Potomac Science Center

Empowering girls in STEAM at the Potomac Science Center

Lauren Reuscher — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 17:31:16 +0000

Empowering girls in STEAM at the Potomac Science Center Lauren Reuscher Wed, 03/06/2024 - 12:31

��AV’s Potomac Science Center hosted the Girls in STEAM Empowerment Conference on Thursday, February 29. This annual event welcomed 60 middle school students for a day of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM). The event promotes STEAM careers for young women through engaging discussions and hands-on activities.

The Girls in STEAM Empowerment Conference was cosponsored by Mason, Schneider Electric, Prince William County Public Schools, The NEED Project, Dominion Energy, Iron Mountain Data Centers, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners, and ACI Solutions. Pictured: Abigail Weigel, Schneider Electric. Photo by PEREC

Students learned about energy science and engineered energy efficient structures. All the student attendees came from five Title I schools in Prince William County.

The National Energy Education Development Project (The NEED Project) led two energy workshops. Participants built and tested the efficiency of a mocked-up “thermally insulated house” and generated and measured electricity conducted through various objects.

Middle school students engaged in hands-on STEAM activities along the waterfront of the Potomac Science Center. Photo by PEREC

A panel of women in STEAM shared stories about how they came into their careers and responded to student questions. The panel included Cindy Smith, professor of environmental science and policy and director K-12 partnerships for the Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC).

Mason Professor Cindy Smith (second from left) with Prince William County Schools staff Melinda Landry, Jeanne Jabara BS Biology ‘80, MS Environmental Biology ‘83, and Jess Doiron. Photo by PEREC

The Girls in STEAM Empowerment Conference is cosponsored by Mason, Schneider Electric, Prince William County Public Schools, The NEED Project, Dominion Energy, Iron Mountain Data Centers, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners, and ACI Solutions.

Conference space at the Potomac Science Center. Photo by PEREC

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Mason’s ombuds team hosts regional gathering, outreach events

Lauren Reuscher — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 21:30:34 +0000

Mason’s ombuds team hosts regional gathering, outreach events Lauren Reuscher Mon, 11/20/2023 - 16:30

More about the Office of the University Ombudsperson

��AV’s Office of the University Ombudsperson hosted a program for academic ombudpersons at the Potomac Science Center on Oct. 20. This gathering was an opportunity for ombuds from around the region to share and learn from each other’s experiences.

Mason’s Ombudsperson Kimberly Jackson Davidson (pictured front, second from right), Program Coordinator Sarah Ahmed Atif (front, center), and other academic ombudspersons from Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Maryland gathered at the Potomac Science Center for a day of professional development and collaboration. Photo provided.

Mason’s Office of the University Ombudsperson celebrated its first anniversary this fall with a series of outreach events. As ombudsperson, Kimberly Jackson Davidson provides an independent, informal, impartial, and confidential resource to students, faculty, and staff. The ombuds fosters an environment of respect, honesty, fairness, and integrity and bolsters a supportive working and learning climate at the university.

The anniversary celebration coincided with Mason’s formal adoption of the ombuds charter in October 2022. Since then, the office has addressed over 140 specific situations and served more than 160 visitors.

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Science and engineering meet to create new surface water robot

Sarah Holland — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 13:35:06 +0000

Science and engineering meet to create new surface water robot Sarah Holland Tue, 10/17/2023 - 09:35

In his research on freshwater systems in the DC/Virginia area, ��AV College of Science professor R. Christian Jones was spending much of his time hauling boats. Too much, he thought.

McCue and Li with the autonomous surface water vehicle. Photo by Evan Cantwell/��AV.

“In order to take a sample from a pond,” he said, “I would need to haul a boat in, put the equipment in, launch it, and then bring it all back. It would add at least an hour and required the body of water to have an access point for a boat.”

As the director of Mason’s Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC), Jones knew of a colleague who also works at the Potomac Science Center (PSC) where PEREC is housed, and who could help with this conundrum. He approached College of Engineering and Computing professor Leigh McCue and undergraduate student Ze Li with an idea: a machine that could go out on the pond, skim for plankton samples and collect water samples, and return to shore—all while the researcher remains on land.

