Mariam Aburdeineh

Carter School hosts activist whose organization documents war crimes in Ukraine

Mariam Aburdeineh — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 15:31:57 +0000

Carter School hosts activist whose organization documents war crimes in Ukraine Mariam Aburdeineh Mon, 03/13/2023 - 11:31

In This Story

Karina Korostelina

Alpaslan Özerdem

Daniel Rothbart

On February 24, the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, ��AV’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution hosted “One Year After: Ukraine War Analysis and Prospects,” an all-day virtual event to discuss the effects of the war and potential post-war contexts.

The event featured Romantsova Oleksandra, executive director of the Center for Civil Liberties, the first Ukrainian organization to win a Nobel Peace Prize. The recognition, which the human rights organization received in 2022, was due in part to their work documenting war crimes against civilians in occupied areas of Ukraine.

Karina Korostelina (left) and Romantsova Oleksandra during the virtual event, "One Year After: Ukraine War Analysis and Prospects."

Oleksandra spoke about her work to an audience of about 50 people, and answered questions about the war via Zoom. The discussion was moderated by Karina Korostelina, professor and co-director of Mason’s Program for the Prevention of Mass Violence.

“The war in Ukraine has presented a real challenge to those who favor negotiated outcomes,” said Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem in his opening remarks. “However, even if the political space is constrained for negotiations at the moment, we shouldn’t write off what conflict resolution could achieve in the future.”

Oleksandra began by explaining how her work started in 2014—around the time Russia invaded Crimea—and explained how they started with a hotline where they gathered questions about Crimea and Donbas before starting field work there.

After summer 2014, and the disputed Crimean status referendum, their mobile teams on the ground were blocked, Oleksandra said.

“They don’t give the possibility of Ukrainian human right defenders of going into the territories,” she said. “So, we collect[ed] information using the help of our partners from Belarus, from Russia, and from other countries.”

Oleksandra described various ways her team collects information, including gathering testimonials from individuals or relatives of those who have been prosecuted. The team also investigates sites where crimes occurred, and documents the aftermath with photos and video.

Other times, the Center for Civil Liberties uses data from institutions, such as hospitals.

“We have a lot of evidence that sexual crimes happened, too, like thousands of cases. People [don’t] very directly speak about that with prosecutors or police, but they easily speak with doctors,” Oleksandra said. “That’s why we have some statistics, and we have a national line where the people can call and speak about that.”

Oleksandra’s organization has used all this information to create databases and maps of where human rights violations have occurred.

“We have now more than 33,000 cases [of] potential war crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide,” she said. “Why ‘potential’? Because at the end, only courts can give this characteristic and classification.”

“[The] International Criminal Court is working now in Ukraine,” Oleksandra said. “We support them. We give them information, but they will cover maybe 20 cases.”

Despite a backlog of cases waiting to hit the courts, the work is still worth pursuing. Oleksandra said documenting evidence is important to punish those who committed atrocities, bring justice, protect human rights, promote public awareness, influence policy, and move toward sustainable peace.

Oleksandra said their ideal is to create a new model to deal with the thousands of other cases that demand attention. She also hopes an international tribunal against crimes of aggression would be assembled to hold Russian leaders accountable, including President Vladimir Putin.

“I’m really glad to speak with people who are thinking about what happened in Ukraine and trying to understand what kind of experience Ukraine now can give all the world about war crimes,” Oleksandra said.

The session was also meaningful for attendees.

“The presentation was outstanding,” said Carter School Professor Daniel Rothbart.

“The selection of [Oleksandra’s] Center for Civil Liberties for the Nobel Peace Prize demonstrates just how vital her work is for bringing peace to this war-torn nation,” he said. “The center represents an inspiration to all of us hoping for a peaceful end to this tragic violence in Ukraine.”

Click here to watch recorded sessions from "One Year After: Ukraine War Analysis and Prospects."

Topics

Russia-Ukraine war

Ukraine

Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

From archaeology to artistic representations, Mason students help reveal the stories of the enslaved at Gunston Hall

Mariam Aburdeineh — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 21:55:27 +0000

From archaeology to artistic representations, Mason students help reveal the stories of the enslaved at Gunston Hall Mariam Aburdeineh Wed, 02/15/2023 - 16:55

In writing the Virginia Declaration of Rights, U.S. Founding Father George Mason IV took a stand for individual rights. His ardent defense would later inform the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution’s Bill of Rights—documents critical for securing liberties.

But a challenging irony rests in Mason’s words versus his actions.

“There’s this rather profound discomfort for us in reading about George Mason saying, we don’t want to be slaves to the British government, when he’s enslaving other people,” said Rebecca Martin, director of education and guest experiences at Gunston Hall, the historic home of George Mason IV.

Mason called slavery a slow poison that contaminates the country, Martin said, yet he kept hundreds of people in bondage.

The Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial on the Fairfax Campus. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

Exploring a Complicated History

The complex history of ��AV’s namesake is something the institution has explored for some time.

In 2016, Mason students, mentored by faculty, explored the little-known slave-holding legacy of the university’s namesake, which led to the creation of the Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial on the Fairfax Campus.

Artifacts found in the pit of a slave dwelling at Gunston Hall, including a bottle seal with George Mason's initials and the date "1760," a cowrie shell from the Caribbean, and pieces of petrified wood. Photo by Mariam Aburdeineh.

A group of students also supported Gunston Hall in eventually finding the dwellings of the enslaved when they dug square pits at 20-foot intervals to the east of the mansion in 2000, said Gunston Hall archaeologist David Shonyo. In 2013, when Shonyo was trying to find these dwellings, he dug farther down at a spot the students recorded as having darker soil, charcoal and artifacts.

