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Circular Economy and Zero Waste Research Roundtable
Join ISE for a Research Roundtable focused on creating circular economies and achieving zero waste here at Mason, in our local communities, and/or globally!
On March 23rd, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam signed Executive Order 77(EO 77) directing all executive branch state agencies, including state institutions of higher education, to discontinue buying, selling, or distributing many single-use items – such as disposable plastic and polystyrene food service containers, plastic straws and cutlery, and single-use plastic bottles – within 120 days. As Mason responds immediately to EO77, the newly-formed Mason Sustainability Council (MSC) has launched a Circular Economy and Zero Waste (CE-ZW) taskforce to slingshot off of this momentum to tackle the interrelated issues of purchasing, waste, recycling, composting, and other related challenges here at Mason.
On behalf of the MSC, ISE aims to bring together faculty who work on different dimensions of this topic and members of the CE-ZW taskforce for a roundtable discussion. Participating speakers are invited to briefly (3 min) describe their expertise and interests in topics relating to creating circular economies, minimizing waste, and/or understanding the social and environmental impacts of unsustainable consumerism. Come learn about who is doing what, find collaborators, and get involved in tackling these challenges here at Mason.
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Research to Action Webinar: Harnessing the Digital Revolution for Sustainability and Education for All
Moderator
Padmanabhan Seshaiyer, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor, Mathematical Sciences.
Panelists
Jennifer Garard, Science Officer & Manager, Sustainability in the Digital Age, Future Earth.
Ed Kearns, Chief Data Officer, First Street Foundation.
Hemant Purohit, Assistant Professor, Information Sciences & Technology Department, and Director, Humanitarian, Semantics & Informatics Lab, Volgenau School of Engineering.
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Building Tall with Mass Timber
Manufactured mass timber allows buildings to be built faster, more sustainably with a smaller carbon footprint than steel and concrete, and with a natural look which is healthier for space users. In Charlottesville, Virginia, the tallest mass timber building in the state is rising with the eight-story 187,000 sq. ft. Apex Clean Energy Headquarters building. In Washington D.C., a two-story 105,000 sq. ft. vertical expansion of 80 M Street, a Class-A office property, is the District’s first mass timber commercial office project.
Join the Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship and the Institute for a Sustainable Earth for a discussion with architectural firms William McDonough + Partners and Hickok Cole on these two pioneering real estate developments. Our featured speakers are: Eric Ross – Partner, William McDonough + Partners
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Director – US Global Hub of the Future Earth Secretariat and Chief Executive Officer
The US Global Hub of Future Earth is seeking a new Director. See the job posting here: Director US Global Hub of the Future Earth Secretariat and Chief Executive Officer - Future Earth US. Mason is part of the hosting consortium for the US Global Hub and would like to encourage outstanding leaders to apply for this unique and exciting role. The director will engage the world’s leading specialists in sustainability and environmental research from a trans-disciplinary perspective and involve various partners in strategic dialogues with these research communities to both understand and find solutions to some of the world’s most pressing sustainability challenges. This leader will ensure that Future Earth integrates this knowledge, based on research performed with integrity from different subject areas in a process of collaboration and co-design. This job posting will close on May 19, 2021.
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Research Fellow in Data Sciences
Are you interested in using data science to advance sustainability and climate resilience education? This Research Fellow position, joint between the Global Council for Science and the Environment and Mason, offers an opportunity to create a framework and replicable methodology to collect and analyze educational offerings down to the course level across the higher education landscape, focused initially on the study of environmental and energy resilience education. Applications will be considered beginning immediately on a rolling basis, until June 5, 2021 at 11:59pm ET. Learn more and apply today.
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Call for Abstracts: STAR-TIDES 15th Annual Capabilities Demo
Additional Information
The STAR-TIDES global knowledge-sharing network, orchestrated through George Mason University’s Center for Resilient and Sustainable Communities (C-RASC), will have its 15th annual capabilities demonstration on Mason’s Fairfax Campus from Oct 18-20, 2021. The event will combine physical exhibits of publicly available technologies with virtual panels and speakers. The overarching theme will be “Building Sustainable Resilience in a Post COVID–19 World.”
This is a call for session abstracts. This is not a call for exhibitors (more for exhibitors coming soon). Within the “Building Sustainable Resilience in a Post COVID–19 World” framework, we are inviting abstract submissions from researchers and practitioners in one of three formats:
- Panel or Interactive Talk: This is a ~60-minute timeslot, which can be formatted as a moderated panel, interactive presentation or workshop with one or more presenters. Audience engagement through virtual polling, Q&A or other strategies is strongly encouraged.
