Grants & Awards

Alonso Aguirre, along with co-PI Joris van der Ham, Environmental Science & Policy, was awarded $47,000 for Enhancing Scientific Data Collection and Management of Natural Resources in the National Capital Region through Student Internships by the National Park Service.

Robert Axtell, Computational and Data Sciences, was awarded $32,000 for Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program for Joseph Shaheen by Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Prime Sponsor: U.S. Department of Energy.

Ancha Baranova, School of Systems Biology, co-published two papers, one on the Quality metrics for Next-Gen Sequencing in Nucleic Acids Research and another on Pan-schizophrenia gene collection analysis in Scientific Reports.

Barney Bishop, Chemistry and Biochemistry, was awarded $4,533 for New Hampshire IDEA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence by New England College. Prime sponsor: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Bishop also, along with Monique Van Hoek, School of Systems Biology have released their findings on sequencing the Komodo dragon genome, revealing multiple clusters of antimicrobial peptide genes that could prove instrumental in the fight against multi-drug resistant bacteria.

Natalie Burls, Atmospheric, Oceanic & Earth Sciences, along with Benjamin Cash,Erik Swenson, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies,and David Straus, and Abdullah al Fahad (Climate Dynamics PhD student), published a paper titled “The Cape Town ‘Day Zero’ drought and Hadley cell expansion” in Npj Climate and Atmospheric Science.

Center for Advancement of Human-Machine Partnership (CAHMP) and Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (CRASC) were the winners of George Mason University’s 2019 Center for Advanced Study Competition. College of Science faculty are participating in both these centers.

Benjamin Cash, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies was appointed to lead the NOAA UFS Public Release Workflow Focus Team.

Susan Crate, Environmental Science and Policy, was among the more than 100 authors from 30 countries to produce the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s “Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC).” Crate contributed as a lead author on Chapter One of SROCC which framed the rest of the report.

Tiange Cui, School of Systems Biology PhD alumni, was one of the four winners of the NF (Neurofibromatosis)  Hackathon challenge for his PreDist software developed for his Thesis.https://www.ctf.org/news/nf-hackathon-san-francisco

Kim de Mutsert, Environmental Science and Policy, was selected as the 2019 recipient of the Gulf Research Program’s Early-Career Fellowship. She was one of 20 scientists selected from around the nation for this year’s fellowship. https://www2.gmu.edu/news/579266

Ben Dreyfus, Physics and Astronomy, co-published a paper titled "Splits in students’ beliefs about learning classical and quantum physics," in the International Journal of STEM Education. https://stemeducationjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40594-019-0187-y

Harold Geller, Physics and Astronomy, spoke at the City of Fairfax Regional Library on 19 September 2019 about "Looking for Life in All the Wrong Places."

Amanda Haymond, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, is the lead author of the study of Protein-Painting Technology which is funded by the National Cancer Institute’s Innovative Molecular Analysis Technology. This work on protein-painting technology was featured in a variety of news articles.  https://www2.gmu.edu/news/580066

Kathleen Hunt, Biology, was awarded $142,954 for Collaborative Research: A New Baseline for Antarctic Blue and Fin Whales by the National Science Foundation.

Lance Liotta, School of Systems Biology, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, was awarded $130,000 for a Mass Spectrometry by Life Diagnostics, LLC. (MOU agreement)

Thomas Lovejoy, Environmental Science and Policy, is the recipient of the 2019 Virginia Outstanding Award for being one of the founders of the thriving scientific field of conservation biology and discovering the potentially devastating effects of global warming on biodiversity. He is the first George Mason University faculty member to receive this honor. https://www2.gmu.edu/news/579781

David Luther, Biology, co-published the following papers: “Incorporating local habitat heterogeneity and productivity measures when modeling vertebrate richness” in Environmental Conservation, “Evidence for differing trajectories of song in urban and rural populations” in Behavioral Ecology, and “ Effects of habitat management on overwintering grassland bird communities” in Journal of Wildlife Management and Wildlife Monographs.

Emanuel Petricoin, School of Systems Biology, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, was awarded $63,587 for Novel Degraders of the Androgen Receptor (AR) and AR Splice Variants (AR-SVs) by the University of Tennessee. Prime Sponsor: US Dept. of Health and Human Services. Petricoin was also awarded $50,000 for Effectively map the signaling architecture of Clear Cell Ovarian Cancer by the University of Arizona.

