Inquiring Minds

University project shows logistics, not apathy, suppress student voting

Katarina Benson — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 16:09:21 +0000

University project shows logistics, not apathy, suppress student voting Katarina Benson Thu, 08/06/2026 - 12:09

Every election cycle brings headlines about the lack of voter participation among 18- to 24- year-olds. The conventional wisdom is that young people are too apathetic or tuned out to vote. But, according to 91�� research from the 2025 election cycle, that story is wrong.

For the past four years, Jennifer Victor, an associate professor of political science, has led groups of undergraduates at the Schar School of Policy and Government in experiential research activities to discover what actually keeps college students from voting. 

More than 60 students volunteered to help with the research. Photo provided

“We surmised it’s not that students don’t care,” said Victor. “Maybe it’s that voting is actually hard for them.”

During the 2022, 2023, and 2024 elections in Virginia, Victor worked with Schar School students to conduct experiments and surveys to understand the barriers to voting and test ways of overcoming them. One previous finding was that—not unlike their older counterparts—students are more likely to vote when someone they know personally asks them to. 

Victor and her team found that students often juggle multiple addresses, live in temporary housing, and move between states with different rules. Many assume they have to travel home to vote. And when the process feels confusing or inconvenient, participation drops. What happens if those barriers are removed? Victor and her student researchers wanted to find out.

“For the 2025 election, the student volunteers put into practice all the principles I’d learned in the prior studies,” Victor said. “But could we really increase turnout during an off-year election with no federal candidates on the ballot? The low salience 2025 election was a good test to see if our methods would work.”

Victor said that key to the effort was creating a cross-campus coalition with a leadership team that included staff members from the Offices of University Life and Community Engagement and Civic Learning. Working with a local chapter of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters, they recruited and trained more than 60 volunteers who wanted to help their peers vote.

Professor Jennifer Victor (far right) with some of the Mason Votes volunteers. Photo provided

The program, organized as Mason Voting Ambassadors, included formal training in regulations around voter registration, on-campus tabling events, classroom presentations, and an Instagram campaign, as well as broadcast and editorial content produced with Student Media and a website and email hotline for accurate voting information and resources.

After the election, the students analyzed turnout at the university’s precinct in Merten Hall, the polling place for on-campus residents. Voter turnout increased.

“The results stunned us,” said Victor. “George Mason was the only precinct in all of Fairfax County to see an increase in voter turnout compared to the 2024 presidential election.”

Not only that—she said turnout at the polling place was 48 percent higher in 2025. “In a year when turnout typically falls across the state, George Mason moved dramatically in the opposite direction. It seems we did something right.”

Their research confirmed that students vote when the barriers to voting are lowered. Making voting understandable, accessible, and relevant can help drive young people to the polls. 

“This is the type of evidence-based social science that students at the Schar School are learning—turning their passions into action and developing the social science tools to shape smarter, more responsive public policy for the world they’re inheriting,” Victor said.

This initiative supports strengthening peace, trust, and engagement in democracy solution of George Mason's Grand Challenge Initiative.

George Mason funds seven GCI catalyst research projects driving bold solutions for a prosperous future

ckearney — Wed, 06 May 2026 00:53:09 +0000

George Mason funds seven GCI catalyst research projects driving bold solutions for a prosperous future ckearney Tue, 05/05/2026 - 20:53

As the university’s Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI) enters its second year, 91�� today announced funding for seven catalyst research projects and the launch of the Grand Challenge Research Exchange—quarterly convenings for all GCI-related research to accelerate solutions to the grand challenge of our time.

“We have placed our first bets on building a better future for humanity,” said President Gregory Washington. “These awards represent the very best of George Mason faculty research. They sit at a crossroads where the world’s greatest problems meet our faculty’s greatest research strengths to solve them. At a time when the world’s greatest challenges can appear to be winning, today the smart money is on George Mason professors.”

Washington launched the Grand Challenge Initiative in 2025 to focus faculty expertise on tackling world’s most pressing interdisciplinary threats to solve the ultimate grand challenge of sustaining humanity’s ability to forge a peaceful and prosperous future, rather than merely a life endured.

