School of Integrative Studies

Announcing the recipients of the 2025 Presidential Awards for Faculty Excellence

Lauren Reuscher — Mon, 14 Apr 2025 14:49:41 +0000

Announcing the recipients of the 2025 Presidential Awards for Faculty Excellence Lauren Reuscher Mon, 04/14/2025 - 10:49

George Mason �鶹�� President Gregory Washington has announced the recipients of the 2025 Presidential Awards for Faculty Excellence, honoring 12 George Mason faculty members for their work on behalf of the university, students, and the broader community.

The awards honor faculty with up to six years of service, six to 12 years of service, and more than 12 years of service.

This is the ninth year for the Presidential Awards for Faculty Excellence. Recipients are selected by a review committee that includes prior award recipients and senior leaders from relevant areas. They will be honored at a reception May 13.

“Faculty excellence is an undeniable reason why George Mason is consistently ranked as one the country’s top 50 public universities,” President Gregory Washington said. “We honor these faculty members’ scholarship and dedication to help students achieve their highest potential with the university’s highest faculty recognition.”

The John Toups Presidential Medal for Excellence in Teaching is presented to a faculty member whose teaching inspires and stimulates students in the finest tradition of higher education.

The Beck Family Presidential Medal for Excellence in Research recognizes extraordinary contributions by members of the Mason faculty to consequential research of high impact. The award is presented annually to a George Mason faculty member whose research represents groundbreaking advances in their field.

The United Bank Presidential Medal for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion recognizes extraordinary contributions in teaching, research, scholarship, creative works, or service that directly advances diversity and inclusion inside and outside the George Mason community.

The Earle C. Williams Presidential Medal for Excellence in Social Impact is presented to a faculty member in any discipline who makes extraordinary efforts to use their scholarship to solve real-world problems.

The complete list of 2025 honorees is below. See prior recipients for 2017 to 2024.

Bethany Cieslowski

Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award Recipient

Bethany Cieslowski

Chief Innovation Officer for Immersive Technologies and Instructional Associate Professor, School of Nursing

Bethany Cieslowski joined the faculty of the School of Nursing as an instructional faculty member in 2021. She serves as the chief innovation officer for immersive technologies and the bachelor of science in nursing director in the College of Public Health. Since 2017, when she received the Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator (CHSE) certification, she has devoted herself to educating the nursing workforce of the future using simulation and technology. Cieslowski has been a pioneer at George Mason in the use of virtual reality (VR) simulations that immerse students in clinical nursing scenarios. To aid this effort she established the College of Public Health’s VR SIM lab, which is the first lab in the country to receive accreditation from the Society for Simulation in Healthcare for the use of immersive technologies in medical scenarios.

Angela Miller

John Toups Presidential Medal for Excellence in Teaching Recipient

Angela Miller

Associate Professor, College of Education and Human Development

Angela Miller is an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development. Her primary teaching focus is on quantitative research methods. She has taught 13 different courses in her time at George Mason, and she took the lead in redesigning the research methods curriculum for PhD students and developed three new courses to that end. While her own teaching has been focused on the graduate level, she took a lead role in developing, teaching, and now mentoring graduate students and other faculty in an undergraduate statistics course that is part of the Mason Core for Quantitative Reasoning. Miller makes deliberate efforts to tailor her instruction to the unique needs of her students and she consistently receives outstanding evaluations. She has made significant contributions to graduate mentoring, having chaired six dissertation committees, served as the methodologist on an additional 18 dissertation committees, and chaired six MA thesis committees, as well as an additional 16 MA capstone projects. She was also a recipient of the 2017 George Mason �鶹�� Teaching Excellence Award.

Weiwen Jiang

Faculty Excellence in Research Award Recipient

Weiwen Jiang

Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department

Weiwen Jiang, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computing, received his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the �鶹�� of Pittsburgh in 2019 and spent two years at the �鶹�� of Notre Dame as a postdoctoral researcher. Jiang’s research is in the relatively new field of quantum computing, which uses quantum mechanics to enable computers to solve more complicated problems. Jiang’s research has important applications. For example, one of his recent papers combines quantum computational techniques with machine learning to solve problems relating to the discovery of new medicines. Jiang has an impressive research record of top-tier conference presentations and publications, some of which are in the most selective journals in his field (Nature Communications, Nature Electronics, Scientific Reports).