- Focused Presentation: This is a ~15-minute presentation related to one or more of the platforms/keys to success listed below; Organizers will group focused presentations into themed sessions and assign a session host/moderator.
- Lightning Talk: This is a ~5-minute pre-recorded presentation, preferably in the format of a poster. Poster templates can be found in PowerPoint, or through Mason’s Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research. Students are strongly encouraged to present posters, though this format is not limited only to students. Virtual lightening talk presenters are encouraged to also print physical posters for an in-person poster presentation to be held in Merten Hall on the George Mason University Fairfax campus on October 19 and/or 20.
Abstracts should be submitted by Monday, May 24, 23:59 EDT. Please contact star.tides.net@gmail.com for more information or if you have any questions.
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Sign up to Participate in Mason’s 17 Rooms-U Initiative!
Become part of the action at Mason to create a just, prosperous, and sustainable future! The United Nations established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a call to action to tackle the most pressing social and environmental challenges, including ending poverty, eradicating hunger, eliminating inequalities, addressing climate change, preserving ecosystems, and creating resilient and sustainable communities. The 17 Rooms protocol was developed by the Brookings Institution and the Rockefeller Foundation to spur community action on all of the SDGs.
Mason’s 17 Rooms-U will convene 17 dialogues -- inclusive of faculty, staff, students, and partners – this year. Each of the 17 groups will meet a few times over the next few months to discuss and identify near-term actions that we can and will take together to make progress on all of the 17 SDGs. A Summit event on October 1st, 2021 will bring participants from all of the rooms together to finalize an action plan and launch initiatives. For more information, check out our website that includes a recording of our informational webinar or contact Judit Ungvari. Or if you are already interested please sign up to participate by completing this form.
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ISE Faculty Profiles
The ISE faculty directory is a tool for you to find others with complementing expertise and for external and internal audiences to find you! If you haven’t yet submitted your research profile information for the directory, please complete your profile here.
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The Global Affairs Program Spring 2021 Colloquium Series "Race and Globalization"
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2022 NEH Summer Stipends Workshop
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Notice of Special Interest: Developing and Testing Multilevel Physical Activity Interventions to Improve Health and Well-Being
The Office of Disease Prevention and participating ICOs are issuing this notice to highlight our interest in encouraging highly innovative and promising translational research to improve our understanding of how to increase and maintain health-enhancing physical activity using multi-level interventions in a wide range of population groups across the lifespan.
- Funding source: Department of Health and Human Services
- Deadline: June 5, 2021
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Building Resilience Against Climate Effects: Implementing and Evaluating Adaptation Strategies that Protect and Promote Human Health
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to build and enhance the resilience of U.S. cities and states to the health impacts of climate change. Resilience, the ability to prepare for, absorb, recover from, and adapt to the health impacts of climate change, will be enhanced through three overarching strategies implemented by funded recipients. These strategies include 1) collaboration with stakeholders to create a Climate Impact Compendium that includes data on local climate projections, health effects, social determinants of health, and current adaptive capacity; 2) implementation and evaluation of adaptation actions that address the threats identified in the Compendium; and 3) use and dissemination of evaluation results to improve adaptation actions and enhance understanding of effective climate resilience adaptations in public health and related fields.
- Funding source: Department of Health and Human Services
- Anticipated funding amount: $400,000
- Deadline: June 18, 2021
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Understanding and Addressing the Impact of Structural Racism and Discrimination on Minority Health and Health Disparities
This initiative will support (1) observational research to understand the role of structural racism and discrimination (SRD) in causing and sustaining health disparities, and (2) intervention research that addresses SRD in order to improve minority health or reduce health disparities.
- Funding source: National Institutes of Health
- Anticipated funding amount: $500,000
- Deadline: July 20, 2021
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Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources
The fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) hold much promise as sectors of the economy where we can expect to see continuous vigorous growth in the coming decades. STEM job creation is expected to outpace non-STEM job creation significantly, according to the Commerce Department, reflecting the importance of STEM knowledge to the US economy.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) plays a leadership role in developing and implementing efforts to enhance and improve STEM education in the United States. Through the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) initiative, the agency continues to make a substantial commitment to the highest caliber undergraduate STEM education through a Foundation-wide framework of investments.