V. Alaric Sample, Environmental Science and Policy, was appointed to the National Academy of Sciences, Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. His participation is related to his work on the role of forest ecosystems in climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Karen Sauer, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $183,988 for Magnetometers for detection of explosives in car portals by Manufacturing Techniques Inclusion. Prime Sponsor: US Army Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Direct.

Timothy Sauer, Mathematical Sciences, was awarded $459,053 for Spiking Neural Networks with Delay Learning by the U.S. Department of the Army.

Cynthia Smith, Environmental Science and Policy, received the Prince William Conservation Alliance's 2019 Wildlife Champion award. "Honoring Dr. Smith's leadership in creating outdoor wildlife and watershed education programs that have reached over 100,000 youth. A talented visual storyteller who inspires people to take a close look at nature."

Lee Talbot, Environmental Science and Policy, received the 2019 Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

College of Science. Eight recently retired faculty were awarded the rank of Emeritus professor.  Edwin Schneider, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences; Claudio Cioffi-Revilla, Computational and Data Sciences; Robert Jonas and Albert Torzilli, Environmental Science and Policy; Kathleen Alligood and Stephen Saperstone, Mathematical Sciences; and Maria Dworzecka, Physics and Astronomy.

Alonso Aguirre, Environmental Science and Policy, coordinated and hosted the 2019 RCN EcoHealthNet Workshop “Emerging Threats to Global Health”, in June at George Mason University. EcoHealthNet is an undergraduate and graduate-level global research coordination network, funded by the National Science Foundation, to bring together world-class research scientists from medical, ecology, veterinary, epidemiology, virology, anthropology, climate science, data science, and economics fields to advance One Health research and education. He also delivered the opening keynote “Conservation Medicine and Transdisciplinarity: Gaps in Science and Policy in Wildlife Health and Conservation” at the 4th Wildlife Disease Association Latin American Section Meeting, in Museo del Jade, San Jose, Costa Rica. Aguirre was a senior author of two articles: “The One Health approach to toxoplasmosis: Epidemiology, control and prevention in humans, animals, and ecosystems” published in EcoHealth and “Transdisciplinary and social-ecological health frameworks—Novel approaches to emerging parasitic and vector-borne diseases” published in Parasite Epidemiology and Control. He also co-published an article titled “Operationalizing One Heath employing social-ecological systems theory: lessons from the Greater Mekong Subregion” published in Frontiers in Public Health.

Karen Akerlof, Environmental Science and Policy, is one of the recipients of the 2019 Provost’s Curriculum Impact Grant (CIG) competition. This seed grant program supports the generation of innovation curricular ideas and pilot programs that enhance Mason Impact and other cross – unit, multi – disciplinary undergraduate and graduate curriculum development activities. Akerlof and colleagues from CHSS and Schar, were awarded for their project, Minor in Environmental and Ecological Consulting.

Harbir Antil, Mathematical Sciences, was awarded $100,000 for Collaborative Research: Multilevel Methods for Optimal Control of Partial Differential Equations and Optimization-Based Domain Decomposition by the National Science Foundation.

Laura Antonia Balmaceda, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $247,320 for The Role that Coronal Shocks and Cross- Field Particle Transport Processes play in the Observation of SEP Events by NASA- Goddard Space Flight Center.

Raphael Attie, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $80,000 for Coronal Heating of Plumes and Fan Loops by the NASA – Goddard Space Flight Center and $80,000 for An Integrative Study on the Structure and Dynamic of the Solar Network Using Small-Scale Eruptive Events by Catholic University of America. Prime Sponsor: NASA. Attie was also awarded $37,531 for Evaluating and Validating Heliospheric Models Against Data and Each Other by Catholic University of America. Prime Sponsor: NASA.

Tyrus Berry, Mathematical Sciences, was awarded $395,425 for FRG: Collaborative Research: Non-Smooth Geometry, Spectral Theory, and Data: Learning and Representing Projections of Complex Systems by the National Science Foundation.

Dieter Bilitza, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $169,744 for Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) Science Support by Catholic University of America. Prime Sponsor: NASA

Benjamin Cash, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, gave an invited presentation on “Understanding our Changing Climate: Impacts on Health” at the EcoHealthNet 2019 workshop held at George Mason University in June. Cash also joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Unified Forecast System Verification and Validation Working Group.