Spanning artificial and aerial intelligence to quantum and space infrastructure development, the seven catalyst projects will also strengthen talent and workforce development across interconnected industries. The catalyst projects are:

George Mason’s Quantum Leap

Photo provided

This project will expand position George Mason as a leader in the next generation of computing. Quantum computers can tackle problems beyond the reach of today’s technology, opening new possibilities in health, climate research, and national security. This initiative will grow the university’s expertise in quantum hardware and algorithms, expand degree and training programs, and bring industry partners into the classroom and lab. By building talent, research capacity, and real‑world collaborations, Quantum Leap will help drive Virginia’s emerging quantum economy and prepare students for high‑demand careers.

Leadership Team: Patrick Vora, COS (PI); Harbir Antil, COS; Andre Clayborne, COS; John Cressman, COS; Maria Emelianenko, COS; Nadine Kabbani, COS; Jessica Rosenberg, COS; Ming Tian, COS; Giorgio Ascoli, COS/College of Engineering and Computing (CEC); Michael Jarret, COS/CEC; Ethan Ahn, CEC; Kris Gaj, CEC; Weiwen Jiang, CEC; Fei Li, CEC; Jill Nelson, CEC; Marc Sasseville, Patriot Labs/CEC; Nancy Holincheck, College of Education and Human Development (CEHD); Laurence Bray, Graduate Division; Terry Clower, Schar School of Policy and Government; and Jiasun Li, Costello College of Business.

Grand Solutions: Advancing 21st-Century Education for All, Driving Responsible Digital Innovation and Sustainable Infrastructure, Improving Human Health, Well-being, and Preparedness

Participating Colleges: College of Science, College of Engineering and Computing, College of Education and Human Development, Schar School of Policy and Government, and Costello College of Business

91�� Space Center

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

This project will position the university as a leader in using space technology to solve real‑world problems. By designing and launching small satellites, the project will generate data that improve climate forecasting, disaster preparation, infrastructure protection, and scientific discovery. The new center will also expand degree programs, train students through hands‑on missions, and build partnerships with industry and government. Together, these efforts will strengthen Virginia’s space economy and prepare a diverse workforce for a rapidly growing sector.

Leadership Team: Anamaria Berea, COS (PI); Ferah Munshi, COS (PI); JK Aier, Costello; Gabriele Belle, COS; Zafer Boybeyi, COS; Phillip Cunio, CEC; Jules Goldspiel, COS; Hina Kazmi, Schar; Tracy Mason, COS; Leigh McCue, CEC; Jeffrey Moran, CEC; Piotr Pachowicz, CEC; Rob Parks, COS; Peter Plavchan, COS; Ali K. Raz, CEC; Laura Aileen Sauls, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS); Michael Summers, COS; Kun Sun, CEC; Daniel Tong, COS; Chaowei Phil Yang, COS; and Jie Zhang, COS.

Grand Solution: Pioneering Space Exploration, Research, and Collaboration

Participating Colleges: College of Science, College of Engineering and Computing, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Schar School of Policy and Government, and Costello College of Business

Teaching Initiative for Digital Education through AI (Teaching IDE-AI)

Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

This project creates a model for responsible and ethical AI integration in the classroom to help prepare teachers who will then shape AI‑ready PK–12 students across Virginia and the nation. By bringing together experts in education and technology, the initiative will create practical tools, develop training for faculty, and design easy‑to‑use AI literacy resources that help educators guide students in a rapidly changing world.

Leadership Team: Jennifer Suh, CEHD (PI); Thema Monroe‑White, Schar/CEC; Ziyu Yao, CEC; Jered Borup, CEHD; Audra Parker, CEHD; and Seth Hunter, CEHD.

Grand Solutions: Advancing 21st-Century Education for All, Driving Responsible Digital Innovation and Sustainable Infrastructure

Participating Colleges: College of Education and Human Development, College of Engineering and Computing, and Schar School of Policy and Government

Toward a Center for Aerial Intelligence and Digital Earth Histories

Photo courtesy of 91�� Libraries

With partners like the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, this project will digitize and analyze unclassified historical aerial archives into usable digital data resources for research, education, and societal impact. The project will demonstrate how this work can reveal environmental change, urban growth, and infrastructure shifts while laying the groundwork for a future full‑scale center.

