Office of Student Scholarship Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR)

George Mason University’s goals to not only “expand the impact of Mason’s research, scholarship, and creative enterprise” but also to “deliver a distinctive and inclusive student experience” provide a vast wealth of opportunities for undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience under the direct supervision from faculty to are leaders in their disciplines.

Joel Martin, associate professor of kinesiology and researcher in the SMART lab, is working to help first responders and ROTC cadets enjoy longer and healthier lives.

George Mason University anthropologist Jamie Clark and two undergraduate students spent part of the summer on an archaeological expedition in Sefunim Cave, Israel.  

In April, 39 Mason students attended the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at University of Wisconsin­–Eau Claire, where they made new friends, networked, and gained experiences that will help them in their studies and careers.

One of the highlights of biology major Gwendolyne Fields’ Mason career is her summer 2022 internship at the Cheetah Conservation Fund outside the town of Otjiwarongo in Namibia.

Honors College student Emily Synoski, who graduates this month from Mason with a biology degree, has also participated in Georgetown University’s competitive CORE pre-med program, where she and her team pitched an idea to deliver opioid overdose treatment to houseless populations via drones.

Karen Lee, assistant director of the Office of Student Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research (OSCAR), has been a part of the Sweet Adelines since 1991.

Mason student Nadya Steare recently completed a two-month residency at the Akureyri Art Museum in Iceland where she worked full time on a new series.

Molly Izer’s political curiosity knows no bounds. As a second-year student in the Honors College, Izer has already explored a range of political advocacy spheres. From her high school origins in grassroots organizing in Oregon to her freshman-year congressional internships in Washington, D.C., Izer is now taking the next step with policy research at George Mason University and beyond.  

It’s common to think of Indigenous peoples as living in the past. We may think of them around Thanksgiving or in old films and books. But Native Americans are very much here and now, said Jeremy Campbell, and after decades of struggle, that’s starting to be recognized.

In 2018, U.S. legislation granted federal recognition to six tribes in Virginia. A George Mason University team has been partnering with two of them, the Upper Mattaponi and Chickahominy nations, as they embark on being sovereign nations.