Kim de Mutsert, Environmental Science and Policy, was awarded $76,000 for Gulf Research Program Early – Career Research Fellowship – Kim de Mutsert by The National Academies of Sciences. de Mutsert was also awarded $732 for Assessment of fish passage use and success in facilitating movement of regionally vulnerable and invasive fish species in Norther Virginia portion of the Potomac River by the Friends of Accotink Creek. She also co-published a paper titled Investigating Fishing Impacts in Nigerian Coastal Waters Using Marine Trophic Index Analyses” in Marine and Coastal Fisheries. https://doi.org/10.1002/mcf2.10077. She also organized a workshop in Florida as part of her NGOMEX project, which was featured on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website.   https://coastalscience.noaa.gov/news/with-second-workshop-nccos-continues-focus-on-hypoxias-effects-on-fish-and-fisheries/

Evan Del Duke, College of Science, was selected to receive the School of Business’ Prominent Patriot award, which will be recognized at Mason’s Annual Business Celebration in October. This award recognizes alumni who have proved to be engaged citizens, well-rounded scholars, and prepared and resourceful innovators and entrepreneurs.

Kenneth Dere, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $30,000 for CHIANTI database and software maintenance by the NASA – Goddard Space Flight Center.

Liping Di, Geography and Geoinformation Science, Center for Spatial Information Science and Systems, was awarded $50,500 for Disaster Resilience Pilot 2019 (DRP-2019) by Open GIS Consortium, Inc.

Paul Dirmeyer, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, was awarded $249,969 for Parameterizing the effects of sub-grid land heterogeneity on the atmospheric boundary layer and convection: Implications for surface climate variability and extremes by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

Harold Geller, Physics and Astronomy, received a Certificate of Achievement from Major General Cedric Wins of the United States Army Combat Capabilities Development Command for his participation in science and engineering judging. In June, Geller spoke at the Gum Spring Library in Stone Ridge, Virginia and at the Purcellville Library in Purcellville, Virginia. In July, Geller hosted students of the Global Research Frontiership in Astrobiology from South Korea at the George Mason University Observatory and spoke at the Rust Public Library in Leesburg, Virginia. In August, he spoke at the Montclair Community Library in Montclair, Virginia.

Joanna Jauchen, Mathematical Sciences, was appointed to the Program Committee for the International Conference on Technology for Collegiate Mathematics (ICTCM).

R. Christian Jones, along with Co-PIs, Amy Fowler, and Kim de Mutsert, Environmental Science and Policy, were awarded $85,122 for An Ecological Study of Gunston Cove: 2019-20 by County of Fairfax.

Nadine Kabbani, School of Systems Biology, was featured in EveryONE:The PLOS ONE blog. https://blogs.plos.org/everyone/2019/08/29/everyone-nadine-kabbani/

Cing- Dao (Steve) Kan, Physics and Astronomy, Center for Collision Safety and Analysis, was awarded $625,000 for TOPR2: Operate and Maintain the Federal Outdoor Impacts Laboratory (FOIL) by the U.S. Department of Transportation and $120,000 for Training Program for Automotive Engineers for Hyundai Motor Company by Hyundai Motor Company. Kan was also awarded $650,000 for TOPR1: Provide Analysis & Evaluation Research Support for Roadside Safety Team by US Department of Transportation.

Kylene Kehn – Hall, School of Systems Biology, National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, was awarded $75,600 for Mosquito Poll Testing for viruses through qRT-PCR- 2019-2020 by Prince William County Government.

Jim Kinter and Jagadish Shukla, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, reached a new record enrollment in their class, CLIM 101: Global Warming – Weather, Climate and Society. 209 students are enrolled in Fall 2019 course satisfying the Natural Science requirement, which is nearly double the enrollment in Fall 2018.

Dmitri Klimov, School of Systems Biology, was awarded $167,005 for DNA Origami-based Bio-scavengers for Nerve Agent Sequestration by Parabon NanoLabs, Inc. Prime Sponsor: US Army.

Barry Klinger, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, co-authored Ocean Circulation in Three Dimensions (Cambridge University Press) with a Johns Hopkins professor. The book is based on the George Mason University graduate course CLIM 7`52 Ocean General Circulation.