Leadership Team: Dieter Pfoser, COS (PI); Jana Kosecka, CEC; Sarah Campbell, Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact; and Allan Williams, National Collection of Aerial Photography/COS.

Grand Solutions: Driving Responsible Digital Innovation and Sustainable Infrastructure, Strengthening Peace, Trust, and Engagement in Democracy, Building a Climate-Resilient Society, Advancing 21st-Century Education for All

Participating Colleges: College of Science and College of Engineering and Computing

Industry-University Working Group on Climate Change and Physical Risks

Photo by Getty Images

This project brings together industry leaders and university researchers to advance understanding of shifting climate hazards and develop practical tools that strengthen physical‑risk assessment and decision-making in the insurance, reinsurance, and finance sectors of the economy. By identifying urgent research needs and developing practical tools for insurers and financial institutions, the project will improve how physical risks are assessed and managed, strengthen climate‑risk science, support decision‑making, and help communities and industries adapt.

Leadership Team: Luis E. Ortiz, COS (PI); Natalie Burls, COS; Edward Oughton, COS; Fengxiu Zhang, Schar; and James Kinter, COS.

Grand Solutions: Driving Responsible Digital Innovation and Sustainable Infrastructure, Building a Climate-Resilient Society

Participating Colleges: College of Science and Schar School of Policy and Government

Humanitarian Forensics and Peacebuilding

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

This project will build a multidisciplinary program that improves how human remains are located, identified, and reunified with families after war, disaster, or violence. Bringing together experts in forensic science, public health, peacebuilding, and international law, the project will launch a needs assessment and summer training program in the South Caucasus, along with a new course at George Mason. By integrating scientific precision with community‑centered practices, the initiative will strengthen global capacity for recovery and identification work that supports families and communities.

Leadership Team: Joseph DiZinno, COS (PI); Margarita Tadevosyan, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution (PI); Katherine Scafide, College of Public Health; and Arthur R. Traldi, Scalia Law School/Lexpat Global Services.

Grand Solutions: Strengthening Peace, Trust, and Engagement in Democracy, Advancing 21st-Century Education for All, Improving Human Health, Well-being, and Preparedness

Participating Colleges: College of Science, Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, College of Public Health, and Scalia Law School.

AI-Powered Human Rights Education for All

Photo by Ron Aira/Office of University Branding

This project will create an AI‑driven virtual human rights classroom prototype that gives people everywhere access to practical, personalized tools to learn and apply human rights principles in daily life. Using the built‑in toolkit, users will explore interactive scenarios and receive personalized guidance to help them navigate real‑world dilemmas and assess the human rights impact of policies and technologies.

Leadership Team: Cher Weixia Chen, CHSS (PI); Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron, CHSS; Lei Gao, Costello; Ziwei Zhu, CEC; Antonios Anastasopoulos, CEC; and Sungsoo Ray Hong, CEC.

Grand Solutions: Advancing 21st-Century Education for All, Driving Responsible Digital Innovation and Sustainable Infrastructure, Strengthening Peace, Trust, and Engagement in Democracy

Participating Colleges: College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Engineering and Computing, and Costello College of Business

“Spanning multiple disciplines, colleges, campuses, and the region, GCI is designed to launch new research efforts, scale promising programs, enhance faculty expertise, and build the shared infrastructure required for sustained collaboration,” said Ajay Vinzé, interim provost and executive vice president.

With $5 million supporting this first round of funding, the seven catalyst projects were selected from 41 proposals, with more than 75 PIs, submitted across every college and school at George Mason, including Mason Korea. More than 35 external partner organizations were represented across submissions; 38 were transdisciplinary, and six involved five or more colleges working together.

“George Mason's institutional investment underscores our commitment to high-impact, interdisciplinary mission-driven research,” said Andre Marshall, vice president for research, innovation, and economic impact. “GCI positions research to build our enterprise and engage additional funders to deliver real-world change.”

To support all GCI-related research, including the 41-proposal cohort, through stages of development, George Mason is launching new quarterly convenings called the Grand Challenge Research Exchange. The first convening will launch this fall. Designed in partnership with the three Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Impact (ORIEI) Institutes and Mason Now team, these exchanges will feature industry keynotes, expert guest lecturers, and professional development workshops about leadership development, strategic planning, financial and program management, funding support, proposal and partnership development, and community engagements models.