This project is part of a larger grant from the National Science Foundation for Persistent and Accessible Maritime Monitoring (PAMM), of which McCue is the lead investigator. The multiyear grant—awarded in 2022 for more than $500,000—focuses on increasing educational, research, and robotics operations and development for students ranging from sixth grade to graduate level, in order to improve the applications of and expanded the use of unmanned marine vehicles. It also includes making such vehicles more accessible for individuals with motion limitations, which in turn can increase accessibility for all researchers.

“Researchers around the globe are utilizing robotics to conduct maritime research, which is an increasingly critical field of study,” explained McCue. “Through this grant, we’re developing more affordable maritime research tools to improve access for great science, whether citizen science or research-grade science. This project fit nicely into that mission.”

The autonomous surface water device created by Li this summer was built from scratch using CAD modeling and 3D printed materials. Li’s experience working with robotics through extracurriculars like his job with Starship Technologies—the company that manages the famous food robots seen rolling around campus—and the Mason Innovation Exchange’s (MIX) 3D printing training helped him navigate the challenges of creating this brand-new machine.

"We thought it was more beneficial to create something new by developing our design around an open-source hull model," Li said. “There’s more opportunity for us to iterate on the prototype.”

The team hopes to continue to improve the machine’s design, now that it’s being field-tested by Jones: improved autonomous capabilities and controls are both on the short list of potential improvements. Li also sees a potential for expanded testing of such data points as water temperature, turbidity, and salinity.

Jones predicts that this machine will be a boon for both access and efficiency. “The number of accessible ponds will increase dramatically with this, and we’ll be able to sample up to eight in a day instead of just one or two,” Jones said.

The machine will also allow for more immediate responses to sudden, unpredictable, and time-sensitive events, like taking samples immediately after storms. Jones even sees possible uses for this machine to take samples during major pollution events, keeping the researchers safe from exposure to harmful chemicals while still acquiring necessary data.

Jones emphasized that this project was made possible by the collaboration between the two colleges. “At a place like PSC where we’re all working together, seeing each other's labs and hearing about research, this sort of collaboration comes naturally,” he said. “It’s a beautiful opportunity for us all to become better researchers and do better science.”

Jones, McCue, and Li outside PSC. Photo by Evan Cantwell/��AV.

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Removing invasive plants protects the ecosystem at the Potomac Science Center and beyond

Lauren Reuscher — Thu, 29 Jun 2023 14:12:18 +0000

Removing invasive plants protects the ecosystem at the Potomac Science Center and beyond Lauren Reuscher Thu, 06/29/2023 - 10:12

In This Story

Cynthia Smith

R. Christian Jones

T. Reid Nelson

When you hear the word “mimosa,” what first comes to mind? If you think about a bubbly beverage enjoyed at brunch, you’re not wrong—but if you think of a flowering tree that is considered invasive to the Northern Virginia ecosystem? You’re also not wrong.

Chris Jones, professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy and director of PEREC, trims down the branches of an invasive mimosa tree. Photo by Cindy Smith/PEREC

��AV’s Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC) recently 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.

The mimosa trees were one of the main species removed. The delicate, sweet-smelling blossoms make the mimosa an attractive ornamental tree—the main reason these plants were transported to North America. Originally native to central China, Japan, and South Korea, the mimosa is a vigorous grower and produces a high number of seeds, making it an ecological threat to native species.

“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. “We also have invasive insects, worms, pigs, mollusks, crustaceans, and fish in Virginia,” said Smith.

Reid Nelson, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy and fisheries ecologist with PEREC, holds a snakehead he caught off the Potomac Science Center dock. Invasive in the United States, this voracious fish can easily out-compete native and established predators. Photo by Elizabeth Greenheck

A variety of conditions allow invasive species to thrive.