Xuesu Xiao

Faculty Excellence in Research Award Recipient

Xuesu Xiao

Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department

Xuesu Xiao received his PhD in Computer Science in 2019 from Texas A&M �鶹��, and after three years in industry as a roboticist with Everyday Robots, an Alphabet/Google company, he joined the Computer Science Department in the College of Engineering and Computing. His research aims to develop intelligent mobile robots that can navigate in challenging terrain with minimal human oversight. His cutting-edge work in the field of social robot navigation seeks to develop robots that can navigate human-occupied public spaces safely while respecting social norms. At George Mason, he established the RobotiXX Lab, in which he works with postdocs, graduate students, and high school students to develop deployable robots. An outstanding researcher, he was awarded the New Generation Star recognition at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

Aarthi Narayanan

Faculty Excellence in Research Award Recipient

Aarthi Narayanan

Professor, Biology Department

Aarthi Narayanan joined the George Mason faculty as a tenure-line faculty in 2013 after spending six years at the National Centre for Biosecurity and Infectious Disease. She is currently a professor in the Biology Department in the College of Science. Her research focuses on the impact of viruses–including SARS-CoV-2, Ebola, Dengue, and HIV–on disease progression at the tissue and cell level. Her work has led to important discoveries in vaccine development, drug discovery, and biomarker identification for infectious diseases. Narayanan has an exceptional record of publications and external funding for her research. Moreover, she has been an exemplary citizen of the university and her profession. She has been a dedicated mentor to emerging scientists in academic and industry settings; a leader in mentoring junior faculty, postdoctoral researchers, and students; a vital contributor to curriculum development for undergraduate and graduate programs; and dedicated to outreach to the local community, participating in STEM programs for girls.

Allison Redlich

The Beck Family Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Research Recipient

Allison Redlich

Professor, Criminology, Law and Society Department

Founder and Director, Modeling Decision-Making in the Legal System (MoDiLS) Lab

Allison Redlich is a professor in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and is the founder and director of George Mason’s Modeling Decision-Making in the Legal System (MoDiLS) Lab. Her research is deeply interdisciplinary. Trained in psychology, she brings insights from that field to address critical issues facing the legal system. For example, she has published influential research about interrogations and confessions in police and military contexts. This scholarship has been widely cited in amicus briefs to states and the Supreme Court, and Redlich herself has provided expert testimony in important cases involving contested confessions. She has produced similarly influential research on topics such as guilty pleas and mental health courts. Her work is credited with transforming scholarly thinking on these topics, and by all accounts is having a significant impact on current practices within the legal system. A prolific scholar and researcher, she has been elected a Fellow to the three most influential organizations in her academic fields: the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Academy of Experimental Criminology. Redlich has also distinguished herself as a mentor and has received mentoring awards from George Mason and from the American Society of Criminology and the American Psychology-Law Society.

Daphne King

Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award Recipient

Daphne King

Assistant Professor, Social Work Department

Daphne King joined the faculty at George Mason’s Department of Social Work in the College of Public Health in 2020 as an assistant professor and also serves as the MSW Online Program director. Prior to arriving at George Mason, she had an impactful career as a social worker working with individuals experiencing mental health challenges, with homeless and incarcerated populations, and in school social work settings. King’s scholarship and national contributions focus on the intersection of social work practice, clinician identity, and pedagogical strategies. Within the Social Work Department at George Mason, she has been proactive in providing leadership in course development, course refresh processes, and faculty training, particularly around online teaching to ensure that there is adequate support for diverse learners in digital and hybrid learning environments.

Janani Umamaheswar

Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award Recipient

Janani Umamaheswar

Associate Professor, Criminology, Law and Society

Janani Umamaheswar joined the Department of Criminology, Law and Society in 2021 as an assistant professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She is also an affiliate faculty member in the Women and Gender Studies Program. She is an accomplished scholar whose research addresses issues relating to social inequality, punishment and incarceration, and qualitative research methods. In her teaching she makes a point to include a broad range of perspectives on whatever subject matter she is teaching, and in her course design she creates assessment methods that give students of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints the opportunity to share their learning in different modalities. She has also created experiential co-curricular activities designed to help students grasp issues relating to inequality. For example, she worked with the Douglass Project, the country’s foremost prison visitation program, to take George Mason graduate students for a guided dialogue session in the Washington, D.C., jail. She has been an active member of the mentoring programs run by multiple divisions of the American Society of Criminology.

Jacqueline McDowell

United Bank Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Recipient

Jacqueline McDowell

Associate Professor, School of Sport, Recreation, and Tourism Management

Assistant Dean for Faculty Success

Jacqueline McDowell is assistant dean for faculty success and associate professor in the School of Sport, Recreation, and Tourism Management in the College of Education and Human Development. A well-respected scholar, her work focuses primarily on diversity and inclusion in organized sports and recreation organizations. She has published widely in this field, particularly on the experiences of women and sport, such as athletic administrators and coaches. One of her articles was awarded the 2017 President’s Award for Article of Distinction at the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association. In McDowell’s teaching, issues of inclusion are central. She has also been active in advancing inclusion in her professional service, both here at George Mason and in external professional organizations. For example, she serves on the American Kinesiology Association’s Membership Committee, where she has led efforts to bring more Historically Black Colleges and Universities into the field by developing outreach strategies. Due to the effectiveness of these efforts, she was asked to chair this committee for the American Kinesiology Association.