What Our Industry Partners Are Saying

“Northern Virginia’s long-term economic strength, environmental resilience, and quality of life depend on meaningful collaboration with its research and educational institutions. For more than 30 years, the partnership between the Northern Virginia Regional Commission (NVRC) and 91�� has demonstrated how place-based, applied research can address complex regional challenges. Through work that aligns closely with George Mason’s Grand Challenge Initiative, our collaboration has delivered tangible outcomes—from mapping solar energy potential to advancing stormwater management models, promoting purposeful cross-national transfer of policy and technical innovations, and revitalizing stressed watersheds. These efforts have produced measurable benefits for communities throughout Northern Virginia, and NVRC looks forward to sustaining and expanding this impactful partnership.”

—Dale Medearis, Senior Environmental Planner, Northern Virginia Regional Commission

“Partnering with George Mason’s Institute for a Sustainable Earth has enabled our team to expand our conservation work in innovative ways. By collaborating with George Mason faculty whose interdisciplinary expertise complements our own, we are addressing complex environmental challenges with both scientific rigor and practical application. This partnership aligns closely with the Grand Challenge Initiative, translating research into actionable insights that advance effective conservation, community resilience, and sustainable decision-making.”

—Philip Loring, Global Director of Human Dimensions Science, The Nature Conservancy

“Cybersecurity and critical infrastructure risks have reached the scale of true grand challenges, particularly in an era shaped by artificial intelligence. What distinguishes George Mason’s Grand Challenge Initiative is its broad, interdisciplinary approach and its top‑down investment in bold, unconventional ideas that span academic disciplines and engage industry and policymakers. These problems cannot be solved in isolation, and the initiative is built for the kind of collaboration our economic and security future depends on.”

—Jeremy Epstein, Co-Director, Institute for Cybersecurity and Resilient Infrastructure Studies Center; Adjunct professor, Georgia Tech School of Cybersecurity and Privacy; Member of George Mason's Institute for Digital Innovation Industry Advisory Board

Learn more about George Mason's Grand Challenge Initiative

Explore Research at George Mason

Power the Possible

George Mason delivers first commercialization under Virginia’s Lab-to-Launch initiative

Katarina Benson — Wed, 25 Feb 2026 19:27:52 +0000

George Mason delivers first commercialization under Virginia’s Lab-to-Launch initiative Katarina Benson Wed, 02/25/2026 - 14:27

91�� has become Virginia’s first R1 research institution to commercialize a product under the state’s new Lab-to-Launch initiative, marking an early milestone in the commonwealth’s push to accelerate university research into the market.

Anthony Fung. Photo provided

In January, the George Mason Research Foundation entered into a license agreement with serial entrepreneur Anthony Fung and his company Valorlox LLC for the patented technology GMU Dynamic Low Visibility Pneumatic Cofferdam, a coastal resilience system designed to protect against flooding. This is the first commercial product to move forward under the new statewide commercialization framework.

Invented at George Mason by the late George L. Donohue, professor emeritus and founding director of the Center for Air Transportation Systems Research at the College of Engineering and Computing, the cofferdam is an inflatable, permanently anchored system that when deployed creates a water-tight barrier in under 16 minutes without heavy equipment to protect vulnerable communities from most flood events. When not deployed, the system functions as a low-profile boardwalk, blending into waterfront environments rather than standing as a permanent wall.

The cofferdam’s potential to protect communities from floods while supporting economic growth is what attracted Fung, the Valorlox LLC founder and the commonwealth’s former deputy secretary of technology.

His support—as well as that of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) and Mason Enterprise—has helped move the project toward commercialization. Valorlox is the first company in Virginia to complete a Virginia Fast-Track License, which enables them to apply for up to $50,000 in VIPC commercialization funding.

“The cofferdam project brings together everything I’ve learned about business, government, innovation, and solving real problems,” said Fung. “It’s exactly the kind of challenge I want to tackle.”

The cofferdam’s commercialization demonstrates how the Lab-to-Launch initiative is intended to work: university research, streamlined licensing, and experienced entrepreneurs working together to move innovation into the marketplace. The team is currently working on a prototype.

