collaboration

George Mason and Virginia Tech collaborate to build science policy connections

Katarina Benson — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 18:50:00 +0000

George Mason and Virginia Tech collaborate to build science policy connections Katarina Benson Mon, 01/13/2025 - 13:50

Today, Virginia is one step closer to bridging the gap between science and policy—a critical relationship necessary to navigate a range of socio-technical issues including climate change, biodiversity loss, pandemics, and poverty. This connection was the result of a yearlong research project to identify U.S. and Virginia-based science policy programs that engage STEM-H scientists and engineers in science policy, with the goal of helping both elected officials and others access technical information to assist in decision making.

Adriana Bankston and K.L. Akerlof. Photo provided

This work was completed thanks to a coalition of faculty and students supported though a 4-VA@Mason grant. The team was led by K.L. Akerlof in ��AV’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy and Todd Schenk, chair and associate professor in the Urban Affairs and Planning Program of the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech and director of the Science, Technology and Engineering in Policy Program.

“This funding supported our cross-institutional collaboration and ability to conduct baseline research and networking that have been fundamental to understanding how the landscape of science policy training programs is evolving across the United States,” Akerlof said.

The team created a database of U.S. science policy programs and conducted a case study of those in Virginia through surveys and interviews with their leaders, with the goal of advancing best practices for professional mentorship of early career researchers and building capacity for training researchers to engage in public policy. Akerlof and Schenk were assisted in the study by science policy expert Adriana Bankston; George Mason students Kelsey Mitchell, Kate Saylor and Aniyah Syl; and Kenneth Dewberry at Virginia Tech.

Following the yearlong collaboration, the results of their research have been developed and are featured on a new website—along with program blogs and a listserv—created to support this emerging network of science policy programs.

The results showed that the majority—57%—of U.S. science policy programs are state based. These programs include student organizations, government placements and fellowships, academic certificates, degrees, and other training. However, it was recognized that there is a limited ability to implement evidence-based approaches within these programs.

The team compared program outcomes from Virginia’s science policy programs with those described in academic literature. Academic and professional scholarship in science communication and public affairs suggests that curricula for engaging scientists and engineers should broadly cover communication and policy processes, which could be improved.

In addition, they found that training programs would benefit from evaluation models and measures, although the lack of consistent theoretical foundations across this highly multidisciplinary scholarship reduces their utility. It was concluded that a common framework, which includes shared terms and relationships, is needed to promote the growth of the field.

With the results of their analysis in hand, the team, including George Mason undergraduate student Aniyah Syl and PhD student Kelsey Mitchell, helped lead a state webinar on science policy programs featuring Virginia program leaders. Syl co-presented on the project at a Virginia Sea Grant Symposium which was also the topic of an American Geophysical Union e-lightning talk.

Master’s student Kate Saylor successfully defended her thesis on the Commonwealth of Virginia Engineering and Science (COVES) Policy Fellowship and subsequently presented her results to James Aylor, president of the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

The first of two research articles based on the project has just been accepted by the journal Evidence & Policy. A second article has also been submitted for publication. Syl and Mitchell participated as co-authors on the publications.

The team is also in conversation with the leadership of the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine about the development of a new weeklong science policy program for undergraduate students from across the commonwealth’s public universities.

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Mechanical engineering students build motorized Vitruvian man for a School of Music performance

Shayla Brown — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 20:23:35 +0000

Mechanical engineering students build motorized Vitruvian man for a School of Music performance Shayla Brown Mon, 04/08/2024 - 16:23

In This Story

Dr. Lisa Billingham

Nathan Kathir

A group of ��AV mechanical engineering students are building a motorized Vitruvian man for a Center for the Arts (CFA) performance of "Flying to the Stars," a choral concert dedicated to the beginnings of flight from the time of Leonardo da Vinci to the exploration of space.

Team members Kevin Kuck (left) and David Gosselin working on their project in the Machine Shop. Photo provided.

Lisa Billingham, director of choral activities at the Dewberry Family School of Music, said she wanted the concert to be an immersive experience for the audience, and reached out to the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC) for help. There she connected with Nathan Kathir, a mechanical engineering professor, who shared the project idea with his students.

“This project is exciting because we are partnering with another unit at Mason outside of CEC,” said Kathir, who is the director of senior capstone projects for mechanical engineering students.

“There is already a lot of art involved in engineering, and this collaboration between music and our department will be very inspiring for future students,” said Kathir.

The four students assigned to the project are working in the Machine Shop on the SciTech Campus and call themselves The Polymaths.

“We were thinking about the show’s theme of Leonardo da Vinci and we knew that the Vitruvian man is kind of his staple,” said Mellany Ayala, a senior mechanical engineering student. “I drew a very rough sketch of the Vitruvian man inside a gyroscopic figure, and it ended up being what our team decided to build.”