Margarita Tadevosyan

Faculty Excellence in Social Impact Award Recipient

Margarita Tadevosyan

Research Assistant Professor and Executive Director, Center for Peacemaking Practice, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution

Margarita Tadevosyan received her PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason �鶹�� in 2019 and is a research assistant professor and executive director of the Center for Peacemaking Practice at the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. She is a scholar-practitioner of conflict resolution and local peacebuilding, with a focus on South Caucasus and other post-Soviet areas. Specifically, she focuses on long-term peacebuilding, local conceptions of peace, local practices to build peace, and ways that international and local peacebuilders can work together respectfully. Tadevosyan’s social impact involves fostering dialogue and cooperation between communities that have experienced long-standing conflicts. She has also brought Carter School students into her work as co-planners, co-facilitators, and co-evaluators of conflict resolution and media literacy programs.

Susan Howard

Faculty Excellence in Social Impact Award Recipient

Susan Howard

Instructional Associate Professor, School of Integrative Studies

Susan Howard joined George Mason as a full-time faculty member in the School of Integrative Studies in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2016. Howard is an educator, behavioral scientist, and entrepreneur-innovator who leverages and humanizes technology for social impact. Her teaching, research, and entrepreneurial focus is broad, ranging from global health to environmental science and design thinking. Her impact beyond the university has come primarily through the free digital gaming platform that her company has produced for an audience of marginalized youth in India and Nepal. The games, which are free to play, are designed to educate youth about the social and public health decisions they face in their own lives. To extend the impact of her work, Howard has formed partnerships with stakeholders in the adolescent health sector, including NGOs, women entrepreneurs, and nonprofits. Howard’s gaming platform, “Games of Choice, Not of Chance,” has received multiple accolades for its work, including the 2024 Innovation Award at the Global Digital Health Summit.

Rebecca Goldin

Earle C. Williams Presidential Medal for Faculty Excellence in Social Impact

Rebecca Goldin

Professor, Mathematical Sciences

Rebecca Goldin is Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematical Sciences in the College of Science. For many years she has served as a driving force behind a global effort aimed at promoting statistical literacy among journalists and connecting the scientific community to the media. In that capacity she has written more than 100 articles, appeared in dozens of high-profile news shows and podcasts (CNN, NPR, ABC News, and PBS), and given a great number of public talks and interviews to audiences at major conferences and mathematics festivals. In addition to her far-reaching communication and outreach efforts, Goldin has done extensive volunteer work locally. Her efforts have been widely recognized by professional organizations in her field. In 2013, she was given the Association for Women in Mathematics Service Award for her contributions to the cause of educating women and girls in mathematics. In 2019, she was named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society, an extraordinary honor that goes to only a few mathematics scholars per year, for both her scholarly contributions to the field of differential geometry and for her efforts to promote mathematical and statistical thinking to a wide audience.

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Transforming Access to Justice: Students Tackle Language Barriers at Fairfax Courthouse

Andrew J Schappert — Tue, 22 Oct 2024 15:17:21 +0000

Transforming Access to Justice: Students Tackle Language Barriers at Fairfax Courthouse Andrew J Schappert Tue, 10/22/2024 - 11:17

From left, Schar School Jurisprudence Learning Community students Mohammed Ibrahim Al Zubaidi and Sharanya Maddukuri, a government and international politics major and Honors College student, flank General District Court Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith in her courtroom. Photo provided

Going to a court of law as plaintiff, defendant, witness, juror, or a spectator in the gallery can be stressful and confusing if you don’t know where to go. What floor is the right office on? Which clerk at which window do you need to visit? Which courtroom do you need to be in and when do you need to be there? And which way to the bathroom?

Mohammed Al Zubaidi presents the Court Signage Survey Project to an attorney who advocates at the Fairfax General District Court. Photo provided

The Fairfax General District Court conducts its business at the Fairfax County Courthouse, not far from George Mason �鶹��’s Fairfax Campus near the City of Fairfax. It shares the facility with the Fairfax Circuit Court, the largest trial court in Virginia. Understandably, the hallways of the campus can be confounding even to those who frequent the complex, much less those who have business there only occasionally.

Now imagine you need to visit the General District Court but do not speak English as your native language. All the signage is in English. You can see there might be a problem.

Members of a team of 15 volunteer students from the Jurisprudence Learning Community (JPLC), one of five learning communities in the Schar School of Policy and Government, are spending time in the hallways and offices of the busy court complex conducting a survey project aimed at helping the court understand the accessibility needs of court users.

