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Join the first ISE-ICAP faculty cohort and bring your work to the world!
We are delighted to announce the launch of the first ISE-ICAP faculty cohort experience. The Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE) has partnered with the Virginia SBDC to create a sustainability-focused cohort of Mason faculty to participate in the Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP). ICAP is a Mason program that helps faculty bring their work to the world. This can include traditional commercialization, creating a social venture or non-profit, or developing a plan unique to your area of research. By providing experiential learning programs and one-on-one advising with a team of experienced entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, ICAP works with faculty members to provide support along the entire journey towards impact scaling. ICAP is partnered with sustainability-focused organizations throughout the Commonwealth and has worked with over 120 faculty and student teams over the past three years.
This will be a unique opportunity for ISE affiliated faculty to experience the ICAP program together and accelerate the time from innovation to impact. These services are offered at no cost and all advising is confidential. Come learn more about the experiential 2.5-week course and the mentoring opportunities at an informational session at 12:30p on April 15th. Or email Josh Green to join the first ISE-ICAP cohort.
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COVIDsmart Study Launched to Understand Pandemic’s Impact on Individuals and Communities Across Virginia
COVIDsmart is a virtual study that utilizes advanced health research technology to examine health, well-being, social and economic effects of COVID-19 on people of all walks of life. The study welcomes participants from all walks of life across Virginia to share information on how the pandemic has affected their lives, even if they have not had COVID-19. The initiative is sponsored by EVMS-Sentara Healthcare Analytics and Delivery Science Institute (HADSI), George Mason University (Mason), and health technology company Vibrent Health who are leading the initiative to gather information to help participants, researchers and public health entities better understand and address the impacts of the pandemic and future health crises.
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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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Mason's Earth Month 2021: "Mason Patriots for the Planet"
Earth Month (April) is a special time at Mason, and this year we're going bigger than ever before! The Office of Sustainability (OoS) & the Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE) are pleased to announce the theme for this year's Earth Month: "Mason Patriots for our Planet." In addition, we're partnering with EARTHDAY.ORG -- the organization behind the global observance of Earth Day -- for the second year in a row!
In April, Mason Nation hosts many programs, events, and initiatives to celebrate Earth Month and exemplify our commitment to a just and sustainable future for all. OoS and ISE are working together to create a calendar that will promote all of these events and opportunities to engage.
To ensure we're promoting and showcasing your Earth Month programs, events, and initiatives, we're sharing this brief survey. We'll use this information to populate our Earth Month calendar while also exploring opportunities for collaboration and partnership.
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Curriculum Impact Grants to Engage the SDGs
Are you looking to transform your curriculum and give students more opportunities to have an impact on the world? This year, all of the Provost’s Curriculum Impact Grant proposals must engage with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Check out the full call for proposals.
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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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Solve Climate by 2030: The Co-Benefits of Clean Energy in Virginia
Join us on April 7th and be part of the Solve Climate by 2030 global dialogues. Universities in all 50 states and in 50 different countries are hosting conversations with climate solutions experts to discuss ambitious, yet feasible, actions that are happening in their states or countries that will help get the world on track to reduce carbon emissions by 2030 and prevent severe destabilization of the global climate.
George Mason University’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth and the University of Virginia’s Environmental Resilience Institute are hosting the following panel of dynamic speakers to discuss the clean energy transition already underway in Virginia. Come learn about the co-benefits of clean energy in Virginia as these panelists explore some of the challenges, solutions, and benefits that this transition brings across a spectrum of Virginia interests.
Fatima Ahmad, Senior Counsel. U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis.
Carrie Hearne, Associate Director, Energy Equity Program, Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy.
David Murray, Executive Director, Chesapeake Solar and Storage Association.
Jerome A. Paulson, MD, FAAP, Advisor, Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health and Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and of Environmental & Occupational Health, George Washington University.
Moderator: Jay Shimshack, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Public Policy and Economics, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, University of Virginia.
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Resistance and Resilience: Student Activism and Well-being
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Research to Action Webinar: Clean Energy, Decarbonization, and Climate Action
George Mason University’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth and the Center For Climate Change Communication are co-hosting this webinar on Clean Energy, Decarbonization, and Climate Action. The increasing threats of climate change require urgent and concerted effort to mitigate atmospheric carbon emissions and strengthen adaptive capacities to climate threats in both highly industrialized and developing countries. This webinar will highlight the importance of decarbonizing the global economy, ensuring universal access to modern and renewable energy sources, and strengthening resilience to climate-related hazards and natural disasters. The speakers will address the research and practice of clean energy technology and innovation policy, the health effects of climate change, and the development of clean and renewable energy sources.
Moderator
Ed Maibach, University Professor and Director of the Center for Climate Change Communication, College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Panelists
David Hart, Professor and Director of the Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, Schar School of Public Policy and Government.