George L. Donohue. Photo provided

Developed through a collaboration between VIPC and the state’s six R1 research university partners—91��, Old Dominion University, University of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Tech, and William & Mary—the Lab-to-Launch initiative aims to significantly increase the number of startups emerging from Virginia’s universities and help move technological breakthroughs to the marketplace, through a “fast track license.” Instead of taking months, a licensing agreement can now take weeks.

“It’s been a strategy for the last five years,” said Paula Sorrell, George Mason’s associate vice president for innovation and economic development. “George Mason has created several programs to support the lab-to-market activities by providing wrap-around services for faculty. This not only helped build the pipeline of technologies ready for market and created the support system to make them successful, but then got this first technology through this terrific new state program.”

Designed for both commercial and residential use, the cofferdam system has potential applications for protecting homes, apartments, airports, military bases, hospitals, data centers, power generation facilities, tunnels, bridges, and rail systems.

“The potential for property damage avoidance in the future is hard to estimate, but could be huge,” Donohue said in an interview in 2026.

The invention has been years in development and Donohue shares the patents with former students, now George Mason alumni Adel Youssef, BS Systems Engineering ’20; Lucciana Remy, BS Systems Engineering ’20; Faris Masri, BS Systems Engineering ’20; and Murat Gokturk, BS Systems Engineering ’20.

The George Mason Research Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and aiding research and scientific investigation at George Mason. GMRF manages patents and commercializes intellectual property by negotiating licensing agreements with motivated entrepreneurs and members of the business community. George Mason has a number of technologies moving toward commercialization through the Lab-to-Launch initiative.

Mason Enterprise^TM is the host to federal, state, and local programs that support a portfolio of more than 33,000 start-ups and small businesses across Virginia. Last year participating companies received more than $2.8 billion in follow-on funding, and more than 58,000 entrepreneurs, small business owners, students, and research faculty attended workshops and educational programs, received individual counseling, were assisted with product development, resided in an incubator, or received intellectual property advice.

The commercialization of the cofferdam technology also supports Building a Climate-Resilient Society, one of the six interconnected solutions of George Mason’s Grand Challenge Initiative, a comprehensive research framework to secure the future we want. Learn more.

Learn more about Mason Enterprise

George Mason researchers lead statewide study on ethical use of AI in higher education

sbrown79 — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 16:07:37 +0000

George Mason researchers lead statewide study on ethical use of AI in higher education sbrown79 Tue, 02/17/2026 - 11:07

91��’s leadership in advancing 21st-century education took another leap forward this month when several university researchers were named to a statewide project exploring the impact of generative artificial intelligence (AI) on teaching and learning in higher education classrooms.  

Funded by a State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) Fund for Excellence and Innovation grant, the cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional project aims to promote ethical integration of AI into educational settings. 

The initiative, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Teaching and Learning,” involves 80 faculty, graduate students, and staff from multiple Virginia institutions including University of Virginia, James Madison University, Roanoke College, Bridgewater College, and Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Amanda Bryan, an assistant professor in George Mason’s Department of English and co-lead on the study, said it is “designed to test onboarding activities in increasing students’ ethical and responsible use of AI tools.”

Amanda Bryan. Photo provided.

 The study is an example of a Mega Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, or SoTL, project. It’s one of 11 projects George Mason is involved in, generating evidence of learning from multiple institutions.

“The research team designed the activities, which we then make available to other professors to adapt to their own disciplines and provide us data on how effective the activities were in increasing ethical use of AI tools for the students,” said Bryan.

The team also considered different levels of activities to accommodate students who were inexperienced with AI versus those who had advanced skills. 

“We took the task on ourselves that we’re asking students to do because we actually used AI to revise the activities in the ethical, responsible way that we would want students to be able to do,” said Bryan, who is conducting this project with data from students in her ENGH 302 Advanced Composition course. 

“We asked students open-ended questions, including whether they think they’re over-reliant or under-reliant on generative AI tools. That feeds directly into the next activity, which is all about under-reliance, over-reliance, and the harm of being either. We want students to find a cushy middle,” she said. 

The team got their first round of data from students in spring 2025, which showed that just providing these discussion spaces has increased students’ ethical thinking about AI use in college by more than 60%, explained Bryan. 

“We went to the institutional review boards at all the different institutions to get permission to do the research,” said Breana Bayraktar, an educational developer with George Mason and one of the projects primary investigators.  