The students visit the courthouse in shifts each weekday for a month to administer surveys to those who use the court, including judges, attorneys, deputies, bailiffs, and visitors. When the survey period is over, the students will compile the results to gain an understanding of the steps the court should take to increase accessibility for individuals, particularly language and translation accessibility.

“The results of the Court Signage Survey Project will be sent to the District Court for review and ultimately compiled into a larger report that will go to the Virginia Supreme Court,” said Assistant Professor Shea Holman, director of the JPLC.

From left, Sathvika Kolluru, Sharanya Maddukuri, and Abigail Harmon wield survey clipboards in the courthouse hallway. Photo provided

General District Court Judge Dipti Pidikiti-Smith reached out to Holman for the project.

“She specifically wanted to connect with George Mason students,” Holman said. “We are such a diverse campus and the JPLC is a place where students from many different backgrounds have the opportunity to experience the legal field firsthand. This is an amazing experience for students to interact directly with individuals attempting to navigate our legal system and to spend time in a courthouse setting.”

For Schar School junior Mohammad Ibrahim Al Zubaidi, that’s exactly what has happened.

“The most memorable experience has been engaging with court users directly,” the government and international politics major said. “Listening to their stories about the communication barriers they face in such a crucial setting has been eye-opening. It reinforced the importance of the work we’re doing and the impact this project can have on improving access to justice for everyone.”

Al Zubaidi’s degree program includes a concentration in American Institutions and Processes and a minor in criminology, law, and society. His visits to the courthouse, he said, will help him gain hands-on experience in legal processes, particularly in improving access to justice for underrepresented communities.

“This project allows me to connect my academic knowledge of government and law with real-world applications," Al Zubaidi said. "Balancing classwork and off-campus duties has been a challenge, but it's also helped me develop strong time management and organizational skills. By staying organized and setting clear priorities, I’ve been able to manage both effectively."

Walking the hallways of the bustling courthouse is a new experience for some of the students.

“I haven't spent much time in [a courthouse] up until this point, so it has been interesting to see the innerworkings,” said Abigail Harmon, an integrative studies major with a legal concentration. “I also feel that making the courtroom more accessible to all kinds of people is a really important cause, and I am proud to be helping out with that. I hope that the information collected in the surveys can help with this.”

Among all the court users she’s met, it’s the interpreters who work there that have made a significant impression.

“They are passionate about helping people who don't speak English navigate and understand our legal system,” the Twin Falls, Idaho, native said. “One of the interpreters stressed how important it is to have interpreters, because if you don't speak English and don't utilize one, you might be unable to get the justice you deserve.

“I feel that this was relevant in our survey, because non-English speaking individuals might find it difficult to get around the courtroom, and the courthouse should find ways to fix that. I've had the opportunity to see a couple of the interpreters in action, and without them their clients may have had a different outcome and experience in their case.”

“This project allows me to submerse myself in the exact environment I am striving to be in postgraduation,” said government and international politics senior April Cornelius from Aliso Viejo, California. “The best experience I have had thus far has been surveying people on the third floor, which is the domestic cases. I had a mom with her two daughters fill out a survey, and was nice to connect with her older teenage daughter.

“Nobody likes to be bothered with a survey,” she added, “but it is nice to take someone’s brain off the reason why they are there—most times not for a good reason.”

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Shea M. Holman Kilian

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Craig Zaccaro is January Employee of the Month

Sarah Holland — Wed, 17 Jan 2024 18:27:43 +0000

Craig Zaccaro is January Employee of the Month Sarah Holland Wed, 01/17/2024 - 13:27

According to Alecia Bryan, director of advancement communication for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), Craig Zaccaro “will likely be horrified we’ve all banded together in support of him for Employee of the Month. And to that, I say, too bad.”

It’s a funny quip, written in bold, in Bryan’s nomination letter for Zaccaro. But it is a sentiment echoed in all the nominations: Among his many accolades and exceptional qualities, it is Craig Zaccaro’s humility that perhaps best demonstrates why he was named January Employee of the Month.

President Washington with Craig Zaccaro. Photo by Ayman Rashid/Office of �鶹�� Branding

Zaccaro, associate director of IT and application development for CHSS, likes to say that he’s been at Mason since he was two years old. “I learned to walk in the hallways of the Psychology Department,” he jokes; his father, Stephen Zaccaro, has been a professor of psychology at Mason for more than 30 years. After graduating with his BS in marketing from Mason, he returned for an information technology certificate. He took a part-time job as a web designer for the School of Integrative Studies (SIS), which turned into a full-time role.

“I’ve been at Mason ever since,” he said.