V. Krishnamurthy, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, was invited to contribute to the American Geophysical Union’s special issue on Nonlinear Systems in Geophysics: Past Accomplishments and Future Challenges. This peer reviewed and an open access paper entitled “Predictability of Weather and Climate” appeared in July. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019EA000586

Frank Krueger, School of Systems Biology, was awarded $155,078 for Developing a web-based substance-use intervention to enhance patients’ insight and motivation for continuing treatment by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

David Luther, Biology, co-published a paper titled “Funding and conservation actions for vertebrate species listed under the Endangered Species Act, is it enough?” in Endangered Species Reports. 

Julia Manganello, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, published a paper entitled, “Assessment of Climatology and Predictability of Mid-Atlantic Tropical Cyclone Landfalls in a High-Atmospheric-Resolution Seasonal Prediction System” in Monthly Weather Review that was highlighted by the American Meteorological Society in “Papers of Note.”

Yuri Mishin, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $359,992 for NSF-BSF: Architecting metallic nanoparticles for ultimate strength by the National Science Foundation.

Dusan Odstrcil, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $250,000 for Integrated Real-Time Modeling System for Heliospheric Space Weather Forecasting by NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center.

Mikell Paige, Chemistry and Biochemistry, was awarded $871,851 for Anti-Bacterial Compounds by the U.S. Department of the Army.

Emanuel Petricoin, School of Systems Biology, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, along with Co-PI Julia Wulfkuhle, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, were awarded $120,372 for Early Detection of Tumor Relapse in Triple Negative Breast Cancer by Eastern Virginia Medical School. Prime Sponsor: USAMRAA (US Army).

Peter Plavchan, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $21,000 for TESS Mission Follow-up by Vanderbilt University.

John Qu, Geography Geoinformation Science, was awarded $39,000 by USGS Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) Agreement- John Qu by the US Geological Survey.

Ling Ren, Environmental Science and Policy, was awarded $95,520 for Characterization of Phytoplanton Community Changes in Barnegat Bay Related to the Closure of Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Combining Next Generation Sequencing and Microscopic Analyses by the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium.

Jessica Rosenberg, Physics and Astronomy, is one of the recipients of the 2019 Provost’s Curriculum Impact Grant (CIG) competition. This seed grant program supports the generation of innovation curricular ideas and pilot programs that enhance Mason Impact and other cross – unit, multi-disciplinary undergraduate and graduate curriculum development activities. Rosenberg and her colleagues from VSE, were awarded for their project, Professional Development in Teaching and Communication for STEM Graduate Students.

Evelyn Sanders, Mathematical Sciences, was awarded $42,000 for Computation and visualization of dynamical structures by Simons Foundation.

Shobita Satyapal, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $48,000 for Unveiling a Population of Buried Dual AGNs: An XMM/NuSTAR Follow-up by NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center and $15,746 for Academic Fellowship Program for the US Naval Observatory – TO 663 by the NASA – Goddard Space Flight Center. Satyapal was also awarded $114,962 for Academic Fellowship Program for the US Naval Observatory – TO 716 by the NASA – Goddard Space Flight Center and $3,286 for Academic Fellowship Program for the US Naval Observatory – TO 646 by the US Department of the Navy.

Bohar Singh, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, PhD alumnus, was mentioned in a news story entitled “Satellites see hurricane winds despite military signal tweaks,” in the Journal Science. The article discussed recent work with NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS). A Colorado State University (CSU) professor, who is mentoring Singh as a post-doctoral research associate, wrote, “Bohar described evidence from CYGNSS that persistent winds boost ocean evaporation under a 3000-kilometer-wide set of rainstorms, sustaining them. That finding could help scientists forecast how the storm belt will change in a warmer climate.” https://science.sciencemag.org/content/364/6445/1019

Cynthia Smith, Environmental Science and Policy, was awarded $58,500 for FCPS Watershed Education AY 2019-20 by Fairfax County Public Schools.

Cristiana Stan, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, was invited to serve as one of the two co-leads of the newly formed National Weather Service Unified Forecast System Applications Team.