“Thanks to the careful record keeping of students years before, I was able to almost immediately find what we now call the East Yard Quarter,” Shonyo said. “I found what turned out to be a pit dug into the floor of a slave dwelling that had been used as a receptacle for household refuse.”

Bringing Their Stories to Life

Bringing narratives of the enslaved people to the forefront is ongoing. Last year, senior painting major Katherine Ashby was commissioned to create life-size portraits of George Mason IV and other people who lived at Gunston Hall, including some of the people held in slavery there.

“One of the challenges of working in a historic house museum is helping visitors to understand that spaces which today seem quiet and pristine were once bustling and full of life,” said Kate Steir, curator at Gunston Hall. “Katherine’s illustrations help to do that very important work.”

“I’ve had visitors tell me that [Ashby’s] figures draw them into the spaces and help visual learners who previously struggled to imagine the full range of people who lived and worked at Gunston Hall in the 18th century,” Steir said.

Mason student Katherine Ashby was commissioned to create life-sized portraits of those who lived at Gunston Hall. Photo by Cristian Torres.

The excavated artifacts and Ashby’s portraits will help bring a fuller narrative of Gunston Hall to life, and support Gunston Hall’s East Yard Project, which will include recreating the quarters where the enslaved lived.

“It’s essential to tell the true, honest and full history of Gunston Hall and the people that were here, and to provide humanity and respect to the enslaved,” said Scott Stroh, executive director of Gunston Hall. “In rebuilding [the quarters], we’ll create some structures we know would have been located here and for the first time really create a tangible presence.”

Stroh said The East Yard project, which will begin in March 2023, will include more archaeology, as well as scholarship to expand knowledge of the enslaved community.

A rendering of the East Yard Project. Courtesy of Gunston Hall.

For Black History Month, we went to Gunston Hall to learn not only about the Mason family, but some of the stories of the enslaved:

Penny, from the Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

Penny

“Penny was a young girl when she came to Gunston Hall. She was enslaved in Maryland at Ann Mason [George Mason IV’s first wife]’s childhood home plantation. Anne Mason’s father essentially gave her as a gift to his granddaughter [Nancy Mason], who was about 10 years old. We believe Penny was about 10 when she was forced to leave her family and come here to have her life and her fate controlled by another 10-year-old girl.

“She lived with Nancy Mason, the oldest daughter, for the rest of her life. She never married. She traveled with Nancy. When Nancy did marry, she did the work of a lady’s maid.” —Kate Steir

Dick

“Dick was enslaved in the house and was in liveried uniform, waiting on people and doing various tasks. We do know that he was present for a lot of conversations between people like George Mason and George Washington, and George Mason and James Madison. They were talking about freedom and the revolution. We also know that during this process, the British government offered freedom to anyone who was enslaved who ran away and fought for them.

“Even if people who were enslaved weren’t able to formally vote, they had a sense of their own politics and a sense of ways they could participate, either through physically moving themselves or choosing to stay.” —Kate Steir

Nell

“Nell was enslaved by the Masons and was trained as a midwife. These specialized skills allowed her to help other women and to earn money. Nell tended to enslaved women when they gave birth. She even traveled to neighboring plantations to help. But babies weren’t born every day. At other times, she likely cared for the Mason children.” —Courtesy of Gunston Hall

James, from the Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial. Photo by Evan Cantwell.

James

“James was a man of mixed race held in slavery by the Masons. He served as George Mason’s manservant or valet, and was likely on duty around the clock. James’s work likely kept him in the mansion most of the week and away from his family. He was probably required to accompany George on his long trips away from Gunston Hall.” —Courtesy of Gunston Hall

Poll

“Poll spent her entire life in slavery at Gunston Hall. She had at least one child. His name was Henry. We know that Poll worked in the mansion because George Mason described her as ‘House Poll.’” —Courtesy of Gunston Hall

Joe

“Joe, an enslaved man, may have worked in the house, the kitchen yard, and the garden, moving from one space to another as he was needed. Perhaps his tasks included delivering firewood to the mansion’s grand rooms, weeding and watering in the garden, and transferring vegetables from the garden to the kitchen.” —Courtesy of Gunston Hall

Topics

Black African Heritage

Gunston Hall

Students

Campus News

Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial

George Mason

George Mason History

Art student Katherine Ashby brings to life the stories of the enslaved at Gunston Hall

Mariam Aburdeineh — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 19:16:23 +0000

Art student Katherine Ashby brings to life the stories of the enslaved at Gunston Hall Mariam Aburdeineh Wed, 02/15/2023 - 14:16

The first time Katherine Ashby saw her artwork installed at Gunston Hall, the historic home of U.S. Founding Father George Mason IV, it was surreal.

“I had never done something that felt that important or that had been installed physically,” the senior painting major from ��AV said. “Usually, my work is put online digitally, so it was really a big moment.”

Mason student Katherine Ashby was commissioned to create life-sized portraits of those who lived at Gunston Hall. Shown in the background here is one of Ashby's depictions of an enslaved woman working in the mansion. Photo by Cristian Torres / Office of University Branding.

Painting a Critical Narrative

The significance of Ashby’s art was both that it was installed in a museum and that it shone a light on a lesser-known narrative of the people who helped run Gunston Hall: the hundreds of people Mason enslaved to run his estate.

“Art speaks not just to the emotions, but to the mind of the viewer,” Ashby said. “What we’re trying to communicate with this installation was that it was pretty much impossible for anything to really occur without the help of all these enslaved people.”