Zaccaro is now in the dean’s office of CHSS. Much of Zaccaro’s work, according to his nominators, is behind the scenes. He is responsible for the college’s web system—CHSSweb—which hosts more than 70 websites representing CHSS departments, programs, and centers, as well as Mason Korea’s site. He oversees new web editor trainings, server maintenance and protection, application development, and more. After the departure of his senior director, Zaccaro has also taken on the technical project management of the CHSSweb visual redesign and serving as supervisor for his two colleagues.

His nominators describe his work as “innovative,” “focused on accessibility and inclusivity,” and a “proactive approach to improvements and maintenance.”

One theme in Zaccaro’s nominations is his admirable focus on finding solutions. When you come to Craig with a question, his nominators explain, he rarely says “no”; instead, he gets to the core of your goal and your purpose to find a solution that both meets your needs and fits within the systems and structures in place.

“He is currently doing double the workload and still makes time to dedicate to your question or problem,” explained Stephanie Sheridan, visual resources curator in the Department of History and Art History. “He never makes you feel rushed for time, or like a burden on his schedule.”

“Beyond his technical skills, Craig’s commitment to helping faculty and staff with software installations and troubleshooting issues was invaluable,” said Fu Zhao, senior budget analyst for SIS. “Throughout his time with us, Craig’s professionalism, expertise, and exceptional support undoubtedly had a positive impact on our department’s overall performance.”

Troy Lowery, academic advisor in the College of Public Health, describes Craig as “one who acknowledges all people as both learners and knowers...he intuitively realizes that every person has something to give to and take away from the conversation.”

That sentiment is clear not only in Zaccaro's nomination, but in his responses to the Employee of the Month interview. When asked about his favorite part of working at Mason, he said, “the opportunity to work with and learn from so many great people. In each role I’ve had at Mason, I’ve learned so much from the people I’ve worked with.”

Zaccaro stands in front of Horizon Hall's Word Wall feature, which he helps maintain. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of �鶹�� Branding.

The feeling is mutual.

“Craig is without a doubt one of the most important individuals in the college. He is extremely talented, knowledgeable in many domains, generous with his time and expertise, and above all else, kind,” wrote Jenna McGwin, director of operations and initiatives for CHSS.

“Craig is one of the kindest, most patient, most humble employees I’ve ever worked with at Mason,” said Holly Mason Badra, associate director of Women and Gender Studies Program.

When not fortifying CHSSweb’s infrastructure and supporting his colleagues through IT challenges, you can find Zaccaro on the golf course, warily eyeing the campus geese, visiting his sister and baby nephew in London, England, or enjoying movies like Moulin Rouge!, which, insiders say, is his favorite.

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Patricia King is May Employee of the Month
April 30, 2025
Johnnie Hall is April Employee of the Month
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Bonnie Madden is March Employee of the Month
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Lifelong learning turns into a bachelor’s degree for this first-year Mason student

Sarah Holland — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 17:37:41 +0000

Lifelong learning turns into a bachelor’s degree for this first-year Mason student Sarah Holland Tue, 10/10/2023 - 13:37

James “Jimmy” Stewart has always had a passion for learning.

During his 10 years serving in the U.S. Army, Stewart took classes at various colleges based on where he was stationed. His transcript boasts coursework from universities across Europe and the United States, though he never formalized a degree program. “I was initially focused on technology and law courses that were related to my role in the army—which was doing technology for the Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG), the law firm for the Army,” he said. “But also took a few core courses, like history, just in case.”

Stewart left the military during the dotcom boom of the late 1990s. His experience allowed for a smooth transition to a civilian career in the technology sector, working his way up to senior-level positions at national nonprofits and law firms. “I knew that not having a degree would always be a challenge to get employment,” he said. “With my certifications and the number of years of experience, I was able to get into the sector. But it has been a limiter; I’ve had to look for positions that prioritize hands-on experience as opposed to degree experience.”

When his 11-year-old daughter started showing interest in college, Stewart saw an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of higher education by finally getting his bachelor’s degree.

_{“I used to live across the street from Mason Square, and my wife is a Mason alum, so George Mason �鶹�� was the logical first choice,”}
_{he said. “I want her to see that if her dad can do it, she can do it, too, when it’s time.”}

Stewart enrolled in the Individualized Study Program in the School of Integrative Studies in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), with a concentration in leadership and strategic communications. The Bachelor of Individualized Study (BIS) at Mason is designed for nontraditional students who are starting or returning to college after previous careers and life experiences. BIS took Stewart’s career and military experience, as well as his certifications and previous college courses, and converted them into credits that apply toward his degree; he started Mason this fall with 77 credits.