- Funding source: National Science Foundation
- Anticipated funding amount: $3,000,000
- Deadline: July 21, 2021
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Mason’s High Impact Grants
Deadline: May 15, 2021
Application
The High Impact Grant is a new funding opportunity for master’s and doctoral students. This Grant provides tuition support for graduate students’ courses that significantly enhance training and education and/or satisfy credit-bearing requirements towards completion of the graduat degree. High Impact Grants are awarded on a competitive basis. Applicants must submit materials to the Office of the Provost by Saturday, May 15th, 2021.
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SCB Graduate Student Research Fellowship Awards
Deadline: May 18, 2021
Application
The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) allocates awards funding to support ten graduate student members whose research advances the science and practice of conserving biological diversity and is now accepting submissions for the 2021 application cycle.
The fellowship is designed to support graduate students who need assistance with costs toward field expenses in order to complete their degree.
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Learn Coastal Classroom Internship
Deadline: Application reviewed on rolling basis
Application
City Parks Learn has operated interdisciplinary environmental education programs in schools and parks since 1992. Coastal Classroom focuses on coastal ecology, water quality, urban waterfront restoration and preservation in shoreline parks. Coastal Classroom offers multi-session programs for summer camp organizations, community based organizations and other youth summer groups.
Coastal Clasroom is seeking a College Intern to assist Coastal Classroom Staff in providing instruction and guidance to middle school students and paid high school interns under the supervision of the Coastal Classroom Program Manager.
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Systems of Sustainable Consumption and Production: Virtual Experts Workshop
Monday, May 10 - Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Registration
The Belmont Forum is scoping a new international funding call focused on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SSCP). Experts are invited to share their perspectives on transdisciplinary approaches and priorities relevant to SSCP and discussion about whether these approaches and priorities have shifted post-pandemic. The workshop will be conducted with a government-secured Zoom platform on May 10 and 11, 2021 to maximize global input to this process.
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Climate Exp0
Monday, May 17 - Friday, May 21, 2021
Registration
Climate Exp0 will showcase the latest thinking and most relevant international research in the run-up to COP26 around five key themes. Online, free, and open to all, it’s an opportunity to connect policymakers, academics and students across the world, and harness the power of virtual collaboration to help deliver a zero-carbon, resilient world.
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SRI Virtual Idea Market
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
Submission form
The Sustainability Research and Innovation (SRI) Congress provides an exciting opportunity for students, young professionals, and innovators to share their sustainability advances, concepts, designs, prototypes, and products in a global Virtual Idea Market. Participants in the Idea Market are invited to create a short, 3-minute video/digital presentation of their idea to the SRI Congress Virtual Market. Please visit our website to view an example Idea Market submission. Submissions can be at the idea stage and do not need to be developed concepts or results.
Virtual Idea Market participants need to register for SRI2021. Click this link to apply for Early Career Scholarships for young professionals to help cover the cost of registration. Hurry and apply! The application deadline for Early Career Scholarships is May 15! Additional information available at SRI2021.
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Spring 2021 Virtual Grants Conference
June 7, 2021 to June 11, 2021
Registration
The Spring 2021 NSF Virtual Grants Conference is designed to give new faculty, researchers, and administrators key insights into a wide range of current issues at NSF. NSF program officers will be providing up-to-date information about specific funding opportunities and answering attendee questions. Registration is now open, and the webinar is free of charge.
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Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress 2021
Saturday, June 12 - Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Registration
The Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress 2021 (SRI2021) is the world’s first transdisciplinary gathering in sustainability – it will be a space of fierce advocacy for sustainability scholarship, innovation, collaboration and action. The annual event unites global sustainability leaders, experts, industry and innovators to inspire action and promote a sustainability transformation.
SRI2021 will be a hybrid event, with a diverse and innovative online program alongside onsite participation in Brisbane, Australia. SRI2021 will take place June 12-15, 2021 with activities, networking, training and more both prior and following the event. SRI is a joint initiative of Future Earth and the Belmont Forum.
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The Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE) aims to connect members of the Mason community with others across the Mason community–and with other communities, policy-makers, businesses and organizations–so that, together, we can more effectively address the world’s pressing sustainability and resilience challenges.
The ISE Newsletter provides up-to-date information on conferences, funding opportunities, and research pertaining to environmental science and sustainability. The biweekly newsletter aims to facilitate information sharing among researchers, practitioners, and relevant local, national, and international organization.
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