David Straus, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, along with Co-PI Kathleen Pegion, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, were awarded $471,763 for Ensemble Prediction and Predictability of Extreme Weather via Circulation Regimes by National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

Quansong (Daniel) Tong, along with Co-PI Junmei Tang, Center for Spatial Information Science and Systems were awarded $382,981 for NAQFC Community Emission Testbed (NCET): Accelerating anthropogenic emission updates for NAQFC FV3-CMAQ through community collaboration by the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

Laurie Trenary, along with Timothy DelSole, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, were featured in a Research Spotlight article in Eos. Trenary and DelSole led a team examining several climate models to evaluate how human-caused factors like greenhouse gases and aerosols might have affected the potential intensity of hurricanes. Human-induced global heating is expected to intensify hurricanes in the future, so the question of how much stronger and more damaging hurricanes will become has generated great interest among scientists and policymakers. Trenary, along with others, showed that different climate models simulate inconsistent changes in hurricane potential intensity in response to human emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols, so it is not possible yet to attribute changes in hurricane intensity to human activity. https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2018GL081725

Joris van der Ham, Environmental Science and Policy, is one of the recipients of the 2019 Provost’s Curriculum Impact Grant (CIG) competition. This seed grant program supports the generation of innovation curricular ideas and pilot programs that enhance Mason Impact and other cross – unit, multi – disciplinary undergraduate and graduate curriculum development activities. van der Ham and colleagues from CHSS and Schar, were awarded for their project, Minor in Environmental and Ecological Consulting.

Robert Weigel, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $95,000 for Heliophysics Application Programming Interface (HAPI) Standards and Software by NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center.

Jie Zhang, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $60,000 for Solar Spicules and Their Magnetic Reconnection by NASA – Goddard Space Flight Center. Zhang, along with Co-PI, Bradley Taylor

Cox, Physics and Astronomy were awarded $62,704 for Developing DKIST Level-2 Products: Inversions of HE I 1083.0nm – Bradley Cox by Association of Universities for Research. Prime Sponsor: National Science Foundation. Zhang, along with CO-PI Suman Kumar Dhakal, Physics and Astronomy, were awarded $69,824 for Developing DKIST Level-2 Products: Inversions of HE I 1083.0nm – Suman Dhakal by Association for Universities for Research. Prime Sponsor: National Science Foundation

Laura Antonia Balmaceda, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $292,098 for Understanding the Genesis of Coronal Mass Ejections and Shock Waves via Multi-Viewpoint EUV and Coronagraph Analysis by Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Prime Sponsor: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Ancha Baranova, School of Systems Biology, was awarded $50,000 for I-Corps: Virtual Clinical Trials Platform by National Science Foundation.

Martha Buckley, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, was awarded $103,688 for Changes in the subpolar North Atlantic: from the 1990s salinification to the 2015 cold blob – Year 3 by Cambridge Climate Institute. Prime Sponsor: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Natalie Burls, Atmospheric, Oceanic & Earth Sciences, was awarded $814,219 for a NSF Career Award: Understanding Cloud Feedback and Natural Aerosol Fingerprints to Interpret Past Warm Climate Forcing and Constrain Tropical Climate Sensitivity by the National Science Foundation. She was also a recipient of the 2019 George Mason University Teachers of Distinction Award. The Teachers of Distinction Award recognizes faculty members across campus for their exceptional teaching and their commitment to teaching-related activities.

Rocio Caballero-Gill, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, was featured in a research spotlight in Earth & Space Science News along with Linda Hinnov, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, analyzed ancient sediments for clues about evolution of climate in the past. In her paper with colleagues from Brown University and the U.S. Geological Survey, Caballero-Gill found evidence of a 100,000 year cycle during the Pliocene Epoch, the period of geological history that lasted from about 5.3 to 2.6 million years ago. The cycle they document may be an important component in the pacing between ice ages and interglacials during the Pliocene.

Benjamin Cash, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, along with Natalie Burls, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, published “Predictable and Unpredictable Aspects of U.S. West Coast Rainfall and El Niño: Understanding the 2015/16 Event” in Journal of Climate. Cash was also invited to join the NOAA SIP Verification and Validation Working Group.

Susan Cheselka, Environmental Science and Policy, received the George Mason University Employee of the Month award for June 2019. 

Andrea Cobb, College of Science, was awarded $6,000 from a private individual as a gift to support the Aspiring Scientist Summer Internship Program (ASSIP) Endowment.

Liping Di, Center for Spatial Information Science and Systems, was awarded $60,000 for George Mason University participation in OGC OWS-15 by Open GIS Consortium, Inc.

Gregory Foster, Chemistry and Biochemistry, was selected as the recipient of the 2019 OSCAR Mentoring Excellence Award. The OSCAR Mentoring Excellence Award recognizes and rewards outstanding Mason community members who mentor undergraduate students on their research and creative activities, and who foster a culture of student scholarship in support at George Mason University.