The device, which will hang from center stage throughout the show, has two spotlights as well as projections that will shine down on the students as they perform.

“We’re aiming for something similar to the immersive Van Gogh experience in D.C.,” said Kevin Kuck, a senior mechanical engineering student and the team leader.

The Polymaths met once a week with Billingham and her student research assistant and choir member, Ross Calvin, to discuss the project and work on a proposal for funding. They applied for and received a grant from Mason’s University Life.

Billingham also created a QR code fundraiser on Facebook and received anonymous donations, she said.

“Hopefully these cool project collaborations keep happening in the future. It was really refreshing to work with people from CVPA; they were so easygoing and in such happy spirits,” said Ayala.

The Polymaths worked with the CFA’s electrician and did a run-through a week before the performance. They will also give a presentation about the project on Capstone Day to showcase the final product.

“This project has been one of the more hands-on experiences I’ve had at Mason so far,” said Kuck. “Being able to build something with my own hands was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed seeing it go from an idea on a page to something real. I think that's been the most satisfying part for me.”

During the concert, students will perform Jocelyn Hagen's “The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci” and “Leonardo Dreams of his Flying Machine” by Eric Whitacre. A piece by alum Peter Kadeli will also be performed.

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senior capstone projects

Center for the Arts

Dewberry School of Music

mechanical engineering

Tech Talent Investment Pipeline (TTIP)

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Tech Talent Investment Program

Strengthening global partnerships: Professor Amira Roess collaborates with international researchers to strengthen pathogen discovery

Mary Cunningham — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 22:06:19 +0000

Strengthening global partnerships: Professor Amira Roess collaborates with international researchers to strengthen pathogen discovery Mary Cunningham Fri, 01/26/2024 - 17:06

In This Story

Amira Roess, PhD, MPH

Since the first trade routes were established thousands of years ago, pathogens traveled along them spreading infectious diseases from once-isolated parts of the world. Today, global interconnectedness continues to rapidly spread infectious diseases across the world, transcending state, national, and continental boundaries. Consequently, the importance of understanding and preventing the transmission of pathogens relies on global cooperation and necessitates collaborative efforts among researchers.

Amira Roess, ��AV professor of public health, has been collaborating with colleagues in Bangladesh since 2002 on topics such as the impact of antibiotic use in animals on human health and the burden of pneumococcus, once a leading cause of neonatal infectious disease deaths in low-and-middle-income countries and once a leading cause of pneumonia in the United States. Pneumococcus infections have significantly decreased due to the introduction of vaccines globally.

Drs. Nicol Janecko, Senjuti Saha, and Amira Roess

In 2018, colleagues from the United Kingdom joined the U.S.-Bangladesh collaboration when the team, led by Roess, received a $1.2 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. With the grant, the team studied campylobacter, the leading bacterial cause of diarrheal diseases in the U.S. and Europe, which causes an estimated 400 million infections per year globally.

“Collaboration across countries is critical to learn about and reduce the spread of infectious diseases. Universities play a crucial role in maintaining long-term global collaborations that withstand the constant changes in political alliances between nations,” said Roess. “Studying rapidly emerging infectious diseases requires that scientists from across the world work together and share data and technology. By uniting our efforts, we can protect each other against the spread of diseases, creating a global shield that transcends borders and protects the health and well-being of all."

In 2023, Nicol Janecko from the Quadram Institute in the United Kingdom and Roess received a £50,000 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council United States Partnering Award to expand existing collaboration between researchers in the UK and the U.S. In January 2024, Janecko and Senjuti Saha visited Mason’s SciTech campus to share their knowledge and learn from other Mason researchers focused on discovering more about the transmission of infectious diseases.

Saha and Janecko spoke with Mason faculty and student researchers about “Applying metagenomics to understanding complex transmission dynamics of zoonotic pathogens.” Saha spoke about the Child Health Research Foundation’s research and outreach on meningitis in Bangladesh and Janecko shared research about campylobacter.

Saha and Janecko also met with Mason students and faculty who have common research interests, including Professor Ginny Espina, Professor Iosif Vaisman, Mason’s Institute for Biohealth innovation Executive Director Amy Adams, Professor Patrick Gillevet, and Associate Professor Aarthi Narayanan. The visiting researchers also toured Mason’s Biomedical Research Laboratory, Mason’s MicroBiome Analysis Center, Mason's Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, and Mason’s other public health laboratory facilities.

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A Contemporary Composer Fuels a New Mason Collaboration

Emily Schneider — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 19:19:10 +0000

A Contemporary Composer Fuels a New Mason Collaboration Emily Schneider Tue, 03/07/2023 - 14:19

In This Story

Lawrence M. Jackson

Dr. William Lake, Jr.