“When the Potomac Science Center first opened in 2018, we noticed a couple of beavers munching the trees around the retention pond perimeter,” said Smith. “The beavers mowed down many of the native oak, sycamore, and maple trees, creating a sunny opening for fast-growing invasives to take off and thrive.”

Photo by Adrian Hagarty/PEREC

Callery pear trees and Japanese honeysuckle, along with the mimosas, were crowding and taking over the pond perimeter. Japanese honeysuckle vine overtakes shrubs and can choke trees. Callery pear trees spread profusely in areas that do not benefit from their presence—along shorelines, in open fields, farmland, and roadside ditches.

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.

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Murals at Mason: 'Sediment to Sky'

Lauren Reuscher — Tue, 16 May 2023 19:37:36 +0000

Murals at Mason: 'Sediment to Sky' Lauren Reuscher Tue, 05/16/2023 - 15:37

Murals at Mason, part of Mason Exhibitions, produces public art projects that engage social justice issues and enrich the university’s learning environment. Murals at Mason hires artists, many of whom are students, and mentors them during the mural-making process. The result? Beautiful, high-quality murals at Mason locations and in the local community.

Sediment to Sky mural by Nadya “Bella” Steare. Photo by Sooyhun (Sophie) Bae

Murals at Mason commissioned School of Art student Nadya "Bella" Steare to design two murals that reflect the research focuses of faculty and students at Mason's Potomac Science Center. The staircase mural Sediment to Sky focuses on each layer of the Potomac River watershed, highlighting native flora, fauna, and microorganisms.

Sediment to Sky mural by Nadya “Bella” Steare. Photo by Sooyhun (Sophie) Bae

Climbing up the staircase evokes the sense of ascending from the riverbed while having close encounters with locally found species of fish, birds, and mammals. The side wall mural depicts researchers and community members studying and enjoying nature at the Potomac Science Center.

Sediment to Sky mural by Nadya “Bella” Steare. Photo by Sooyhun (Sophie) Bae

The side wall mural focuses on the coexistence of people and wildlife. It depicts water birds such as the osprey and great blue heron, as well as researchers and equipment used for environmental science study. Together, both parts of the mural feature more than 25 species of native macro and micro fauna, as well as several aquatic and terrestrial plants. Learn more about the mural.

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Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger visits Potomac Science Center

Colleen Rich — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 19:41:28 +0000

Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger visits Potomac Science Center Colleen Rich Mon, 04/17/2023 - 15:41

From left, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger and Mason faculty members Cindy Smith and Chris Jones enjoy the view of Belmont Bay at Mason’s Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge, Virginia. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

On Wednesday, April 12, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger visited ��AV’s Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge, which is now part of the congresswoman’s district. Mason President Gregory Washington met with the congresswoman to introduce her to the research and education programs at the Potomac Science Center and share the contributions the center is making to the preservation of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

She also met with faculty to hear about Potomac River restoration; sustainability practices; K-12 programs; tidal Potomac water quality; aquatic vegetation and aquatic resource management; fisheries ecology; non-native species; coastal, riverine, and urban flooding; dynamics and hydrodynamics of manned and unmanned vessels; and Mason’s innovative technologies in the area of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, robotics, smart grid, autonomous systems, and advanced communications.

Located along Belmont Bay near the mouth of the Occoquan River, this 50,000 square-foot LEED Silver research facility houses laboratories for teaching and research, lecture rooms, event space, outdoor trails, and a library/resource center. The 250-square-foot Living Wall faces the bay is covered in plantings and supported by harvested rainwater and building condensate.

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Meet the Mason Nation: Deliah “Dee” Arrington

Lauren Reuscher — Thu, 09 Mar 2023 16:40:02 +0000

Meet the Mason Nation: Deliah “Dee” Arrington Lauren Reuscher Thu, 03/09/2023 - 11:40

Dee Arrington

Job: Site Coordinator, Potomac Science Center

Dee Arrington, site coordinator for the Potomac Science Center. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

Dee Arrington, the site coordinator at ��AV’s Potomac Science Center, has one of the best “offices” at the university. Since 2017, she has worked at the 50,000-square-foot LEED Silver-certified research facility located along Belmont Bay near the mouth of the Occoquan River in Woodbridge, Virginia.

