Undergraduates

Schar School Undergrads Exhibit Results During Research Fair

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 05 May 2022 13:47:35 +0000

Schar School Undergrads Exhibit Results During Research Fair Andrew J Schappert Thu, 05/05/2022 - 09:47

Ian Waite, left, and Anna Sladek pose with their poster depicting their work, with Camila Anderson, on the Local Climate Action Project.

Delaney Soliday won the top prize for The Taliban Over Time: A Diachronic Case Study of Governance in the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Schar School undergraduates are encouraged to pursue their own research ideas by enrolling in the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program, known as URAP. The program is supported by the Undergraduate Research Community (URC), a one-credit course that provides ��AV students with valuable access to experts and resources focused on all aspects of research and careers.

During the semester, students who volunteer for URAP work closely with Schar School professors who teach them how to conduct research, how to use sophisticated research tools, and how to present their conclusions in an oversized, single-sheet poster detailing their findings.

Not only do the students perform “research of consequence” that resonates beyond the campus, but they acquire valuable, highly marketable skills that prepare them for future careers.

Once a year, URAP and URC participants get to put the posters on easels during the annual Research Fair and explain to visitors the findings of their projects. This year’s event at Mason’s Fairfax Campus featured 15 posters, representing work by more than 40 Schar School undergraduates working with 15 faculty mentors and advisors.

Ruth Wolde-Semayat, pictured, Katherine Ly, and Lydia Sigman did a deep-dive into Congressional Caucus Data Collection.

Jena Musmar explains the research behind To What Extent Do US Carceral Settings Efficiently Provide the Psychiatric Needs of Inmates with Schizophrenia and How Should it be Improved?

Sophie Lutz, left, and Madison Moreau were part of a team depicting Mapping the Cross-Strait Military Balance.

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Undergraduates

Schar School News May 2022

Daksha Magesh: She Saw Potential, She Receives Inspiration

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 14:38:27 +0000

Daksha Magesh: She Saw Potential, She Receives Inspiration Andrew J Schappert Mon, 12/13/2021 - 09:38

Daksha Magesh: ‘I wanted to find a community of people who would push me to do my best, to help me reach my full potential. I found that.’

Daksha Magesh came to the Schar School after graduating from the Tesla STEM High School in her home of Seattle, Washington. The first-year government and international politics student brought with her the sort of resume that makes public policy employers’ eyes grow wide: She’s interned with a state senator, served as a legislative page, collaborated on two senate campaigns, worked for a mental health nonprofit, and performed scientific research in music and learning.

How did she come to ��AV? After all, there are a lot of colleges between Seattle and Fairfax, Virginia.

“When I was in the eighth grade, I came to [Washington,] D.C. for the first time on a school trip and absolutely fell in love with the city,” Magesh said. “I was awestruck. There was this representation of wanting to do better, of wanting to see a future in which everyone can thrive together as a community.

“When I was [researching] George Mason I saw that potential. I saw the potential to be a community that works together toward change. It combined everything I was looking for.”

Once she arrived, the Honors College student found the school allowed for personal growth as well. “I was looking for an opportunity to expand. I wanted to find a community of people who would push me to do my best, to help me reach my full potential,” she said. “I found that.”

Magesh had vital support of key employers throughout high school, including Washington State Senator Manka Dhingra, who represents Seattle in the 45^th District.

“She was a mentor and role model to me,” Magesh said. “As an intern, I did everything from phone banking to canvassing. But getting to work on the senate floor was one of the greatest experiences of my life.”

In addition to the internship, Magesh worked for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), a nonprofit that advocates for family members of those diagnosed with mental illness. Meanwhile, in her spare time, she was a dancer with a Bollywood dance troupe that happened to raise funds for charities.

“One year, the proceeds [of the Bollywood concert] went to NAMI,” she said. “Two sides of my life came together and it was really cool to do something I love and also contribute to a good cause.”

In addition to being interested in policy and mental health, she also enjoys neuroscience. In fact, a paper she wrote as a high school junior combined her love of music with her passion for science.

“I wrote a research paper on beta wave measurement and how that correlates to academic excellence and music,” she said. “I've always been interested in how the brain works, so I rewired an electric encephalogram and used that to measure students' brain waves while they listened to different types of music and completed a math test.”

The paper, “Examining Correlation Between the Genre of Music Present & Increased Academic Performance Through Beta Wave Measurement,” was published in the Journal of Student Research, an achievement of its own.

Magesh is one of this year’s Schar Scholars scholarship recipients. The program provides financial support to students majoring in public administration or government and international politics.

“It’s exciting to see the experiences and energy that our Schar Scholars bring to Mason,” said Shannon Williams, assistant dean for student engagement at the Schar School. “Daksha is in her first year here, and she hasn’t wasted any time welcoming the connections she has discovered and opening up new possibilities for herself and her Schar School community.”

Magesh’s academic studies during her first year at the Schar School have not slowed her down. In fact, she’s even more inspired.

“I see the drive, passion, and ambition,” she said of the school. “It's really interesting to come here and know I made the right choice.”

