Mason expands forensic science training in rural areas with $2 million grant

by John Hollis

The National Center on Forensics, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, awarded a $2 million grant to the college’s Forensic Science program to provide medical and legal learning opportunities for medical students training as deputy medical examiners/coroners in rural areas. In addition, the program will offer forensic science and legal training to district attorneys, judges and law enforcement officials.

It was a busy year for our highly-regarded forensic science program, which recently unveiled its new Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory, slated to open Spring 2022 on Mason’s Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, VA. The five-acre facility will be just the eighth in the world capable of transformative outdoor research in forensic science using human remains.

Mason GGS students partner with local organizations to assess risk, address digital equity

by Laura Powers

Experiential learning. Capstone projects. These are not just academic buzzwords, but ways for students to look beyond classroom theory and use real world data or scenarios to solve specific scientific problems.

One such course is Mason’s Web Mapping (GGS 462/692) offered by the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science (GGS). The class lets students go beyond just learning the techniques for taking data and creating data-driven interactive web mapping applications that help explain key findings. Students split into groups to work with Mason Science partner organizations that supply actual data for a specific operational need. Students must find solutions to these real-world challenges.

The course’s instructor, GGS Department Chair Dieter Pfoser, requires students to utilize the same tools and resources commonly used in the industry. “We build the groups to simulate the process of working with a team to solve complex problems—dividing work among the groups and meeting specific deadlines to accomplish tasks in a finite period of time," Pfoser explained.

Image credit: Copyright 2021 Mapbox; Copyright 2021 OpenStreetMap

NASA's TESS, Spitzer missions discover a world orbiting a unique young star

by Francis Reddy and Tracy Mason

For more than a decade, astronomers searched for planets orbiting AU Microscopii, a nearby star still surrounded by a disk of debris left over from its formation. Now scientists using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and retired Spitzer Space Telescope report the discovery of a planet about as large as Neptune that circles the young star in just over a week.

The system, known as AU Mic for short, provides a one-of-a-kind laboratory for studying how planets and their atmospheres form, evolve and interact with their stars.

“AU Mic is a young, nearby M dwarf star. It’s surrounded by a vast debris disk in which moving clumps of dust have been tracked, and now, thanks to TESS and Spitzer, it has a planet with a direct size measurement,” said Bryson Cale, a doctoral student at George Mason University. “There is no other known system that checks all of these important boxes.”

The new planet, AU Mic b, is described in a paper co-authored by Cale and led by his advisor Peter Plavchan, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Mason and Director of the George Mason Observatory. Their report was published on June 24, 2020 in the journal Nature.

Located less than 32 light-years from Earth, AU Microscopii is among the youngest planetary systems ever observed by astronomers, and its star throws vicious temper tantrums. You’ve heard of the “terrible twos”? Well, AU Mic is in the midst of its terrible 22 … millions. NASA celebrates this discovery with a new poster — based on real science — in its popular Galaxy of Horrors series.

CDS faculty helps bring diversity into the data science game

by Dede Chasten and Tracy Mason

According to a 2017 study of part time technical programs reported in Forbes, the emerging data science field had the lowest representation of female, African American, and Latino students.

The Sports Analytics Club Program was created to address this disparity, and by partnering with Mason's Department of Computational and Data Sciences (CDS) and athletic programs, they are building a pipeline for a diverse group of students to grow into this extremely popular and prosperous field.

George Mason CDS adjunct professor, Ralph Romanelli, a SACP faculty advisor at Quince Orchard High School (QOHS) in Gaithersburg, MD, connects the Mason CDS program to the high school students in their SACP program. The partnership introduces collegiate level data science study opportunities to the high schoolers while mentoring them through exciting data science experiences.

“We want to excite and motivate the under-represented populations to seek advanced STEM degrees in college and work in STEM-related positions within the technology industry in northern Virginia,” Romanelli explained.

In collaboration with Tommy Balcetis of the Denver Nuggets, QOHS Teacher Advisor Michael Schweizer and Romanelli led the club to create their Jamal Murray All-Star presentation, a research project to promote Murray of the Denver Nuggets for the 2019-2020 NBA All-Star game.

Students view firsthand what it is like to have a career in data and sports analytics while engaging in meaningful real-life sports projects. SACP's vision to involve as many students from diverse backgrounds as possible encourages more women and minorities to get involved in data science.

Mason scientists host and maintain free USDA soil moisture portal

Farmers, researchers, meteorologists and others in both the public and private sectors now have timely access to high-resolution NASA data on soil moisture, thanks to a new tool developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) in collaboration with NASA and the Center for Spatial Information Science and Systems (CSISS) at Mason.

“Back in 2018, CSISS received a $3 million grant to collaborate with the NASA Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Service Center (GES DISC)," said Geography and Geoinformation Science Professor and CSISS Director, Liping Di while describing the project’s progression. "Part of this research focused on enhancing GES DISC precipitation data collection and ways to make these data points easily accessible to the community.”

This collaboration also focused on services for both NASA Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) and Making Earth Science Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Program.

In spring 2020, Di and Eugene Yu, research associate professor for CSISS, began work with Open Geospatial Consortium, Inc. (OGC), an organization dedicated to improving access to geospatial information, with a focus on location-related problems and possible service solutions.

They received $500,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in February 2021 to assist in improving Cropland Data Layer data sharing that typically is released a year after the data is collected. Since soil moisture is important information for agricultural yield and productivity, Di and his team aim to make this data accessible in a timelier way so informed in-season agricultural decision-making can happen. USDA researchers and statisticians will also incorporate the tool into applications from spotting flooded fields to identifying conditions that might prevent planting.

Students receive Cosmos Conservation Research Grants

by Mariam Aburdeineh and Damian Cristodero

Around the world, environmental crises are making headlines, from the potential extinction of species and ecosystems to climate change. Students in George Mason University’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP) are driven to make a change.

In 2020, five PhD students in the department received grants from the Cosmos Club Foundation to tackle a wide range of conservation efforts.

"In any given year, Mason has received one or two Cosmos grants," said Kathryn Agoston, director of graduate fellowships. “To earn five is very exciting.”

"The role Mason students play in helping the earth is extremely fundamental," said Alonso Aguirre, ESP department chair. "Mason’s top-tier faculty, R1 research status, and unparalleled opportunities in the backyard of the nation’s capital help take their impact to a new level."