In November 2022, Ashby was commissioned to create life-size portraits of George Mason IV and other people who lived at Gunston Hall, including some of the people held in slavery there.

Ashby's depiction of George Mason IV at Gunston Hall. Photo by Mariam Aburdeineh.

“I asked several people at Gunston Hall about what they knew about the people who worked there and did independent research into the time period, what people wore, and how that was represented in artwork,” Ashby said.

By December 2022, Ashby said the portraits, which she created on her iPad using the application Procreate, were ready for Gunston Hall’s Christmastide event.

“Katherine Ashby was just delightful to work with,” said Rebecca Martin, director of education and guest experiences at Gunston Hall. “She understood immediately what we were trying to accomplish and was so willing to come and visit, to see what we were doing, and to try and make the illustrations do the very best job.”

“We hope [visitors] find [the portraits] to be compelling,” Martin said. “We find them to be so.”

Bringing Ideas to Life

Ashby, who was born in Dallas, Texas, and lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia, said she hopes to become a concept artist, bringing to life the visions of directors, authors, curators, and others with big ideas.

“I settled on painting [as a major] because the required courses really build up to artistic knowledge and technique that is required to be the efficient communicator of someone else’s ideas,” she said.

Ashby believes Mason’s School of Art has helped her grow professionally.

“[Chawky Frenn] is an intense professor, but his standards really push you to a whole new level,” she said.

Ashby said she also appreciated comprehensive art history courses taught by Heather McGuire, and how Paul Zdepski gave her a framework for her navigating professional interactions as an artist.

“I believe Katherine exhibits the needed drive to work within the arts for a lifetime,” said Zdepski, who told Ashby about the opportunity at Gunston Hall and encouraged her to submit her portfolio.

“Katherine’s time management abilities, while executing amazing work, places her ahead of many artists out there,” Zdepski said. “The fact that she is able to take up a huge project with a fixed deadline and deliver on-time, if not ahead of schedule, establishes her mystique among those she’s worked with.”

Ashby's depiction of an enslaved woman tending a fire at Gunston Hall.

A New Perspective on History

“What I’m most proud of with this project is representing an aspect of history that’s discussed to an extent, but perhaps not dwelled on,” Ashby said. “It was gratifying to contribute to that dialogue, and it meant I got to think more about this dialogue as well.”

Ashby's depiction of an enslaved man dressed in livery at Gunston Hall.

That included critically assessing which lens we use to understand history, she said.

The experience also put into perspective what Ashby had studied in art theory classes on the importance of curation, how works are displayed and what that communicates to the audience, she said.

At Gunston Hall, that depiction is matter-of-fact.

“[When you walk in, you’ll see] a depiction of enslaved people working while other people are celebrating,’” Ashby said. “I think that casual depiction is important.”

“This was their life,” she said. “And there’s not really anything we can do about it, except see it for what it was and build upon that for the future.”

Topics

College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA)

Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial

Carter School leads by listening, as Congolese partners construct their own peace.

Mariam Aburdeineh — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 17:33:14 +0000

Carter School leads by listening, as Congolese partners construct their own peace. Mariam Aburdeineh Wed, 02/15/2023 - 12:33

In This Story

Alpaslan Özerdem

Charles Davidson

It’s been a year since ��AV’s Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution touched base in the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their goal? Accompany locals in creating their own sustainable peace—something the country has not experienced in more than 30 years.

In December 2021, a unique peace accord was signed in the province of South Kivu, with representatives from armed groups, the Congolese government, military, police, intelligence services, religious leaders, civil society groups, and peace advocates, including several female peacemakers.

Carter School Dean Alpaslan Özerdem, and Charles Davidson, PhD ’19, Carter School research faculty and alumnus, visited the Congo in October 2022 to check in on the “Peacemaking + Initiative,” funded by Milt Lauenstein, and assess the direction for its next phase.

Özerdem and Davidson spoke over Zoom with updates from the trip:

What have been the major successes of the initiative so far?

AÖ: The most important success is that the peace process is still there. Considering such processes tend to be so fragile in their first few years, it was wonderful to see that not only was it still sustaining, but also the way that the local actors and all the stakeholders owned the process.

Also, the reduction of violence that we’ve seen over the last six months, particularly in inter-community violence, but also in terms of the number of combatants from the bush start to go back to their communities.

Former armed group members strategizing next steps in the peace process. Photo provided by the Carter School.

What does “the bush” refer to?

CD: There are local defense forces, which remain in their villages and take up arms when they’re threatened. Then there are mobile armed groups that live in the wilderness and fight as a mobilized armed group of tribal and ethnic interest. To go back to the bush means to go back fighting full-time, although there are groups who remain in the bush who are not fighting. They’re just waiting to demobilize and reintegrate when the time comes.

How many people have demobilized?

CD: We have 300 registered demobilizations thus far, and 1,000 people have expressed their willingness to demobilize [and are going through a certification process with the government to make it official].

Why do you think this has been so successful?

CD: I’ve been working in the Congo for almost eight years and have seen a lot of processes not really hit the mark, because you’d see NGOs and other peace prospects go to individual armed group members and try to achieve peace through the individuals.

We asked, “How do we achieve this from the community level, so that not only do the armed group members have the ability to go home to a more sustainable environment, but that environment can nurture that process and therefore reduce recidivism and new recruitment?”

The community level considers the perspectives of all the people who are experiencing this conflict and looking for solutions from this dynamic panorama.

“The peace process was innovative in the sense that many actors were involved: Combatants themselves, women leaders and wives of the combatants, youth [active actors in conflicts], representatives of communities and tribes, involvement of the politicians and government officials at different levels, demobilization programs, religious and civil society organizations, [the] media, [among others]. The peace process was largely inclusive and nobody was left behind without being listened to.”

