaboration opens doors for us and creates new opportunities that may not be available to the team if we had performed the studies individually,” said Narayanan, an associate professor in biology and member of Mason’s Institute for Biohealth Innovation. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/George Mason University.
In the news: Mason Forensic Lab could solve crimes across United States
by Zander Leon
In 2020, Mason Science's Forensic Science Program unveiled its new Research and Training Laboratory that became the eighth location in the world capable of performing transformative outdoor research in forensic science using human donors. Now, the lab is once again receiving attention for its use of diverse technologies to solve crimes.
Mason’s forensic science experts are in high demand by the media to comment on the latest criminal cases. They were featured by TV-WSLS 10 as part of “Solutionaries,” a journalistic series highlighting the creative people in communities working to make the world a better place, one solution at a time.
- New body farm in Virginia could help solve crimes all over the country
- Body farm using technology in a different way to solve crimes and bring justice
- Cutting-edge technology helping solve crimes faster than ever before
News4JAX, Newsbreak, and The Washington Post also covered the lab.
In January 2023, Northern Virginia Magazine highlighted Mason’s Forensic Science Program as an exciting, unique learning environment to foster the next generation of detectives. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications/George Mason University.
Mason interdisciplinary team receives $1.5 million grant from Department of Defense to research underwater explosions
by Shayla Brown
A George Mason University interdisciplinary team is studying underwater explosions and their effects on civil engineering infrastructure with the support of a $1.5 million grant from Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
The team includes Physics and Astronomy Professor, Rainald Löhner, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Lingquan Li, PhD student Facundo Airaudo and College of Engineering and Computing Associate Professor Girum Urgessa.
“The team has run more than 100 test cases to study the structural response and the damage due to the explosions,” Li explained. The resulting pressures and flow fields for different explosive yields and stand-off distances are provided to the Department of Defense. Löhner and Urgessa are the co-principal investigators (PIs) on the project. Photo by Cristian Torres/Strategic Communications/George Mason University.
Removing invasive plants protects the ecosystem at the Potomac Science Center and beyond
by Lauren Reuscher
Over the summer, the Mason Science Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC) hosted an invasive species removal event where students, faculty, staff, and community members came together to remove harmful, invasive plants around the Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge, Virginia.
“Invasive plants are non-native or introduced to an ecosystem and can cause environmental or economic harm,” said Cindy Smith, PhD Environmental Science and Public Policy ’05, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy and K-12 education and outreach director for PEREC. “They can grow faster than native species, often shading out natives, spread quickly, and may not be a great food source for native birds and insects.”
The term “invasive” does not only apply to plants, trees, and shrubs but can also apply to insects and animals in Virginia. For example, PEREC experts were interviewed by media multiple times to share how to address invasive worms and lantern flies in the area.
Removing invasive species allows native plants to thrive, including those that are part of the Mason Arboretum. Native vegetation also supports native birds and insects. PEREC is cataloging the native plants around the Potomac Science Center so that visitors who walk along the trail can learn about what is growing at the site. Photo by Sam Kittner.
Major Research Centers in the College of Science
Research centers are chartered organizations in the university. They are foci for larger groups of scientists and support staff organized around specific research areas. Our research mission is to produce science that enhances society, creates clear career pathways for students, and supports development in the region and the nation. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/George Mason University.
Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM)
Center for Collision Safety and Analysis (CCSA)
Center for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
Center for Earth Observing and Spatial Research (CEOSR)
Environmental Science and Technology Center (ESTC)
Center for Geospatial Intelligence (CGEOINT)
Center for Infectious Disease Research (CIDR)
Center for Intelligent Spatial Computing (CISC)
Center for Mathematics and Artificial Intelligence (CMAI)
MicroBiome Analysis Center (MBAC)
Center for Molecular Engineering (CME)
Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies (COLA)
Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC)
Center for Social Complexity (CSC)
Center of Spatial Information Science and Systems (CSISS)
Virginia Climate Center (VCC)