Conservation

Shima Mohebbi, assistant professor in the College of Engineering and Computing at George Mason University, together with researchers from universities across the country received a $1.6 million grant from NSF on Conservation Incentives and the Socio-Spatial Dynamics of Water Sustainability. Work during the project will include examining cooperative behavior among water users and developing water conservation incentives.

Sophia Chapin was the Honors College Multimedia Communications Intern from 2019 to 2021, during which time she improved the quality of Honors College student-, public-, and alumni- facing communications.

Ben Rhoades was involved with sustainability and environmental justice at Mason and is putting these commitments into practice as a Watershed Specialist for the Reston Association.

Outside their dorms, students at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) have visual access to rare and endangered species. On any given day, you can find them doing field and laboratory work with influential conservation mentors. Midway through the spring semester, the school known for its hands-on conservation training, had to quickly transition their courses online due to COVID-19.

American ginseng has been nicknamed “green gold” for good reason. The root that grows wild across the Appalachian Mountains can fetch more than $500 per pound and has been used medicinally for generations to support everything from brain function to the immune system.

Saving an endangered species is possible, but it takes a village. Conservationists, including three George Mason University alumni working at the Smithsonian and a current student, are part of the team at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) working to ensure red pandas move off the endangered list.