—Sudi Yahudi Longuet, peace facilitator and independent consultant expert in peace and conflict transformation

Women from local communities analyzing and voting on next steps in the peace program. Photo provided.

How has the community-based approach made an impact?

CD: By engaging from the community level and even the tribal level, we’re getting large groups of people who were fighting each other on the regular saying, “We’re going to stop fighting, and we’re going to officially declare forgiveness of the groups that have been fighting.” That’s so not only the groups can experience forgiveness toward one another, but the individuals who were fighting feel forgiveness as people when they return to their home community.

Forgiveness sounds easier said than done. How does that process work?

CD: We’re investing in a literal ceremony of forgiveness where public crowds come together to watch their tribal leaders pronounce forgiveness with each other. They will do so over the radio so everybody in the province hears, and so all the individuals under their leaders’ authority can join the group and say, “We’re done fighting and we forgive you.”

What’s the importance of publicly declaring forgiveness?

AÖ: When an ex-combatant is registered by the government, that registration legally is important because whatever crimes they may have committed during the war, it gives them amnesty. The support of the Congolese government has been so important.

What also matters is whether or not you are forgiven by your receiving communities—that’s the social-cultural aspect.

Özerdem (left) meets with members of AJDC in their offices in South Kivu. Photo provided by the Carter School.

What is Mason’s role in the peace process?

CD: The Carter School is championing a truly effective model of peacemaking accompaniment.

We didn’t go in and dominate the process, lead everything and make demands. Instead, we’re leading by listening. We’re promoting local leadership and making it to where the locals feel that it is their peace process because it is their peace process.

AJDC is the local peacemaking organization that’s led by a former child soldier. They’re the ones who are in the grind, but we’re sticking to what we’re good at, and that’s peacemaking scholarship at the intersection of peacemaking practice, and lending our skills and expertise in a way that nurtures, grows, and accompanies the process rather than dominating.

“The fact that AJDC was created by former child soldiers allowed us to have a mastery and deep understanding of the armed groups’ logic, desires, needs, and requirements, and allowed us to have no fear in finding them in their stronghold [their post of command in the bush]. Becoming an ambassador for peace is building positively our history which will [distinguish] us across generations. We would like to see our community inclusive, stable, nonviolent, peaceful and developed.” —AJDC

What’s next?

A community reintegration fishing project in Mboko, South Kivu employing former armed group members and community members.

CD: Number one, we’re going to focus on the four armed groups that continue to fight for reasons other than intercommunity violence, mostly based on economic interest. We’re going to bring those groups to the table to look for a solution to bring a total peace to the armed group situation in South Kivu.

Number two is the official ceremonies of forgiveness.

Third, we’re continuing to set the example of community reintegration investments. Throughout South Kivu, 21 villages are being given investments toward creating community-level industry. These are not only creating jobs for the armed group members who are coming home, but for the people in the community who never left. These investments will grow economic sustainability and stability for those communities, which lie at the nexus of ethnicities that have traditionally been hostile to one another.

What are you most proud of with this initiative?

AÖ: Making claims is one thing, but making them happen and showing the world that as an academic institution, we can facilitate a peace process with our local partners is another. On its first-year anniversary, peace is being owned by local actors, and now we are entering the next stage, strengthening what we achieved over the last year. It’s a very proud moment.

Topics

Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Peacebuilding

Carter School Faculty

peacemaking

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Campus News

24 students, a Supreme Court Justice, and national security experts walk into a piazza…

Mariam Aburdeineh — Tue, 17 Jan 2023 16:28:52 +0000

24 students, a Supreme Court Justice, and national security experts walk into a piazza… Mariam Aburdeineh Tue, 01/17/2023 - 11:28

In This Story

Jamil N. Jaffer

Study-abroad trip features Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and national security experts

Over the summer, 24 students from ��AV’s Antonin Scalia Law School delved deep into issues of constitutional law, separation of powers, and national security in Padua, Italy—a place of inspiration for many of these ideals. The two-week study-abroad trip was co-taught by Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and National Security Institute Founder and Executive Director Jamil Jaffer.

“You get a real opportunity to bond, interact and debate these hard issues,” said Jaffer, who has co-led this trip with Supreme Court justices for five years, three of which have been in Padua. “It creates a really unique experience for the students, but also for our guests who come to engage with the students—not just in a sort of panel discussion, but in a place where you really have nothing else to do but chat with the students and talk about these issues.”

A group photo from the last day of class with law students, program leadership and guest speakers. From left to right: Jamil Jaffer; Karen Gibson, Sergeant at Arms of the United States Senate; Omario Kanji, NSI's Director of International Programs; and Justice Neil Gorsuch. Photo provided.

Learning from the Experts

The trip comprises of two classes: one with Justice Gorsuch on separation of powers, and the other with Jaffer on applied separation of powers, exploring conflicts between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government on issues of national security.

Patrick Madrid, a third-year student and active duty major in the U.S. Marine Corps, found both classes enlightening. Having been with the Marines for more than 12 years, he said he learned about inter-branch conflicts that affected operations he participated in.

“It was a once in a lifetime experience,” Madrid said, “just to have the opportunity to take classes with Professor Jaffer, who’s awesome and has a great and extensive background, and of course with Justice Gorsuch, and have the opportunity to discuss cases he had written on and get a more in-depth understanding of his judicial philosophy.”