“I was always worried that getting the degree wouldn’t fit into my other responsibilities as a husband, a father, and employee,” he said. “But when I worked with my academic advisor to map out the degree, I thought, ‘Wow this is achievable!’ I only wish I had done it sooner.”

Stewart hopes to keep his daughter engaged by showing her his coursework, talking about his classes, and pointing out Mason wherever they go—like on the Metrobuses. “I want her to keep being excited with the idea of college, keep thinking of college as the next step,” he said. “I want to be a role model for her.”

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Award-winning game helps young girls and women navigate and negotiate life choices

Shayla Brown — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 20:48:16 +0000

Award-winning game helps young girls and women navigate and negotiate life choices Shayla Brown Wed, 09/27/2023 - 16:48

When Susan Howard’s mother wanted to leave India for the United States in the 1950s, she had some negotiating to do.

“My grandparents were against it,” Howard said of her mom’s request, “but agreed on the condition that my mom be married. So, she compromised and said, ‘how about I get engaged?’”

That real-life scenario inspired the George Mason �鶹�� professor to create Go Nisha Go, an award-winning game that helps girls and young women in India navigate and negotiate life choices.

A poster for Susan Howard's game, Go Nisha Go. Photo provided.

“We're not trying to tell girls what is right or wrong. For some girls, listening to their parents is right for them,” said Howard, who teaches in the School of Integrative Studies. “�鶹�� aim with Nisha is to show players that their decisions matter and not to relinquish decisions to the father or their husbands or society even.”

The game, which was launched in June 2022, addresses public health concerns such as nonconsensual sex, reproductive health, relationships, contraception, and the detrimental stigmas that are attached to them, said Howard.

Go Nisha Go, which has more than 250,000 players in India, is a virtual experience that provides players with essential resources in the real world they can access directly from the game. It has 25 in-game partners from social entrepreneurs to private-sector companies and small businesses.

Susan Howard. Photo provided

These partners provide menstrual hygiene products, as well as legal and crisis helplines for women who are being bullied or abused.

“The technology of embedding these links was challenging, but it was really worth it because we felt that it was our responsibility to bridge the in-game experience with real life.”

Howard, who received a PhD in environmental science and policy from Mason in 2020, cited an example of an important app embedded in the game.

“There's a scene where Nisha is talking to her mentor about when she's most at risk for pregnancy and how does she know. The mentor shows her an app that’s called Cycle Beads where you can track your period. In real life, players can download this app to their phones.”

The game was originally only available in three states in India—Rajasthan, Bihar, and Delhi—because that’s where young girls are most at risk for early marriage and pregnancy, Howard said, but it is now available in all 11 Hindi speaking states in India through Google Play.

Go Nisha Go is an interdisciplinary effort, Howard said. College of Science PhD student Chih Hao “Andy” Huang handles the in-game analysis and data security management, Schar School PhD student Patrick Baxter helped design the game’s large-scale randomized control study that is being done among 1,900 girls, and Mason alumna Jeannette Cachan is the knowledge management and monitoring advisor on the project. Mason Board of Visitor member Dolly Oberoi, CEO of C2 Technologies Inc., has been a mentor and guide to Howard since the inception of the idea.

As a game data engineer, Huang ensures the game's structure and the data used are safe and updated.

“One of the features that we used in the game was creating different models and using predictive analytics. During the game, the players will make different decisions and select different answers for questions or situations,” said Huang.

“We use that data, run through different algorithms, and then we get results for personalized messages so players can have a more personalized experience instead of a ‘one game fits all’ kind of experience."

Go Nisha Go was awarded Best Learning Game in 2023 by Games for Change and made the list of 10 Fast Company Innovation by Design honorees in social justice interventions.

“All design begins with people and understanding people,” said Howard. “At the end of the game, you get to see the outcome of all the choices you have made for your character, and how in real life you can be inspired to be your ‘best self.’”

Howard credits the liberal arts and the humanities for her approach of putting people at the center of technological innovations. She is currently working on two additional games: one in Nepal and a game for boys in India.

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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 George Mason �鶹�� 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

A study-abroad experience, and a lesson in leadership

Colleen Rich — Mon, 25 Jul 2022 17:22:42 +0000

A study-abroad experience, and a lesson in leadership Colleen Rich Mon, 07/25/2022 - 13:22

A group of 20 George Mason �鶹�� students traveled to Spain in May with this question in mind: What can we do to move society toward mutual understanding, respect, and a focus on the common good?

Twenty George Mason �鶹�� students traveled to Spain this summer as part of a field study summer course called “Leadership Across Difference: Lessons from Medieval Spain.” Photo provided

As part of a field study summer course called “Leadership Across Difference: Lessons from Medieval Spain,” Nick Lennon, director of Mason’s Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Office, and Stephanie Zeher, office manager and executive assistant for Mason’s School of Integrative Studies, led the students in the three-credit summer course to Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, and Madrid.

