Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP)

In George Mason University’s College of Science—where nearly 16% of students are connected to the military—Air Force veteran Rylee Ledoux is using her public health experience and passion for the environment to support fellow veterans and pursue a future in environmental science. A former Air Force public health technician, she now serves as the senior military transition coordinator in Mason’s Office of Military Services while completing her bachelor of science in environmental science and policy.

George Mason University Environmental Science and Policy major Melanie Medrano has long aspired to work in the federal government, ideally on the front lines of creating meaningful environmental change. She took a major step toward that goal by starting an internship with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS, where she will assist in their communication efforts through December 2025.

George Mason University’s Potomac Science Center on Belmont Bay is a destination for environmental science research within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Slightly inland from shore, on a recent day in early March, the retention pond next to the center needed to be emptied to make changes to the drainage system. The Mason Nation was ready to rescue some of the creatures affected.

Cindy Smith, a professor in George Mason University's Department of Environmental Science and Policy, took her EVPP 302 Biomes and Human Dimensions students to a composting facility last fall to give them a front-row seat for food and yard waste recycling.

George Mason University’s Potomac Science Center hosted the Girls in STEAM Empowerment Conference on Thursday, February 29. This annual event welcomed 60 middle school students for a day of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM).

Mason is deeply committed to pioneering processes that can answer the grand challenges of water, its responsible management, and sustainability. In fact, the university’s interdisciplinary approach and cutting-edge research as part of its strategic direction, has turned Mason’s campuses into a Living Lab.

George Mason University’s Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC) recently hosted an invasive species removal event where students, faculty, staff, and community members came together to remove harmful, invasive plants around the Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge, Virginia.

On Wednesday, April 12, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger visited George Mason University’s Potomac Science Center in Woodbridge, which is now part of the congresswoman’s district.

In the Feather Identification Lab at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, Mason alum Carla Dove identifies the specific birds involved in collisions, with samples coming to her from various branches of the U.S. military, commercial airlines, and more

A team of Mason students held a bat box-building workshop as their capstone project in the Sustainability in Action class.