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Undergraduates

internships

Schar School News December 2021

Mason team tackles climate change in Virginia counties through new three-step initiative

Mariam Aburdeineh — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 17:54:54 +0000

Mason team tackles climate change in Virginia counties through new three-step initiative Mariam Aburdeineh Thu, 12/09/2021 - 12:54

In This Story

Joel Hicks

Solving climate change is a grand challenge facing the planet. As more individuals and leaders are recognizing the need to switch to environmentally friendly practices, ��AV’s Local Climate Change Planning Initiative (LCCPI) is helping make that a reality for counties across Virginia.

“Our vision is to have Mason be the lead university in helping counties that lack the resources and expertise in [addressing climate change] get this done,” said Paul Bubbosh, a 1988 Mason alumnus and adjunct professor at the Schar School and College of Science.

Wealthier counties have funding to mitigate environmental issues, said Bubbosh, who started LCCPI with Schar School adjunct professor Joel Hicks in Fall 2021. Many smaller jurisdictions do not, he said, and they may not have staff for these initiatives.

LCCPI, housed within the Center for Energy Science and Policy, allows Mason to bring in its resources and expertise in modeling, engineering, environmental science, policy law, and more, to provide pro bono services to these counties, Bubbosh said.

Students will play an active role in the initiative’s three-stage process, which the Mason team is piloting in Manassas City.

The first stage, which Bubbosh said takes four to six months, is about gathering data on the county’s emissions footprint and having students conduct inventory modeling.

The next stage involves working with community leaders for a year to develop goals, such as changing streetlights to LEDs or reducing emissions, he said.

“In that process, which involves students leading community meetings with faculty, we begin to educate members of the public about the things they desire,” Bubbosh said. “It’s moving them toward understanding what makes the best, most economical, most practical sense for the community.”

Working at the local level is where critical change can happen, said Bubbosh, who said LCCPI was inspired by his time as a Peace Corps volunteer, when he saw how local communities are impacted by climate change.

That’s why stage three provides heightened value.

Hanna Metuda is one of two undergraduates volunteering with LCCPI. Photo provided.

“Any contractor you hire to do this leaves at stage two,” Bubbosh said. “We want to embed students in internships with the local county to help them implement what they found in stage two.”

“Being in the forefront and crafting creative solutions that could ripple through other communities is really inspiring,” said Hanna Metuda, a senior studying government and international politics. “That Mason is allowing students to be a part of that is exciting…and it gives me hope for our environment.”

Metuda is one of two undergraduates volunteering with LCCPI. She said growing up in the Philippines with the effects of pollution and climate change inspired her environmental drive. While she said she’s excited to apply what she’s learned in the classroom, she understands challenges could arise.

“Students will discover hurdles along the way that no classroom will ever be able to prepare a student for,” Bubbosh said, suggesting some challenges may be insurmountable. “However, that learning experience, even at a loss, is a win for students in terms of practical work experience.”

“It’s about seeing results—not academic exercises—and actually making a difference in someone’s life,” he said.

From left to right: Delegate Rip Sullivan (D-48th) from Manassas, Paul Bubbosh and Ambassador Richard Kauzlarich, Director of Mason's Center for Energy Science and Policy. Photo provided.

Topics

Sustainability

Sustainability Research

Schar School

Schar School Faculty

College of Science

Center for Energy Science and Policy

Manassas

Campus News

Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE)

Government and International Politics

internships

Climate Change

climate change education

environmental science

Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP)

Incoming Freshmen’s Visit to Washington Landmarks Highlight Quill Camp: Republic

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 13:58:57 +0000

Incoming Freshmen’s Visit to Washington Landmarks Highlight Quill Camp: Republic Andrew J Schappert Wed, 08/11/2021 - 09:58

At the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington, D.C.’s West Potomac Park. Photos by Ron Aira/Creative Services

The second Quill Camp season brought together dozens of incoming students for multiday, extended orientation activities designed to immerse freshmen with college life and familiarize them with new surroundings as they embark on their academic careers at ��AV.

The idea, say the camp organizers at Mason’s Office of New Student and Family Programs, is to help new students discover friends, make connections, find mentors, meet faculty and staff members, and learn their way around the Mason campuses ahead of the stimulating rush of “regular” orientation. The students, many of them from distant home towns, selected their camp from six themes, choosing the most appropriate for their individual interests.

Quill Camp: True Crime was an immersive experience into criminal justice (including observing mock crime scenes and criminal trials); the Vision camp offered students a chance to explore leadership and service opportunities in Northern Virginia; Sneak Peak offered night-cycling and base-camping outings; and Project Peak, taking place August 15-18, takes students into the wild for a four-day, three-night camping/canoeing/multisport excursion (registration is full).

University photographer Ron Aira traveled in mid-July with the 20 participants in Quill Camp: Republic to capture in images their adventure to the landmarks of Washington, D.C. The students, many of them majoring in undergraduate courses taught by professors in the Schar School of Policy and Government, received a condensed tutorial in how national, state, and local governments function, in addition to visiting the international landmarks.

The familiar dome and columns of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial loom in the distance over the Tidal Basin.

Quill Camp: Republic counselors Rebecca Boyd, left, and Angele Cipriotti share a laugh from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background.

Quill Camp participants pose in front of one of the most iconic statues in the world, Daniel Chester French’s Abraham Lincoln. The statue was dedicated in 1922.

New Student and Family Programs’ Jade Durant calls the campers back to the bus for the return trip to the Fairfax Campus.

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Undergraduates

Quill Camp

Schar School News August 2021