Harold Geller, Physics and Astronomy, spoke via Skype to a 6th grade class in Georgetown, Texas in April. He fielded questions about astronomy, and addressed what it was like to be an astronomer. Also in April, Geller gave a talk to the Braddock District Council titled “What is a Planet? Mars, Pluto and Exoplanets as Examples,” and spoke at the Woodlands Retirement Community regarding “Forty Years of Exploration of the Surface of Mars.” In May, Geller spoke at a symposium hosted by the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology regarding “Looking for Life in the Universe.”

Nirmal Ghimire, Physics and Astronomy, and Ziaoyan Tan, Chemistry and Biochemistry, received a College of Science Seed Award of $34,000 for Multifunctional Materials: A Marriage of Thermoelectric and Topological Insulators. Ghimire, along with Patrick Vora, Physics and Astronomy, also received  a College of Science Seed Award of $30,000 for Quantum magnets: Synthesis, transport and optical studies.

Geoffrey Gilleaudeau, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, received a College of Science Seed Award of $26,000 for Did ocean oxygenation trigger the Cambrian Explosion of animals?

Igor Griva, Mathematical Sciences, was awarded $115,790 for Development of machine learning methodology for estimating, predicting and informing preparedness of students by the American Institutes for Research. Prime Sponsor: U.S. Department of Education.

Xianjun Hao, Geography and Geoinformation Science, Center for Environmental Science and Technology, was awarded $43,541 for NOAA AMSU-A CDR Products Support by Riverside Technology, Inc. Prime Sponsor: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Robert Hazen, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, presented public lectures on the applications of data-driven discovery in planetary evolution research at The Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas and at “Balticon” (Science, sci-fi, and fantasy convention) in Baltimore, Maryland. He presented seminars on his recent mineralogical research at Kunshan University (China), Arizona State University (Phoenix), Rutgers University (New Jersey), Tokyo Tech (Japan), and the University of Idaho (Moscow). His new book, “Symphony in C: Carbon and the Evolution of (Almost) Everything” (NY: Norton) was published, as was his Roebling Medal lecture paper on a new “Evolutionary System of Mineralogy” in American Mineralogy, v. 104. In June, Hazen will retire after 30 years of teaching at George Mason University. He will continue as Senior Staff Scientist at the Carnegie Institution’s Geophysical Laboratory. 

Kerin Hilker-Balkissoon, College of Science, was awarded $14,400 from the International Development Institute in support of the Bangladesh cohort of Global STEM Scholars program. She also represented the College of Science at Aspen Institute ASCEND Roundtable: Post-Secondary/Workforce Pathways in May. She also presented at NAFSA 2019 Conference with Padhu Seshaiyer, College of Science, Mathematical Sciences, on the Academic Affairs Global STEM Pathways program model.

Hao Jing and Mikell Paige, Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Joseph Dizinno, Forensic Science Program, received a College of Science Seed Award of $20,000 for Rational Design of Smart Probes based on Lanthanide-Doped Upconersion Nanoparticles (UCNPs) for Next Generation Latent Fingerprint Imaging and Encryption.

Fatah Kashanchi, School of Systems Biology, National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, was awarded $68,642 for The Effect of Antiretroviral Drugs on Exosome Release and Associated CNS Dysfunction – Fellowship Catherine Demarino by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

William Kennedy, Computational and Data Sciences, co-published an article entitled “Using Machine Learning to Classify Individuals with Alcohol Use Disorder Based on Treatment Seeking Status” in The Lancet’s EClinical Medicine.

Younsung Kim, Environmental Science and Policy, served as chair for the panel of “Diversity Issus in the Classroom” at the 77th Annual Meeting of Midwest Political Science Association in Chicago.

Barry Klinger, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, had his letter to the editor on carbon emissions in the U.S. and around the globe published by the Washington Post in April. Klinger, along with Jagadish Shukla, gave short talks on climate at “Breaching Waterways: Along the Anacostia River”, a performance piece by a George Mason University performance artist in May.

Kylene Kehn-Hall, School of Systems Biology, National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases and Dmtiri Klimov, School of Systems Biology, received a College of Science Seed Award of $20,000 for Developing capsid-importin alpha inhibitors for the treatment of Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus infection.

Chung Kyu Park, Center for Collision Safety and Analysis, was awarded $200,000 for Development of Body Performance Prediction Methodology by Hyundai Motor Company.