With a bachelor’s degree in aquaculture, fisheries, and wildlife biology from Clemson University, Arrington applies these skills to support the center, which includes laboratories for teaching and research, lecture rooms, event space, outdoor trails, and more.

Focused on the Environment: The site is home to several Mason research centers, including the Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center, Vessel Dynamics Laboratory, Furst Lab, and the Flood Hazards Research Lab. Arrington says the ability to conduct research on the water is essential for these researchers, but don’t forget to take a look around. “When you visit, be sure to bring your camera and binoculars. It’s not uncommon to catch an osprey or bald eagle in flight near the center,” she said.

��AV's Potomac Science Center, located on Belmont Bay. Photo by Sam Kittner/Kittner.com

Part of the Ecosystem. Large aquariums were recently installed in the exhibit gallery, allowing visitors to get a close look at local fish. In 2021, international graffiti artist TakerOne created the mural “Fauna of Belmont Bay,” which beautifies the adjacent parking garage and celebrates the local ecosystem. A 250-square-foot exterior wall that faces the bay is covered in plantings and supported by harvested rainwater. “The facility has many intentional design features to reduce electric costs. Building condensate and rainwater are used to irrigate our living wall,” Arrington says.

On Golden Ponds. Before coming to Mason, Arrington was the pond manager at a fish hatchery in South Carolina, where she managed the daily operations of more than 20 ponds, led research projects, and helped maintain the facility and its grounds. This expertise helps her convey the important work and mission of the center to visitors. “Given my background, I am familiar with various scientific equipment, standard laboratory protocols, and the requirements of principal investigators,” Arrington said.

On the Ball: Outside work, soccer is one of Arrington’s greatest passions. She played soccer as an undergraduate at Clemson and was inducted into the school's Ring of Honor, the highest accolade a Tiger student-athlete can receive. She also played soccer professionally with the Philadelphia Charge and has coached soccer at the college and youth levels. "Soccer has been a huge part of my life and has afforded me many opportunities to travel the country and play with the best players in the world,” Arrington says.

Be Our Guest: The waterfront facility’s scenic location also makes it an appealing event destination for many, and Arrington plays a vital role in supporting the daily logistics and operations. Events can include team retreats, small conferences and workshops, and even the occasional wedding. She also leads tours for community members and others. “Every day is different, and that is one of the reasons I enjoy working here,” Arrington said. “Did I mention the beautiful views?”

Mentoring Little Explorers. “We have an almost three-year-old and a border collie mix that keep us on our toes” at home, Arrington said. “Our little girl loves exploring outside, taking swim lessons, and putting on her princess dresses. Our seven-year-old dog still acts like a puppy and enjoys swimming, hiking in the woods, and chasing sticks.”

Meet more of the Mason Nation

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November 22, 2024
Meet the Mason Nation: Marit Majeske
October 11, 2024
Meet the Mason Nation: Mihee Cho
June 19, 2024
Meet the Mason Nation: Kevin Brim
April 26, 2024
Meet the Mason Nation: Rachel Wernicke, associate dean and chief mental health officer
February 23, 2024

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Community approach to reducing single-use plastic beverage bottles wins EPA award

Colleen Rich — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 17:34:53 +0000

Community approach to reducing single-use plastic beverage bottles wins EPA award Colleen Rich Tue, 08/09/2022 - 13:34

In February 2021, a survey of two high schools in Woodbridge, Virginia, showed that a surprising number of students used three or more plastic beverage bottles a day, mostly bottles of water.

This information shocked Freedom High School seniors Stephanie Ruiz Molina and Ashley Munoz-Trujillo. They realized that their school could be disposing of almost 10,000 bottles a week, and they wanted to do something to help reduce that number.