John Kotcher, Research Assistant Professor, Center for Climate Change Communication, College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
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Health & Science Industry Week
Moday, March 29 - Friday, April 2
Registration
The Health & Science Industry Week presented by University Career Services encourages Mason students to attend many of the incredible events hosted from March 29-April 2nd. Health & Science Industry Week gives students the opportunity to explore career paths by meeting with professionals working in these fields. During the virtual event series, learn from people who have been there, explore opportunities, and go behind the scenes to find out what it takes to work in these fast-growing fields!
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Advancement of Robotic Process Automation in the Public Sector
Tuesday, March 30, 2021, 2 - 3pm ET
Registration
Join the Schar School for a non-IT conversation of how Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is impacting private and public organizations to help them be made more efficient and effective, while enhancing the value of work through the elimination of mundane and repetitive activities. Find out the constraints, challenges, and opportunities facing wide spread adoption and how RPA will likely impact the public sector and broad constituencies.
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Green & Sustainable Careers Mini-Conference
Thursday, April 1, 1:30 - 3:30pm ET
Zoom Meeting Link
University Career Services and the Office of Sustainability are co-hosting this multi-faceted mini-conference for students to engage with sustainability professionals on a variety of career development topics including career planning, writing effective application materials, and job searching. Students will engage with working professionals in the field who are living their ‘green’ dream. This event kicks off Earth Month at Mason.
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Vernon M. and Minnie I. Lynch Lecture
Thursday, April 1, 2021, 5:30pm ET
Registration
Acclaimed Emmy, Peabody and Alfred I. duPont Columbia Award-winning documentary filmmaker Lynn Novick will join the Carter School on April 1st to present this year's Vernon M. and Minnie I. Lynch Lecture. For 30 years, in collaboration with Ken Burns, she has been directing and producing landmark documentary films about American culture, history, politics, sports, art, and music for PBS. Through an intimate conversation, “The Stories We Have To Tell” and film clips, Lynn will discuss her body of work as it relates to peace, justice, and conflict resolution.
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Galileo's Science Cafe: Commonwealth at Risk: Predicting Global Warming and Preparing for the New Normal, with James L. Kinter III, Ph.D.
Thursday, April 1, 2021, 7 - 9pm ET
Registration
Join the College of Science for the latest Galileo's Science Cafe. This presentation by Dr. Jim Kinter will outline how and why Earth’s climate is changing in response to human activities such as fossil fuel combustion and land use change, and how those changes will affect the planet, the nation and the Commonwealth. Mason’s Center for Ocean-Land-Atmosphere studies (COLA) is advancing our understanding of climate dynamics and helping to develop the next generation of computer models to project the future of the Earth system and how those changes will manifest in the mid-Atlantic region. A methodology for developing and assessing solutions that can be applied at the municipal, state and national levels will round out the presentation.
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Immigrant Writers in the US: New American Voices Award Winners Share Their Stories
Thursday, April 8, 2021, 1pm ET
Registration
Join the Institute for Immigration Research and Fall for the Book for a webinar on immigrant writers in the US. Storytelling is an important tool that can educate people about immigrants and immigration. On this webinar, three past winners of the Institute for Immigration Research New American Voices Award will share how they draw from their own experiences to tell beautiful, complex stories about immigrants' lives in the US. Fall for the Book and the Institute for Immigration Research created the New American Voices Award in 2018 to recognize a recently published book that illuminates the complexity of human experience as told by immigrants, whose work is historically underrepresented in writing and publishing.
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Spring 2021 Kritikos Anti-Racist Reading Group: Radical Self-Care & Loving Blackness
Friday, April 9, 2021, 1 - 2:30pm ET
Registration
Inspired by mass actions and worldwide protests demanding racial justice, the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) Arts in Context is continuing the Kritikos Anti-Racist Reading Group this Spring, moderated by Mason faculty members Jessica Kallista and Kristin Johnsen-Neshati, with help from co-organizers, Aishah-Nyeta Brown, Natalie Ledesma, Jordan McRae, and Sang Nam. The talks will take place Fridays, 1pm - 2:30pm, February 19 - April 9, 1-2:30 pm.
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Business for a Better World Center Speaker Series with Kerry Kennedy
Friday, April 16, 2021, 12pm - 1:30pm ET
Registration
The Business for a Better World Center welcomes Kerry Kennedy, a world-renowned human rights activist and President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. Kennedy works on a range of issues, including child labor, women’s rights, disappearances, indigenous land rights, judicial independence, freedom of expression, ethnic violence, criminal justice reform, immigration, impunity, and environmental justice.
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A History of Zoning and Segregation in Virginia: Lessons for Today
Monday, April 29, 2021, 5 - 6:15pm ET
Registration
The issues Northern Virginia faces today regarding affordability and inequitable access to housing are not just a result of market forces of supply and demand. Our history of zoning and development shaped the way housing and neighborhoods in our cities and suburbs look and function today.
Join the Business for a Better World Center and the Center for Real Estate Entrepreneurship of the George Mason School of Business to discuss the historic roots of housing inequities and the opportunities for change, based on the recent “Zoning and Segregation in Virginia” report from a leading law firm in our area, McGuire Woods.