Students also engaged with a bipartisan group of federal judges and national security practitioners including Judge Jeffrey Sutton, Judge Joan Larsen, former National Security Agency Deputy Director Richard Ledgett and former Director of Intelligence for United States Central Command Karen Gibson.

“It was very enriching to hear how each of the speakers described their role in the government and what they believe the future holds for the nation,” said second-year law student Thyme Hawkins. “As I begin my legal career, it’s great to know that I can fit in somewhere and have a positive impact as long as I take the initiative to do so.”

“This trip has also helped encourage me to think critically about issues raised at the highest level of government or in our nation’s highest court,” Hawkins added. “I think being willing to consider our nation’s most important questions will help me professionally and personally deal with any questions that may come before me.”

Student Kaitlin Groundwater listening and taking notes during Jamil Jaffer's class. Photo provided.

Inspiring Future Leaders

In addition to intensive course work and readings, building connections was paramount.

“What I liked the most… was how many chances we had to connect with our law school peers and with Justice Gorsuch and Professor Jaffer,” Hawkins said. “That aspect of the trip was quite refreshing since the legal field is ultimately a form of service for others, so fostering camaraderie and professional relationships are integral.”

Jaffer, who previously clerked for Justice Gorsuch, said the trip also allows students to talk with guest speakers about their careers and how they got where they are today. He said he hopes students take away that the opportunities they see in front of them are accessible.

“I’m living proof that you can be a law student who wants to get into national security and achieve it,” Jaffer said. “My parents grew up in Tanzania. I’m Muslim. But I worked in national security in the Bush administration.”

“Whether you’re a woman or a man, or you come from a minority background, or your parents didn’t come from this country,” Jaffer said, “I want [students] to walk away thinking, ‘I could do that, too.’”

To learn more about Mason’s National Security Institute and their future study-abroad opportunities, visit nationalsecurity.gmu.edu.

Topics

study abroad

National Security

National Security Institute

Antonin Scalia Law School

Graduate’s best advice: ‘Take advantage of as many opportunities as you can’

Colleen Rich — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 16:09:07 +0000

Graduate’s best advice: ‘Take advantage of as many opportunities as you can’ Colleen Rich Mon, 12/12/2022 - 11:09

Emily Synoski has had an interest in the medical field since high school. She said she chose to be part of a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program, and now works in a rehabilitation center, where she also has the opportunity to shadow doctors.

Emily Synoski. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

The Honors College student from Dover, Delaware, who graduates this month from ��AV with a biology degree, has also participated in Georgetown University’s competitive CORE pre-med program, where she and her team pitched an idea to deliver opioid overdose treatment to houseless populations via drones.

At Mason, she participated in Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research’s Undergraduate Research Scholars Program and Associate Professor Ramin Hakami’s Biomedical Research Lab to research Yersinia pestis, the pathogen that causes the plague. Synoski has also been a College of Science learning assistant for Calculus II.

What is your best memory from your time at Mason? It was a culmination of things. I’ve met so many good people and have so many friends and fond memories here. I’m so happy that I applied for the Honors College. They’re just really interesting classes and you get a whole other layer of support with your advisor, and with the opportunity to live in the Honors College learning community.

How have you grown while at Mason? Mason has helped me grow a lot. Career-wise, I feel like I'm actually really prepared to go into the real world. Even though I’m going to leave Mason, I know I can still connect with the [University Career Services], and with faculty. It almost feels like you have lifelong support if you need it, and you make connections that really help you. Not a lot of schools would you be able to reach out to a professor and ask to do research in their lab and they’ll actually respond. That’s one of the things I liked about Mason so much.

What is your best piece of advice for incoming students? Take advantage of as many opportunities as you can. Of course, going into it you can't do everything. You could do a little bit at a time, a semester at a time, but just take advantage whether it’s trying your hand at research, student organizations.

What's next for you? I’m going to keep working as a CNA to get clinic hours for my application to medical school. I want to keep shadowing doctors and retake the MCAT. I’ve been studying for that every single day.

Topics

Office of Student Scholarship Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR)

Conservation students tag monarch butterflies to help save the endangered species

Mariam Aburdeineh — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 17:05:52 +0000

Conservation students tag monarch butterflies to help save the endangered species Mariam Aburdeineh Mon, 12/05/2022 - 12:05

Monarch butterflies in Michoacan, Mexico. Photo by Getty Images.

Many creatures migrate to warmer habitats for the winter, but no insect does so quite as uniquely and spectacularly as the monarch butterfly.

From the United States and Canada, tens of millions of monarchs fly each year to a place they—and the previous butterfly generation before them—have never been before: tall trees found in a few mountain forests in central Mexico. Their tiny wings can take them on a roughly 2,500-mile transcontinental journey to these beautiful butterfly sanctuaries.

Protecting an Endangered Species

In late September, 18 undergraduates from the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation‘s (SMSC) Wildlife Ecology and Conservation program tagged monarch butterflies on their journey south to help researchers better understand their grand migration.

“It’s important to track [their movement] because monarchs are listed as an endangered species as of this summer [by the International Union for Conservation of Nature],” said senior environmental and sustainability studies major Nadia Gray.

Gray, who said she previously volunteered with the Norfolk Botanical Garden as a butterfly docent, is attending her second semester at SMSC. The Virginia Beach native said monarchs are facing threats including habitat loss, air pollution, and climate change.

“[Tagging] allows us to hopefully track some of them along the way south, but also to see what proportion of the tagged butterflies end up in central Mexico,” said Assistant Professor of Conservation Science Joshua Davis.

According to the nonprofit citizen-science program Monarch Watch, tagging also helps answer questions about the origins of monarchs that reach Mexico, the timing and pace of their migration, factors that impact their survival rates, and more.