Lance Liotta, School of Systems Biology, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, was awarded $426,265 for Bridging adult to pediatric markers of tuberculosis disease severity by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Rainald Lohner, Physics and Astronomy, Center for Computational Fluid Dynamics, was awarded $41,662 for Feflo Development and Support by the U.S. Department of the Navy.

Thomas Lovejoy, Environmental Science and Policy, published the first official report of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) in Science Advances, released in May.

Aarthi Narayanan School of Systems Biology, National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, was awarded $72,998 for Novel circulating RNA-based markers as diagnostic biomarkers of infectious diseases by CFD Research Corporation. Prime Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defense/Army.

German Perilla, Environmental Science and Policy, received $36,000 from Hidden Creek Farm to initiate a new Piedmont Honey Bee research project.  He also received $940 for Piedmont Community HBI Research.

Emanuel Petricoin, School of Systems Biology, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, was awarded $257,447 for Murtha Cancer Center Clinical Proteomics Platform – RPPA Assessment in the APOLLO Program by Henry M. Jackson Foundation. Prime Sponsor: U.S. Department of Defense.

Emily Rancourt, Forensic Science Program, received the George Mason University 2019 Teaching Excellence Award. The Teaching Excellence Award recognizes significant work that faculty members devote to course planning and preparation; curriculum development; and innovative teaching, advising and undergraduate and graduate mentoring.

Rudolf Reichert, Center for Collision Safety and Analysis, was awarded $95,000 for Development of Advanced Simulation and Analysis Tools for Subsystem Crash Evaluations by F.tech R&D North America Inc.

Christine Rosenfeld, Geography and Geoinformation Science, was awarded $6,000 for VIVA Course Redesign Grant: Harnessing the Geography that Surrounds Us by the State Council of Higher Education.

Shobita Satyapal, Physics and Astronomy, was awarded $10,000 for WISE Discovery of the Largest Sample of Obscured Dual AGNs: A NuSTAR Follow-up by Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Prime Sponsor: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Jagadish Shukla and Jim Kinter, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere Studies, spoke on Earth Day 2019 at Climate 3.0: The Science, the Politics, and the Policy Agenda. The event, moderated by a Washington Post columnist (and Mason professor), featured talks by President Cabrera and faculty from the Communications Department, the Mercatus Center, and other George Mason University departments.

Jennifer Sklarew, Environmental Science and Policy, received the 2019 George Mason University Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. The Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award recognizes significant work that adjunct faculty members devote to course planning and preparation; curriculum development; and innovative teaching, advising and undergraduate and graduate mentoring. Sklarew and one of her OSCAR mentees delivered an invited presentation to the Fairfax Federation of Civic Associations:  “Empowering Community Resilience:  Leveraging Storm Water Management for Green Electricity.”

Cristiana Stan and David Straus, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, were recognized by the scholarly journal Reviews of Geophysics. Their article, “Review of Tropical-Extratropical Teleconnections on Intraseasonal Time Scales” was one of the top downloaded papers in the 12 months following publication during the 2017-18 period.  The paper generated immediate impact and visibility and made a significant contribution to the advancement of the field.

Quansong (Daniel) Tong, Center for Spatial Information Science and Systems, was awarded $298,890 for Towards Optimal Configurations of NAQFC Chemistry and Aerosol Representations by National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

Mark Uhen, Atmospheric, Oceanic and Earth Sciences, was one of the featured speakers in a documentary, “When Whales Walked: Journeys in Deep Time,” which aired on the Public Broadcasting System on June 19th.

Iosif Vaisman, School of Systems Biology, received $10,000 from Leidos, Inc. for School of Systems Biology Projects.

Monique Van Hoek, School of Systems Biology, and Barney Bishop, Chemistry and Biochemistry, were awarded $20,000 for Pharmacokinetic study of an antibacterial peptide with potent in vivo activity. Van Hoek also received  $5,000 from a private individual gift for a new Electroporation system.

Andrea Weeks, Biology, was awarded $6,712 for Securing Virginia’s plant biodiversity heritage for the future: A new life for the Lord Fairfax Community College Herbarium by the Virginia Native Plant Society Inclusion.

Chaowei (Phil) Yang, Geography and Geoinformation Science, Center for Intelligent Spatial Computing for Water/Energy Science, was awarded $100,000 for I/UCRC: China Data Institute – Spatiotemporal Innovation Center Membership Agreement for Industry Partners – Harvard by the China Data Institute.