Students working on their laptops in class. Photo by Getty Images.

Bayraktar said thanks to the support of the SCHEV grant, they've been able to hire graduate research assistants and get undergraduates involved in organizing the collected data. 

“We support each of the institutional teams for their research objectives and collect data from students,” said Bayraktar. “There's a number of teams that have done presentations or have written projects that are either published or on the track to publication that have come out of the different research projects. With this data, we were able to make one coherent project with one survey.” 

Students in George Mason’s Undergraduate Research Scholars Program (URSP), and OSCAR Research Assistant (OSCAR-RA) Program also helped in the research. 

“The students really gain professional experience and exposure to real-world research practices. It’s very much a mentoring role with the students,” Bayraktar said. 

There is an Open Educational Resources (OER) portion of the study, “so even after this study is complete, all of the research methods and activities we’re using are being compiled into OERs for future use under a creative commons license,” said Bryan.  

Under this SCHEV grant, George Mason is hosting three conferences on AI, the last of which will be in May 2026. The grant funding goes through summer 2026. 

Learn more about AI at George Mason

In This Story

Amanda Leigh Bryan

Topics

SCHEV

Artificial Intelligence

Office of Student Scholarship Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR)

George Mason's Virginia Climate Center releases first-ever statewide climate assessment

ckearney — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:33:34 +0000

George Mason's Virginia Climate Center releases first-ever statewide climate assessment ckearney Wed, 11/19/2025 - 15:33

91��’s Virginia Climate Center (VCC) has unveiled the commonwealth’s first comprehensive, peer-reviewed climate assessment—a landmark report that provides science-based insights into Virginia’s changing climate and its impacts on communities, infrastructure, and the economy.

The First Virginia State Climate Assessment (VCA) synthesizes decades of research into a single, accessible resource for policymakers, businesses, educators, and the public. Developed by a multidisciplinary team across the commonwealth and the region, this report establishes a critical baseline for understanding how past, present, and future climate conditions will shape life in Virginia.

“This groundbreaking statewide assessment gives us what we've never had before: comprehensive, science-based evidence of the risks we face and the information we need to protect our communities, economy, and natural heritage for generations to come,” said Jim Kinter, VCC director and coordinating author of the assessment.

“The Virginia Climate Center brought together the commonwealth's leading scientists and experts to tackle one of the defining challenges of our time. This assessment represents unprecedented collaboration across disciplines and institutions—because a problem this complex demands our best minds working together to deliver rigorous, actionable science that serves all Virginians.”

Why Virginia Needs a State-Level Climate Assessment

While national and global climate reports provide broad trends, they cannot capture Virginia’s unique vulnerabilities. The commonwealth’s geographic diversity—from coastal plains to mountainous terrain—combined with rapid population growth and economic expansion creates region-specific risks that require localized solutions.

The VCA addresses these needs by organizing findings across six climate divisions: Tidewater, Eastern Piedmont, Western Piedmont, Southwestern Mountain, Central Mountain, and Northern Virginia. Each VCA chapter includes key messages and traceable accounts, offering clear, actionable insights backed by scientific evidence and confidence assessments.

“Global reports are essential for understanding broad climate trends, but they do not capture how those trends manifest at regional—or local—scales,” said Viviana Maggioni, chapter lead author and professor in George Mason’s Sid and Reva Dewberry Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering. “Virginia’s wide variation in topography, precipitation regimes, and land-use creates highly localized climate risks. A state climate assessment accounts for such variability and provides insights needed for effective decision-making.”

Three Critical Climate Hazards for Virginia

The report identifies three primary hazards of particular concern for Virginia in the 21st century:

Extreme Heat and Rising Temperatures
Increasing temperatures and more frequent heatwaves pose significant health risks, disrupt labor productivity, and stress agricultural systems.
Extreme Precipitation and Shifting Seasons
Wetter falls and springs increase flood risks, while drier summers and winters heighten drought and wildfire danger. These changes threaten infrastructure and can lead to power grid disruptions and economic losses.
Accelerated Sea Level Rise
Virginia is experiencing faster-than-average sea level rise, compounded by land subsidence and erosion. Coastal flooding and infrastructure damage are growing concerns for Tidewater and other low-lying regions.