Mason graduate students Sammie Alexander and Rachel Kelmartin share fish and plankton collection techniques with high school teachers and students.
Photo provided

Their work as a part of the collaborative community project, A Community Approach to Reducing Single-Use Plastic Beverage Bottles, earned them the prestigious President’s Environmental Youth Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

This two-year pilot project was funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Debris Program and led by ��AV researchers Cindy Smith, Scott Glaberman, T. Reid Nelson and Kim de Mutsert, all members of the Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC) at Mason’s Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge.

“What blew us away was the data the students collected,” said Smith, who served as the project’s principal investigator. “If students in each of the 13 Prince William County high schools toss out 10,000 single use bottles a week, that’s almost 4.7 million single-use bottles disposed of during the school year, just for these high schools.”

Smith said the project’s goal was to raise awareness of and connect participants to the ecological impacts of debris, expand participation in clean-up efforts, and change disposable water bottle use behavior at two high schools.

“In addition to changing behavior, we hoped that students would see the connection of how disposable bottles, which may fall out of cars in school parking lots and blow out of trash cans at athletic fields, frequently end up in storm drains and then wash into our local streams and waterways where they may impact aquatic organisms,” she said.

Photo provided

The project targeted 20 teachers and 35 high school student delegates, whose efforts could impact the behavior of thousands of students at Freedom High School (2,159 students), located near Neabsco Creek, one of the county’s most trash-laden waterbodies, and Patriot High School (2,678 students), in the Broad Run watershed.

Community partners working with the students and Mason included Keep Prince William Beautiful, Prince William County Public Works Watershed Division, Prince William Soil and Water Conservation District, Northern Virginia Regional Commission, and both high schools.

Mason Environmental Science and Policy students also had the opportunity to get involved, including those in de Mutsert’s and Smith’s labs and Glaberman’s Environmental Toxicology class.

Ruiz Molina and Munoz-Trujillo were a part of the delegate crew at Freedom High that successfully petitioned the school to install water bottle stations for students, collected more than 300 student action pledges, partnered with local organizations to provide one donated reusable bottle to each student who pledged, and created a social media campaign to reach their peers.

Videos of the teacher and student trainings are available here.

Watch the project video series

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Zombie crab research and their effects on the Chesapeake Bay

Colleen Rich — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 16:11:27 +0000

Zombie crab research and their effects on the Chesapeake Bay Colleen Rich Thu, 10/28/2021 - 12:11

It’s the stuff of nightmares and horror movies: Tiny estuarine mud crabs become infected with an invasive parasite that takes over their bodies and brains. But it isn’t fiction, and Mason’s team of researchers is learning more about these invaders and how they impact the ecology of our region.

Invasive parasite research at Mason’s Potomac Science Center

The white-fingered mud crabs (Rhithropanopeus harrisii) and two diabolical parasites are the focus of research being conducted at ��AV’s Potomac Science Center. Amy Fowler, assistant professor of invertebrate ecology, aquatic ecology, parasitology and invasions leads the research, working with Environmental Science and Policy graduate students Darby Pochtar and Sarah Greenberg, and several Office of Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research (OSCAR) students.

One parasite, a rhizocephalan barnacle (Loxothylacus panopaei), grows root-like structures inside the crabs, eventually castrating them. It even erupts through the abdomen of the crab, just like in the movie Alien, creating a mass on the crab’s underside that is pure parasite.

“We call it a zombie crab at this point because they are essentially no longer part of the crab population,” says Pochtar, who is working on a PhD in environmental science and public policy. “They are only producing more parasites.”

It’s is good at what it does, says Fowler. The infected zombie crabs serve as vessels for the barnacle's reproduction, providing the parasite with a mobile host.

The second parasite that Fowler’s team is investigating is an isopod parasite (Cancrion sp.), related to a roly-poly, or pill bug. However, Greenberg and Pochtar have found that, in the mud crabs, this parasite no longer resembles their terrestrial cousin but instead looks more like a mucus blob.

“There's not a lot of literature on isopod parasites,” says Greenberg, who is working on an MS in environmental science and public policy. “They haven’t been documented in this host in the Chesapeake Bay, so a lot of the work that Darby and I are doing is trying to figure out what this parasite is. We think that it is also a castrator.”