Growing up in the Black church, Assistant Professor of Music and Director of Concert Bands, Dr. William Lake, Jr., deeply understands the power of music and movement.

After hearing Come Sunday by composer Omar Thomas, Lake dreamed of bringing this work to life with movement, bringing together the ��AV Bands and the School of Dance. Working on such a project would not only expand his students' musical vocabulary but also create an authentic and expansive cultural experience for the Mason community. Associate Professor of Dance, Lawrence M. Jackson, had similar experiences, growing up in “the southern Black church, a very charismatic church” and reflected on his own upbringing and research into African diasporic dance forms. This collaboration came to life onstage in the Center for the Arts on Mason’s Fairfax Campus on February 28.

Students from Mason's School of Dance performing with the Mason Wind Symphony to Omar Thomas's Come Sunday on February 28. Photo by Will Martinez.

As a composer, arranger, and educator, Omar Thomas works with some of the most respected names in composition and education, including multiple GRAMMY-winning composer and bandleader Maria Schneider, Ken Schaphorst, and Frank Carlberg. Born to Guyanese parents in Brooklyn, New York, Thomas pursued music diligently, completing his Master of Music at Berklee College of Music and becoming the first Black composer to ever receive the National Bandmasters Association/Revelli Award for Come Sunday. His compositions are described as “thought-provoking, multi-layered masterpiece[s],” which made embarking on a partnership around this piece even more exciting for Jackson and Lake.

“I really hold dear my experiences as a musician in the Black church (I started playing the piano for my children’s choir around age 6) to my musical upbringing. Since I know gospel and other sacred music intimately, I can infuse the music with the extra nuances that can’t be described using notation but are true to the style. This piece has been performed by many great ensembles across the country… however, there hasn’t been a performance that centers movement and these great sounds.” said Lake.

Professor Jackson’s career often includes collaborations, a hallmark of his practice at other universities before coming to Mason in the fall of 2022. While the invitation to work with Dr. Lake at the end of the fall semester was a surprise, it also felt reassuring to find this partnership so early on and to begin exploring what this experience would mean for Mason students from both the School of Dance and the Dewberry School of Music.

A student from the School of Dance smiles at the audience during the performance of "Come Sunday" by Omar Thomas, performed by the Mason Wind Symphony. Photo by Will Martinez.

Building a vocabulary for the dancers was an opportunity for Jackson’s students to explore the storied culture of the Black church's sacred space and develop an understanding of the types of movement vocabulary that would reflect the energy and history of these spaces and traditions. From watching Alvin Ailey’s Revelations and clips of a particular scene from the movie Blues Brothers, Jackson offered context to his creative process, “blending contemporary dance forms, African diasporic dance forms, and pedestrian movement that is derived from the Black church, all merged into an amalgamation of movement vocabulary uniquely designed for this work.”

“The Mason School of Dance students are excited to work with the musicians,” said Jackson. “These dancers, most of them, if not all of them, have never had the experience of working alongside a symphony or a band. I’m excited for them to experience the unique energy of the symphony and adapt in the moment.” All of the dancers performing in this piece are seniors in their final semester with the School of Dance, which made Jackson that much more eager to share this experience with them before they embark on the next stage of their careers.

The dancers are not the only ones expanding their understanding and skills with this performance. “The jazz and gospel musical vocabulary is foreign to my students,” said Dr. Lake.

“It’s inspiring to see how invested our students are in something that they realize is new and different. My hope is that through music and collaborations, my students have a gateway to appreciate cultures different than their own,” Lake adds.

Dancers from Mason's School of Dance perform Professor Lawrence M. Jackson's original choreography to Come Sunday by Omar Thomas, performed by the Mason Wind Symphony on February 28. Photo by Will Martinez.

Unlike most concerts, the Wind Symphony will be moved further upstage than normal and without the acoustic shell to allow for the choreography to be presented downstage. This has resulted in the assistance of the Center for the Arts Artistic Staff to add audio, lighting, and stage-managing support. This unique concert has been chosen as one of the Mason Arts at Home features that will be captured via six cameras in the hall and even GoPros! Dr. Lake shared, “I’m jealous of the audience, I won’t get to experience the concert from their vantage point – I’m thankful that the School of Music and the College of Visual and Performing Arts have agreed to record, edit, and professionally mix our hard work”.

The duo is optimistic that this is just the beginning of collaborations between the Mason School of Dance and the Dewberry School of Music.

You can watch an in-depth interview with Jackson and Lake on the College of Visual and Performing Arts YouTube channel, including behind-the-scenes footage of rehearsals leading up to the performance.

The Wind Symphony’s performance from February 28, 2023, including Come Sunday featuring the School of Dance, will be available to watch from March 28 through April 28, 2023 exclusively through Mason Arts at Home.