SMSC student Spencer Harman (left) holds a monarch butterfly for tagging with guidance from Professor Joshua Davis. Photo by Mariam Aburdeineh.

Elusive Flyers

Using aerial nets with a delicate fabric to protect the butterflies, the students spent two afternoons in the fields at SMSC’s Front Royal campus to capture the fluttering insects.

On the second afternoon, the students caught three monarchs and placed sticker-like tags with serial codes on the butterflies’ hind wings.

SMSC student Nadia Gray using an aerial net to catch butterflies in the field. Photo by Cristian Torres.

“It is no small feat to catch these butterflies,” said Davis, who purchased the tags from Monarch Watch and has participated in the program with SMSC students since 2018. “If they’re going to survive this many thousands, many hundreds of miles journey south, they have to be pretty robust fliers.”

Even with many people, catching monarchs can be difficult. On the group’s first afternoon in the field, they were slightly ahead of most monarchs’ migration. The very few monarchs they did see were too swift to catch.

Still, the group learned more about butterflies and caught, identified, and released nine other butterfly species, including whites and sulfurs, and the common buckeye.

Information being recorded on one of the tagged monarch butterflies. Photo by Mariam Aburdeineh.

On the second day in the field, the butterflies were also difficult to catch because of the wind, but students like senior environmental science major Spencer Harman were determined to succeed. That kind of determination is central to the Mason experience, which challenges us to show up ready to work that much harder in our quest to solve problems through critical actions and research.

“More likely than not, [the monarchs] were actually in the trees,” said Harman, who caught one that dropped out of a tree in front of him.

The Place for Aspiring Conservationists

Being in the field for experiential learning is one of the highlights of Harman’s SMSC experience, he said.

“I’ve been interested in SMSC since high school and now that I’m here, it’s really interesting how specific we can get into the field of conservation,” said Harman, who grew up in Gainesville, Virginia.

“You get to have lots of hands-on experiences and then you get to meet with conservation professionals—it’s a really whole experience for anyone who wants to be, or is interested in, being a conservationist.”

Gray agreed.

“It’s just a good place to come if you need to get your foot in the door in the world of conservation, or if you want to make those connections with people that are working for, say, the Smithsonian or Virginia Working Landscapes.”

It’s a rewarding experience for professors, too.

“The thing I enjoy most about being here at SMSC is just the unique opportunities we have from an educational perspective,” Davis said.

“The student engagement is really fantastic,” he added. “It’s a self-selected group, and they’re really, really interested in this sort of thing. It makes teaching a lot of fun.”

Learn More about the Smithsonian Mason School of Conservation

Topics

Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation

Smithsonian

Conservation

Conservation Biology

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI)

Students

environmental science

Update: Schar School’s Popescu Appointed to Council on Strategic Risks, Wins Alumni Award

Andrew J Schappert — Wed, 19 Oct 2022 13:28:59 +0000

Update: Schar School’s Popescu Appointed to Council on Strategic Risks, Wins Alumni Award Andrew J Schappert Wed, 10/19/2022 - 09:28

In This Story

Gregory Koblentz

Learn more about the Schar School

Request program information

Saskia Popescu: ‘If I could design a [biodefense] program, it would be this.’

This week, epidemiologist Saskia Popescu has been named a senior fellow at the Janne E. Nolan Center on Strategic Weapons, an institute of the Council on Strategic Risks. On Friday, October 21, she joins other noted ��AV graduates at the university’s Celebration of Distinction: Honoring Mason Excellence alumni benefit. She is this year’s Schar School of Policy and Government Distinguished Alumni Award winner. We republish our story about Popescu’s career.

How do you prepare a hospital for a mass biological event with extreme consequences, such as the coronavirus? It’s complex and can change daily, but ��AV alumna Saskia Popescu is the expert who can help.

The Schar School assistant professor has been a go-to consultant for hospitals and the World Health Organization, helping to control infections and prepare for new outbreaks.

Popescu, who earned a PhD in biodefense from Mason in 2019, also helps educate policy makers and the public. Her expertise on coronavirus and approaches to containing it are highlighted regularly by elite media outlets including the New York Times and the Washington Post. She even serves as an infection prevention consultant for larger businesses and the City of Phoenix, Arizona, in their efforts to incorporate COVID-19 safety into the workplace.

“I’ve always been fascinated by disease transmission dynamics,” Popescu said, adding that she first became interested in epidemiology at age 9, when her mom gave her a copy of The Hot Zone by Richard Preston.

“We have known about [infectious disease] for hundreds of years but still struggle against it,” she said. “Learning from [each outbreak] and being able to pivot and evolve with that is a really fascinating process to me.”

And that’s just what she gets to do each day.

The infection prevention epidemiologist from Arizona said she has built COVID-19 response and preparedness programs for hospitals from scratch, and is constantly looking at case counts and analyzing data locally and internationally to ensure she’s providing the most informed recommendations possible.

Popescu at work.

“It’s extremely hard to build a robust response and preparedness program and be able to keep it agile, respond to changes in the science and data, and do it in a way that is pragmatic,” Popescu said. “Building something with the resources at hand and in a way that follows evidence-based measures is something I really love and am proud of, and getting to problem-solve and think critically in tough, chaotic situations.”

Popescu says she was drawn to Mason’s biodefense program because it was the only one that offered what she calls a perfect intersection of science and policy.

“If I could design a program, it would be this,” she said.

“I really love the program at Mason and am grateful to teach in it [because] it reaches across multiple specialties,” Popescu said. “[Mason] instilled that it’s never just coming at a global health security problem from one view; you have to look at all these moving pieces and put together a mosaic to really understand what’s going on.”