The team says that the crabs can host both parasites at the same time, and those infected with the isopod can be infected by more than one. In fact, Greenberg and Pochtar have found as many as five female isopod parasites in one tiny mud crab.

Parasite invaders and the impact on local waters

“Part of our work is investigating the invasion of the barnacle parasite from its native range in the Gulf of Mexico to the Chesapeake Bay and how that negatively impacted crab populations," says Fowler, who teaches in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy in Mason’s College of Science.

“I think the big story here is invasions—the movement of organisms from one place to another, and what happens next."

The mud crabs are native along the eastern United States from Canada to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. The parasitic barnacle is native to the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida panhandle and started showing up in the Chesapeake Bay in the 1960s. Fowler says that genetic tests confirm that it is the same barnacle.

A popular hypothesis pins the origins of this invasion on the oyster industry. Live oysters were brought to the Chesapeake Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, Fowler says. Parasitized mud crabs, and probably other organisms, were able to “hitchhike,” a term used in the field to describe how invasive species could travel from place to place, in or on the oysters and to the bay.

And these mud crabs love oysters, living around and on their shells. “When the Chesapeake Bay oyster fishery collapsed, they started importing oysters to rebuild it,” says Fowler, who is also a research associate with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland. “So there were probably hitchhikers in those oysters when they put them in the bay, and some of those mud crabs were probably parasitized. It spread to the crabs in the bay because they are the same species.”

Unlike other types of parasites that need two or more hosts to complete their life cycle, the parasitic barnacle studied here requires only the crab host, which helped enable the successful introduction. And invasions are nearly impossible to control.

These parasites travel in water as nearly microscopic larvae, looking for a host. During the early part of the invasion, the parasite took advantage of naïve crabs and were very successful, parasitizing up to 90 percent of some crab populations in the bay, according to Fowler.

While people don’t eat the small mud crabs, Fowler and other researchers are thinking ahead to how parasites can wreak havoc on the food chain and potentially to commercial fisheries. The implications would truly be a nightmare, especially for the Chesapeake Bay.

A sister species to the barnacle parasite Fowler studies infects and castrates blue crabs in the Gulf of Mexico. If that parasite were to successfully invade the Chesapeake Bay, “the implications for the blue crab fishery are astronomical, because [the population] has already been depleted,” says Fowler.

"We try to think of this invasion as a model— if that were to happen [to a species like the blue crab], what could happen?”

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New mural at Mason’s Potomac Science Center highlights native species

Colleen Rich — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 14:29:49 +0000

New mural at Mason’s Potomac Science Center highlights native species Colleen Rich Tue, 10/05/2021 - 10:29

International street artist TakerOne completed his mural "Fauna of Belmont Bay" this week at Mason's Potomac Science Center. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

There’s a guy spray-painting a wall in the Belmont Bay area of Woodbridge, Virginia, and the community members couldn’t be happier.

The guy is international graffiti artist TakerOne, and the wall he is working on belongs to ��AV’s Potomac Science Center. His mural, “Fauna of Belmont Bay,” is part of the Murals at Mason’s larger eco-consciousness mural series titled Elements, and the result of a university-community partnership.

In the “Fauna of Belmont Bay,” the muralist and street artist from Budapest, Hungary, highlights four species that inhabit Belmont Bay: the yellow swallowtail butterfly (Papilio glaucus), the tree frog (Hyla cinerea), the wood duck (Aix sponsa), and the North American river otter (Lontra canadensis).

Since 2001, TakerOne has been creating public art around the world. His work can be found on buildings in London, New York, Los Angeles, New Zealand, Spain, and Israel. He was selected from a group of artists who answered a Murals at Mason call for proposals in 2019. Although the project was delayed by the pandemic, TakerOne finally began work in mid-September and completed the mural, his largest to date, this week.

University Curator Don Russell, faculty advisor to the Murals at Mason project, said that this mural was just meant to be.