The goal was to prepare the students to be more effective, ethical leaders by examining how different religious groups were or weren’t integrated into society in medieval Spain.

Throughout the medieval era, part of what is now Spain was ruled by an Islamic civilization called Al-Andalus. During this time, Muslims, Christians, and Jews reportedly collaborated and lived together in relative peace for hundreds of years.

“Medieval Spain holds many relevant lessons for how we can get along and exhibit ethical leadership across our differences today, whether those differences are religious, racial, political, or otherwise,” Lennon said.

During its 10-day trip, the group participated in site visits, workbook readings, and group discussions to explore what unites us—and divides us—across our differences.

“Learning about how Spain passed through the hands of many different rulers and religions and seeing how the communities changed depending on the leadership was fascinating,” said Ariana Licausi, a current senior integrative studies major also starting Mason’s Bachelor's/Accelerated Master's program for elementary education.

Recognizing the qualities of good and bad leaders was important, Licausi said, to “understand the type of person I need to be to become a successful and ethical leader in my future career as an elementary school teacher.”

For Hannah Castillo-Villanueva, a rising sophomore psychology major, the program was more than an opportunity to visit a new country and encounter new cultures; it was also a way to grow her Mason experience.

As a student who takes online courses, the trip allowed her to grow closer to the Mason community by connecting with and hearing the perspectives of other students from a variety of majors, she said.

It also enhanced her Mason education.

“Learning about history through a textbook doesn't feel like enough anymore,” Castillo-Villanueva said. “When going to places to learn about world history, it strikes a different chord and gives a sense of realism to how a lot of decisions that were made in the past have impacted us now.”

With the lessons learned from the historical examples of conflict, cooperation, and collaboration across religious differences, Castillo-Villanueva said she’s more mindful of how decisions can affect everybody—directly or indirectly—and feels better prepared to make the best decisions for organizations she helps lead.

“Students on the program learned from history, and from one another, with the ultimate goal of a more fair and ethical society for everyone,” Lennon said.

Topics

Students

School of Integrative Studies

study abroad

Leadership Education and Development

Dominique Dowling is Mason’s 2022 Senior of the Year

Colleen Rich — Wed, 18 May 2022 16:00:30 +0000

Dominique Dowling is Mason’s 2022 Senior of the Year Colleen Rich Wed, 05/18/2022 - 12:00

Topics

School of Integrative Studies

Mason students inspired by connection with leaders of Peruvian indigenous group

Colleen Rich — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 18:49:03 +0000

Mason students inspired by connection with leaders of Peruvian indigenous group Colleen Rich Fri, 04/29/2022 - 14:49

Students watched “Guardians of the Forest,” an award-winning documentary produced by Mason professor Michael Gilmore. Photo by Madison Rudolf/Strategic Communications

For Amy Fuller, the screening of the documentary “Guardians of the Forest” and the talkback with leaders of the Maijuna indigenous group in Peru was a one-of-a-kind experience.

“It was really special,” said Fuller, a George Mason �鶹�� senior and president of Mason’s Student Environmental Justice Alliance (SEJA). “It’s not something that has happened on campus before.”

“Guardians of the Forest” is an award-winning documentary produced by Mason associate professor Michael Gilmore, who for 24 years has worked closely with the Maijuna, an endangered group fighting for biological and cultural survival among the pressures threatening the greater Amazon rainforest: logging, poaching, industrial agriculture, and mining.

The Peruvian government is also planning to build a highway through the Maijuna’s heavily forested ancestral lands, which the group says will devastate the area.

After the documentary viewing, Mason students had the opportunity to speak with leaders of the Maijuna indigenous group in Peru. Photo by Madison Rudolf/Strategic Communications

While the screening was impactful, Gilmore said it was the associated virtual Q&A with two Maijuna leaders and their subsequent conversation with members of Mason’s Native American Indigenous Alliance (NAIA) that was most compelling.

“What I hope the students got out of it,” said Gilmore, who is part of the School of Integrative Studies (SIS) “was an appreciation for indigenous cultures, the Amazon rainforest, and the challenges that face indigenous people worldwide in the fight for their ancestral lands and cultural survival.”

Also appearing at the April 13 event, presented by Mason’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth and SIS, were Andrew Wingfield, an associate professor in SIS and Mason alum, who has played a leading role in integrating sustainability into Mason’s curriculum; Jeremy Campbell, assistant director for strategic engagement at ISE and a cultural anthropologist who studies land conflicts and environmental changes in the Brazilian Amazon; and Jacob Wagner, the film’s director.

Mason psychology major Sara Jefferson, NAIA’s vice president of outreach and a member of the Chickahominy Indian Tribe of Charles City County, Virginia, called the event mind-broadening.