That includes looking at prevention strategies, as well as policy and economic implications, she says.

“Dr. Popescu has been having a major impact both locally and nationally,” said Gregory Koblentz, director of Mason’s biodefense program. “She has a knack for explaining complex topics in a way that is easily understandable by people with no background in epidemiology.”

“Now, as an assistant professor…she has an opportunity to train the next generation of scholars and practitioners in this field,” he said. “Whether in the ICU, on Twitter, or in the classroom, Dr. Popescu exemplifies the mission of the Biodefense Program, which is to bridge the gap between science and policy to improve health security.

—Additional reporting by Buzz McClain

Topics

Biodefense

Alumni

Schar School News October 2022

Mason researchers partner with Indigenous nations to promote environmental resilience

Mariam Aburdeineh — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 20:29:47 +0000

Mason researchers partner with Indigenous nations to promote environmental resilience Mariam Aburdeineh Fri, 09/02/2022 - 16:29

In This Story

Thomas Wood

It’s common to think of Indigenous peoples as living in the past. We may think of them around Thanksgiving or in old films and books. But Native Americans are very much here and now, said Jeremy Campbell, and after decades of struggle, that’s starting to be recognized.

Dancing at an Upper Mattaponi Powwow in May 2022.

In 2018, U.S. legislation granted federal recognition to six tribes in Virginia. A ��AV team has been partnering with two of them, the Upper Mattaponi and Chickahominy nations, as they embark on being sovereign nations.

“What really has been an honor to be a part of is building the capacity and the sovereignty of native tribes,” said Campbell, a College of Science professor co-leading the Mason team with School of Integrated Studies professor Tom Wood. “This is a wonderful opportunity for us, as a university, to build a sustainable and respectful relationship that has the potential to last for decades.”

Supporting Tribal Sovereignty

When tribes become sovereign nations, they must set up governments and structures to communicate with the U.S. government, said Campbell, associate director for strategic engagement at Mason’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth. That includes a department of environmental management, which both tribes are setting up.

That’s where Mason comes in.

Over the summer, Campbell and Wood led a multidisciplinary team of 10 undergraduates and two graduate researchers to collect environmental data in partnership with tribal governments as part of a Summer Impact Project. Their research will support tribes in making informed decisions for their communities when it comes to conservation, restoration, and environmental matters.

Chickahominy Connections

George Mason student Sara Jefferson is a member of the Chickahominy Tribe. Photo provided.

For junior psychology major Sara Jefferson, the project hits home.

“My favorite part about working on this project is being able to teach others about my culture and my people, while also learning about the natural world around me,” said Jefferson, a member of the Chickahominy Tribe and of Mason’s Native American and Indigenous Alliance.

Jefferson is part of three groups supporting the Chickahominy tribe in food security, wildlife assessment, and digital mapping.

“In the food security group, we’re researching the accessibility to different food sources in the surrounding Charles City area, and assisting the beginning process of community gardens within the tribe,” she said.

Jefferson is also part of a wildlife assessment group that’s identifying wildlife commonly found in the area and declining species. This involves expeditions along the Powhatan (James) River at dawn—when animals are most likely to be out—and recording where and when animals are discovered.

“This project has been very valuable to the Chickahominy Tribe, as it’s helped us establish a baseline of information about our tribal lands and waters that will help us as we make decisions going forward,” said Dana Adkins, tribal environmental director of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe. “As we work to strengthen our community’s role as stewards of our ancestral lands, it’s been great to partner with the students and learn from them as they learn from us.”

The team during a wildlife assessment. From left to right: Brian Jiménez, Olga Cheltsova, Maiya Justice, Dominique Hannon, Dana Adkins (Chickahominy Tribal Environmental Director), Dr. Tom Wood, Guadalupe Meza-Negrete.

Uncovering What Was Lost

In the wildlife assessments, the teams are also tracking what they didn’t find, such as native plant species being pushed out by invasives, Campbell said. Talking with their Indigenous partners helps them understand what the ecosystem should look like.

Collaborating with the tribes is of utmost importance for upholding tribal sovereignty, and for expanding students’ understanding.

“Leading with humility is really important, especially when you’re working with a group that’s been historically marginalized,” said senior sociology major James Condo. “Understanding that you’re going to be a student of everyone else around you is really important to keep in mind for research and in life.”

That mindset can be powerful, Campbell said, especially as the system most people are used to has ignored or marginalized Indigenous ways of knowing.

“If we connect with those ways of knowing and relationships, it can enrich our personal lives, and our ability to perceive and interact with nonhumans, and other communities, in a way that leads to more profound awareness.”

Prof. Tom Wood, Brian Jiménez and Mason team members using a spotting scope during a wildlife assessment.

Going Digital

The Mason team is also training tribal members in how to create geospatial information systems (GIS) databases. These include information about landscape changes, and air and water quality.

“We pull it into a system like ArcGIS, and overlay culturally significant points,” Campbell said. “We’re working with the tribes to train them, so that, if we’re successful, we can stand back and just stand ready for the new kinds of questions and challenges that might come up.”

Students also benefit.

“This has started to get me versed in GIS, and geospatial data is on the cutting edge of a lot of social science fields,” Condo said. “It’s really a great access point for a lot of interdisciplinary spaces.”

Mason students working with Chickahominy participants in a GIS skills building workshop.

Protecting Indigenous Data

“Tribal sovereignty is at the heart of this partnership, which is necessary and important,” said Leigh Mitchell, environmental and cultural protection director of the Upper Mattaponi Indian tribe. “Indigenous priorities have led the way in this research.”