International muralist TakerOne puts the finishing touches on his mural at Mason's Potomac Science Center. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

“Doing projects like this often feels like an impossible task,” said Russell. “It's a miracle when you actually get through to completion. This was very complex.”

“After reviewing his photorealistic style, we knew TakerOne would be the strongest candidate for a mural that highlights key species of Belmont Bay in a visually captivating way,” said Mason alum Yassmin Salem, Murals at Mason program manager. “This is the first hand-painted outdoor mural that [Murals at Mason] has commissioned. We were thrilled to finally welcome Taker to the States after working through COVID-19 restrictions and changes in university policies and U.S. entry requirements.”

Molly Grove, director of campus relations for Mason’s Science and Technology Campus, is essentially the “customer” for this project. Working with the support of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, the Belmont Bay Homeowners Association, and Carruthers Properties, Groves requested the mural and found donors to support the project.

“The only stipulation we put on the design was to make sure it had an environmental science focus,” said Grove.

At a meet and greet in early October, TakerOne shared his techniques and artistic process with a group of community members. He found the species he highlighted on a Mason environmental science website that the Murals at Mason team had shared with him for inspiration. He experimented with alternate designs that included a fish and an osprey, but opted for the tree frog and wood duck to bring more color into the mural.

“I told them it would look cute,” the artist said.

TakerOne started the project by marking up the center’s wall with blue spray paint.

How TakerOne began the mural at Mason's Potomac Science Center. Photo provided

“How many of you thought we had been vandalized?” Grove asked the audience.

TakerOne then explained how he uses the mark-up as reference points, which he transposed over his design in Photoshop to help with placement.

Community sponsors for the public art project include the Wall Foundation; William A. Hazel Inc., which provided the fuel for the lift the artist used; and community member Carolyn Wixsom, who provided housing for the artist during his almost month-long stay. Pitkin's Ace Hardware provided all the paint for the mural—a special high-quality fine arts spray paint from Germany that TakerOne prefers.

Close up of wood duck in progress. Photo provided

“This mural is a showpiece in the Belmont Bay community,” said Grove. “It would never have come to fruition without the support of our sponsors.”

“It is a true honor to be given an opportunity like this,” said TakerOne. “Knowing that people put their trust in me makes it extremely important to me to produce the highest possible quality, with no compromise. All of the positive feedback I have gotten so far from the residents of the area and the people from ��AV proves that my efforts were successful, which makes me very happy.”

Additional university sponsors include the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact; College of Visual and Performing Arts; School of Business; Patriot Green Fund; Center for the Advancement of Well-Being; Counseling and Psychological Services; and the Provisions Research Center for Art and Social Change.

The official unveiling of “Fauna at Belmont Bay” is this Saturday, Oct. 9, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge, Virginia. Find out more about the event and register here.

See more of TakerOne’s work on Instagram and Facebook.

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Empowering girls in STEAM at the Potomac Science Center

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Mason’s ombuds team hosts regional gathering, outreach events

More about the Office of the University Ombudsperson

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Science and engineering meet to create new surface water robot

In This Story

Learn more about PEREC and its research

Design your own creations at the MIX

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Removing invasive plants protects the ecosystem at the Potomac Science Center and beyond

In This Story

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Murals at Mason: 'Sediment to Sky'

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Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger visits Potomac Science Center

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Meet the Mason Nation: Deliah “Dee” Arrington

Meet more of the Mason Nation

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Community approach to reducing single-use plastic beverage bottles wins EPA award

Watch the project video series

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Zombie crab research and their effects on the Chesapeake Bay

It’s the stuff of nightmares and horror movies: Tiny estuarine mud crabs become infected with an invasive parasite that takes over their bodies and brains. But it isn’t fiction, and Mason’s team of researchers is learning more about these invaders and how they impact the ecology of our region.

Invasive parasite research at Mason’s Potomac Science Center

Parasite invaders and the impact on local waters

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New mural at Mason’s Potomac Science Center highlights native species

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