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Mason Spirit is published three times a year by the Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations in conjunction with the Office of Communications and Marketing.
Research
Down by the Bay
By Colleen Kearney Rich on August 11, 2017
For more than 30 years, Mason ecologists have been monitoring the Chesapeake Bay watershed and finding ways to help the ecosystem repair itself. The opening of Mason’s new Potomac Science Center is providing a space to elevate and showcase the environmental research being done in this region.
Stepping into the Past
By Colleen Kearney Rich on August 9, 2017
A group of Mason students took a trip to an important Civil War site and never left the Fairfax Campus.
Stranger Than We Can Imagine
By Arthur Wesley, BA '17 on August 9, 2017
In his new book Exoplanets: Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar Planets, and the New Search for Life Beyond Our Solar System (Smithsonian Press, 2017), Mason astronomy professor and NASA scientist Michael Summers shares the latest research on exoplanets, which are planets beyond our solar system. The book was written with co-author James Trefil, Robinson Professor of Physics at Mason.
Where Cars Park, Green Roof Grows (Video)
By Mason Spirit contributor on August 9, 2017
The Rappahannock River Parking Deck on Mason’s Fairfax Campus recently got a new roof—a green roof, to be specific—as part of a graduate research project. The green roof was built with the assistance of two graduate students, who will be conducting their own research on different aspects of the roof.
Condensing Five Years into Three Minutes
By Arthur Wesley, BA '17 on August 9, 2017
Who says the fun of competitions has to be reserved for sports and reality television? Mason’s new Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition is changing that. An annual international competition that originated in 2008 at the University of Queensland, Australia, 3MT has quickly spread to more than 350 universities in 58 countries around the world. In it, PhD students compete to see who is best able to captivate an audience with their years of research in three minutes or less.
Buzzing with Activity
By Damian Cristodero on August 9, 2017
About two years from now, German Perilla, MAIS ’12, hopes about four acres of the I-95 Landfill Complex in Lorton, Virginia, will be transformed intogreen meadows with grasses, wildflowers, and bees—lots of bees.
Gaining Experience as an Environmental Scientist
By Arthur Wesley, BA '17 on August 9, 2017
When Mason Environmental Science and Policy professor Cynthia Smith was getting ready to teach EVPP 302 Biomes and Human Dimensions for the first time, she did a little research first.
Continue Reading Gaining Experience as an Environmental Scientist
The Effects of War on Veterans
By Michele McDonald on May 12, 2017
Jesse Kirkpatrick, assistant director of Mason’s Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, is leading a project looking at the effects of war on veterans.
The Dancing Brain
By Colleen Kearney Rich on May 12, 2017
How dancers move and learn may make them the perfect collaborators for Mason researchers.
Ancient Digs Fit for a Queen
By Colleen Kearney Rich on May 10, 2017
In her book Nefertiti’s Sun Temple: A New Cult Complex at Tell el-Amarna , Mason Egyptologist Jacquelyn Williamson examines stone relief fragments excavated from the site of Kom el-Nana at Tell el-Amarna, Egypt, dating back to approximately 1350 BCE. This is the first time relief fragments can be associated with a specific wall from a specific temple at Tell el-Amarna. And this one just happened to belong to Queen Nefertiti.
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