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The Thriving Cities Challenge
The Thriving Cities Challenge is designed to empower community-led teams with new and different ideas for advancing health, resilience, and equity in their city. This initiative ensures that those most impacted by climate change should also be at the forefront of actions to combat its effects.- Funding source: Salazar Center, Colorado State Universit
- Anticipated funding amount: $50,000-100,000
- Deadline: April 15, 2021
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Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences
This National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Research Announcement (NRA), Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) – 2020, solicits basic and applied research in support of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD). ROSES is an omnibus NRA, with many individual program elements, each with its own due dates and topics. All together these cover the wide range of basic and applied research and technology in space and Earth sciences supported by SMD.- Funding source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Anticipated funding amount: Program will fund ~1250 proposals totalling ~$600 million over the lifetime of the awards
- Deadline: April 21, 2021
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2021 Commonwealth Coastal & Marine Policy Fellowship
Receive on-the-job training and hone your professional skills while improving the stewardship of the Commonwealth’s coastal and marine resources. The Commonwealth Coastal & Marine Polic Fellowship develops and supports exceptional post-graduates by partnering them with a state government or non-governmental organization host office mentor. The program also aims to increase the capacity of the host offices by supporting fellows who are working on mission-relevant programs, and leveraging the knowledge and capacity of Virginia’s academic institutions. - Funding source: Virginia Sea Grant and the Virginia Environmental Endowment
- Anticipated funding amount: $35,000 stipend, $5,000 for critical expenses and professional development activities
- Deadline: April 23, 2021
- Contact: Samuel Lake
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Fiscal Year 2021 Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Research Program
The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office (NCBO) encourages projects that are collaborative, interdisciplinary, and will leverage other resources. Preference will be given to projects with clear near term management application, to projects targeted in specific tributaries or watersheds to improve understanding of the local ecosystem, and to principal investigators that have not been funded through the Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Research Program within the past five years.- Funding source: U.S. Department of Commerce
- Estimated number of awards: 5
- Anticipated funding amount: $250,000
- Deadline: April 26, 2021
- Contact: Andrew Larkin
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A Cooperative Agreement for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation
The NOAA Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program (CAMP) supports research, programs, projects and other activities related to NOAA’s mission, primarily through collaborations among scientists and professionals in areas of mutual interest across the full spectrum of NOAA climate sciences. This cooperative agreement will focus on the following four priority areas: 1) Improved scientific understanding of the changing climate system and its impacts; 2) Scientific assessments of current and future states of the climate system that identify potential impacts and inform science, service, and stewardship decisions; 3) Mitigation and adaptation efforts supported by sustained, reliable, and timely climate services; 4) A climate-literate public that understands its vulnerabilities to a changing climate and makes informed decisions.- Funding source: Department of Commerce
- Anticipated funding amount: $50,000,000
- Deadline: May 24, 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
- Deadline: July 20, 2021
- Contact: Jennifer Alvidrez
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Compost Research College Scholarships
Deadline: April 16, 2021
Application
The Compost Research & Education Foundation offers an annual scholarship to college students to assist with their compost research projects. The scholarship is available for undergraduate through PhD students studying at a college or university in the United States. The scholarship is for $4,000, and also includes an invitation to present research findings at a US Composting Council Annual Conference.
The goal of this scholarship is to bring assistance to students interested in compost research and to spark interest in future careers in the composting industry.
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Commonwealth Coastal & Marine Policy Fellowship
Deadline: April 23, 2021
Application
Get on-the-job training and policy experience with a state agency or NGO. Hone your professional skills while improving the stewardship of the Commonwealth’s coastal and marine resources. This program aims to increase the capacity of state agency or non-governmental organization host offices by supporting fellows who are working on mission-related programs. Applicants should be graduate students close to completing their degree (Master's, Ph.D., or J.D.) at a Virginia university or college in a field relevant to coastal and marine policy issues field.
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Women Leading Transportation Electrification
Tuesday, March 30, 2021, 10am ET
Registration
In honor of Women’s History Month, Generation180 is bringing together three inspiring women who are leading the charge to electrify transportation in Virginia, across the United States, and internationally. Joining us are Jane Akumu, Program Officer from the United Nations Environment Program, Liza Borches, President and CEO of Carter Myers Automotive, a fourth generation automotive retailer in Virginia, and Britta Gross, Managing Director, Mobility at the Rocky Mountain Institute. Each will offer their unique perspective on a vision for the future of mobility and careers in transportation electrification.
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Resilience Webinar Series Part 7: Sustainable Energy Management of Data Centers: Cases from Germany
Thursday, April 15, 2021, 10 - 11:30am ET
Registration
Please join Virginia Tech, Baumann Consulting and the Northern Virginia Regional Commission for a webinar that will look into ways to strengthen applied research and technical cooperation on sustainable energy management of data centers and local climate planning between Northern Virginia and German metropolitan regions such as Frankfurt.
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Sustainability Research & Innovation Congress 2021
June 12 - 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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