“I feel a lot more motivated to be able to help the Maijuna,” she said. “I feel really fortunate to have had this opportunity to be able to talk with them one-on-one and learn more about the differences and similarities between North American Natives and South American Natives.”

Mason history major Mariko Nojima-Schmunk, NAIA’s treasurer and a member of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, said the event reminded her of what NAIA is all about: “the collaboration and the allyship that we can build with Indigenous communities across the globe to help make a real change.”

“I was so inspired by the solidarity between the Maijuna and students of Mason’s Native American and Indigenous Alliance,” said PhD student Elizabeth Schierbeek, a member of the event planning committee and a graduate teaching assistant in Mason’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy. “I hope that they and other Mason students feel empowered to stand up for Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination in the Amazon, the United States, and around the globe.”

Topics

Students

School of Integrative Studies

Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE)

Native American Indigenous Alliance

Honey bees and their honey could be a big help in solving police cases

John Hollis — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 19:33:20 +0000

Honey bees and their honey could be a big help in solving police cases John Hollis Tue, 01/18/2022 - 14:33

An unlikely collaboration between George Mason �鶹��’s Honey Bee Initiative and the new outdoor Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory could yield critical advances in forensic science.

^{Mason teams from a number of different fields are working in unison at the Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, Virginia, on an ambitious project to see if the honey produced by bees after feeding on flowers can help them better locate missing persons.}

^{“The focus of forensics is to solve cases,” said Mary Ellen O’Toole, the head of the Forensic Science Program within Mason’s College of Science and a former FBI profiler. “Outdoor crime scenes have always posed a challenge to investigators, particularly identifying the location of human remains. The bee research will allow us to scientifically demonstrate that identifying bee activity in bee farms or in the wild and analyzing their proteins can help lead investigators to human remains. In this case, the bees are our new partners in crime fighting, and that’s amazing science.”}

Volunteers plant perennials at the Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory in support of ongoing research to determine if traces of human remains can be identified in the plants or in the honey produced by pollinators.
Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

Proteins in bee honey contain biochemical information about what the bees have fed upon. That information has previously been used to detect the chemical signature of pesticides in honey, allowing observers to deduce what specific types of pesticides were being used within the five-mile radius from the hives that honey bees typically frequent.

Similarly, O’Toole and her team believe that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of human decomposition might likewise be found in bee honey, allowing authorities to then triangulate where missing human remains might be located. That ability could ultimately help spare grieving families additional extended angst while also saving thousands of hours in the search for a missing person.

“If we can determine what the VOCs are for humans and differentiate that from other animals, we could then use the bees and their honey as sentinels, and, hopefully, find missing persons and solve cases,” said Anthony Falsetti, an associate professor of forensic science.

Their belief is based on the premise that flowering plants near dead bodies will uptake the VOCs before being fed upon by the bees and ultimately being deposited in their honey.

Alessandra Luchini, an associate professor within Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM), has perfected a method to extract proteins from the honey. She and Lance Liotta, a �鶹�� Professor and CAPMM co-founder and co-director, have been involved with the project from the outset, following the idea’s origins at one of the monthly research meetings with the Forensic Science Program.

Honey bees are very specific in the kinds of flowers to which they’re attracted. Doni Nolan, Mason’s Greenhouse and Gardens sustainability program manager from the School of Integrative Studies within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, applied her expertise to the project, choosing the right flowers to plant within the specific one-acre section of the newly opened Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory that will house the remains of human donors in a heavily wooded area. The honey bee hive on the SciTech Campus is located several hundred yards away from the Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory.

Volunteers prepare to plant flowers at the Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

In November, students and researchers planted several different species of plants, which bear highly scented white and yellow blossoms, near the spots where the human remains will soon be displayed. Additional plants native to this area will be planted in the spring before the first honey samples are examined, Nolan said.

“You’re trying to see if the honey and the bees can help us find a body and solve a homicide,” said Nolan, who has a biology degree from Mason and is working on a PhD in biosciences.

The five-acre, Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory opened in early 2021, making Mason just the eighth location in the world capable of performing transformative outdoor research in forensic science using human donors and the only one in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Donation of human remains to the research facility will come through the Virginia State Anatomical Program (VSAP), which is a part of the Virginia Department of Health. Go here to learn more about donating your body to science.

Mason also entered a partnership with FARO Technologies, Inc. that resulted in the world’s first FARO-certified forensic laboratory.

In addition to those in the Forensic Science Program, the multidisciplinary project also includes the caretakers of the honey bees, as well as researchers and students from CAPMM, as well as from the Department of Environmental Science and Policy within the College of Science and Office of Sustainability, all of whom helped select the plants for the research design.