For the Upper Mattaponi, who recently took land into trust, one of those priorities includes documenting how their landscape—which borders on the edge of urban expansion—has changed over the past 50 years, and how people are interacting with the land.

The Mason team is also constructing protocols to ensure that Indigenous people have control of their data in accordance with the principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty—the right of a tribal nation to govern the collection, ownership, and application of its own data.

“[Indigenous Data Sovereignty] encourages us to think of data as another kind of valuable resource that people need, use and care for, the way we might think of natural resources,” Campbell said. “As Virginia’s tribal nations reassert their sovereignty, it is important that their control over information pertaining to their communities, landscapes, and waterways be securely and affirmatively under their control.”

One of the team’s next steps, Campbell said, is to create a digital environment where tribes can grant tiers of access to non-native collaborators.

Research in Dialogue

Learning directly with the tribes has been a major draw, Jefferson and Condo agreed.

In addition to providing tribes with information needed to make informed environmental decisions, relationship building has been at the project’s center.

“It’s very much a dialogue,” Campbell said.

From left to right: Adam Edwards, Olga Cheltsova, James Condo, Patricia Troup, Elizabeth Schierbeek, Dr. Jeremy Campbell, Upper Mattaponi Chief Frank Adams.

Topics

Native American

Native American Indigenous Alliance

Office of Student Scholarship Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR)

Summer Impact

Mason Impact

Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE)

Sustainability

Community Partners

Campus News

Environmental Research

School of Integrative Studies

Incoming Patriot leaps from high school to her sophomore year of college

Colleen Rich — Wed, 31 Aug 2022 15:00:34 +0000

Incoming Patriot leaps from high school to her sophomore year of college Colleen Rich Wed, 08/31/2022 - 11:00

Incoming freshman Enayah Smith. Photo provided

By the time Enayah Smith stepped on ��AV’s campus for the first time as an enrolled student this fall, she was already more than a third done with her four-year degree.

Smith, who will be studying business analytics and minoring in sociology, said she is transferring 54 college-level credits with her, thanks to an associate degree she earned while attending William Allen High School in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and participating in the Upward Bound college preparatory program.

“I'm glad that I was able to take off about a year, because I really want to go to law school after I graduate,” said Smith, whose associate degree is from Lehigh Carbon Community College. “Mason was also a good choice because it’s in proximity to Washington, D.C., so I can get a lot of internships.”

Smith said she’s particularly interested in family law, a focus that stems from looking back at her and her friends’ childhoods.

“I am very fortunate to say my mom was somebody I could turn to no matter what—she played a really big role in my childhood,” she said.

Though Smith said she would love to go back to her childhood if she could, her friends were not as fortunate. They would speak about how their parents fought over them in a divorce, or how they grew up in the foster care system, Smith said.

“I want to make sure that children experience the same thing I’ve experienced, versus my friends who are ready to grow up so they can get out of those childhood traumas and experiences they had,” she said.

“I’ve always wanted to do something related to helping people of color, the same as me,” Smith said. “I’ve always wanted to give back to my community.”

While at Mason, Smith said she’s looking forward to opportunities that will help her meet her professional goals, but she’s also excited to have fun.

“I am really looking forward to all the opportunities [Mason] offers,” she said. “They have anything you could think of for recreation…and there’s so many people from so many different walks of life.”

“I feel like it's just going to be a great opportunity to learn about people and learn about myself.”

Topics

Students

Meet the Class of 2026

Costello College of Business News

Costello College of Business

Mariam Aburdeineh

Carter School hosts activist whose organization documents war crimes in Ukraine

In This Story

Topics

From archaeology to artistic representations, Mason students help reveal the stories of the enslaved at Gunston Hall

Exploring a Complicated History

Bringing Their Stories to Life

Penny

Dick

Nell

James

Poll

Joe

Topics

Art student Katherine Ashby brings to life the stories of the enslaved at Gunston Hall

Painting a Critical Narrative

Bringing Ideas to Life

A New Perspective on History

Topics

Carter School leads by listening, as Congolese partners construct their own peace.

In This Story

What have been the major successes of the initiative so far?

What does “the bush” refer to?

How many people have demobilized?

Why do you think this has been so successful?

—Sudi Yahudi Longuet, peace facilitator and independent consultant expert in peace and conflict transformation

How has the community-based approach made an impact?

Forgiveness sounds easier said than done. How does that process work?

What’s the importance of publicly declaring forgiveness?

What is Mason’s role in the peace process?

What’s next?

What are you most proud of with this initiative?

Topics

24 students, a Supreme Court Justice, and national security experts walk into a piazza…

In This Story

Study-abroad trip features Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and national security experts

Learning from the Experts

Inspiring Future Leaders

Topics

Graduate’s best advice: ‘Take advantage of as many opportunities as you can’

Read more stories

Check out the Honors College

Topics

Conservation students tag monarch butterflies to help save the endangered species

Protecting an Endangered Species

Elusive Flyers

The Place for Aspiring Conservationists

Learn More about the Smithsonian Mason School of Conservation

Related News

Topics

Update: Schar School’s Popescu Appointed to Council on Strategic Risks, Wins Alumni Award

In This Story

Learn more about the Schar School

Request program information

Topics

Mason researchers partner with Indigenous nations to promote environmental resilience

In This Story

Supporting Tribal Sovereignty

Chickahominy Connections

Uncovering What Was Lost

Going Digital

Protecting Indigenous Data

Research in Dialogue

Topics

Incoming Patriot leaps from high school to her sophomore year of college

Topics