“Climate change is already affecting Virginia—from our coastlines to our mountains,” said Kinter. “This assessment empowers every Virginian, from local planners to business leaders to families, with the knowledge to make informed decisions. And as we continue to update and expand this work, we're building a lasting framework for protecting Virginia's future.”

Implications for Virginia’s Economy and Communities

The report underscores the urgent need for integrating climate projections into infrastructure design, land-use planning, and policy development. From transportation networks to energy systems, Virginia’s critical infrastructure must be resilient to evolving climate conditions.

“Weather patterns impact key sectors of the Virginia economy,” said Terry Clower, director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government. “Having data that shows changing patterns of rainfall and temperature is essential for industry leaders—from small-hold farmers to those managing billions in international commerce. This landmark achievement will hopefully spark awareness that consistent, dependable, and localized weather data will give Virginia farmers, businesses, and government entities the ability to better compete and succeed.”

The assessment is dedicated to the late Representative Gerry Connolly, whose visionary leadership made it possible. “He understood that investing in climate science isn't partisan—it's pragmatic,” Kinter said. “His commitment to evidence-based solutions and his unwavering support for the Virginia Climate Center helped make this critical work a reality, and his legacy will benefit Virginians for years to come.”

According to Michael Allen, associate professor of climatology at Towson University and contributing author, “The climate challenges outlined in this report transcend geopolitical borders and disciplinary silos. From the hollers of western Virginia to the Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Shore, the assessment meets the needs of the commonwealth—but it also fills a void for the nation, drawing attention to the science of climate change and the vast impacts it has on communities, our economy, and our well-being.”

Looking Ahead: Future Assessments and the Grand Challenge Initiative

This inaugural report is the first in a planned series of VCC-led assessments that will incorporate finer-scale geographic detail, expand coverage of climate impacts across sectors, and evaluate adaptation effectiveness over time. Future editions will integrate stakeholder input to ensure relevance and applicability.

The VCA also highlights the urgent need for a Virginia State Climate Office, a centralized resource for climate services, data collection, and expert assessment. “This role is typically filled by a state climate office that provides accessible, no-cost climate information essential to a state’s most vital sectors,” Kinter explained. “However, Virginia is one of only two states in the U.S. currently without a functioning state climate office.”

Marking an important new chapter in the history of research and scholarship at George Mason, this effort is part of the university’s Grand Challenge Initiative, which aims to address the greatest threats to humanity’s ability to live a peaceful, healthy, prosperous, and just existence. Through multidisciplinary research strengths in education, public health, space exploration, climate resilience, cybersecurity and digital innovation, and peace and democracy, the initiative aligns talent, infrastructure, resources, and partnerships with new ideas to deliver real-world solutions and prepare the next generation of changemakers.

For more information or to request interviews with experts, contact  VAclim@gmu.edu or tmason11@gmu.edu.

Explore George Mason’s Grand Challenge Initiative addressing the greatest threats to humanity’s ability to live a peaceful, healthy, prosperous, and just existence.

Read the Virginia Climate Assessment

Mason Korea launches Center for Korean Culture and Society

Katarina Benson — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:03:46 +0000

Mason Korea launches Center for Korean Culture and Society Katarina Benson Mon, 11/03/2025 - 11:03

With the global rise of Korean culture—from K-pop and film to food and language—91��’s Mason Korea campus recently launched the Center for Korean Culture and Society (CKCS), its first independently operating research center.

The center will lead interdisciplinary research and education in media content, K-pop, gaming, sports, and tourism. Planned initiatives include hosting international conferences, training cultural industry professionals, fostering industry–academic partnerships, and offering Korean language and culture programs for global learners.

Students groups performed at the ceremony. Photo provided

“As a global campus that values both scholarship and practice, Mason Korea seeks to build a platform where K-culture can be shared and co-created with the world,” Joshua Park, campus dean of Mason Korea, said at the center’s opening ceremony at the Incheon Global Campus Small Theater. “Through strong partnerships with students, faculty, businesses, and cultural institutions, Mason Korea will continue to serve as a trusted global education bridge.”

The center launch aligns with Korea’s national strategy to position itself as a global leader in K-content. Leveraging Incheon’s international gateway and collaboration with the Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority (IFEZ)’s K-Con LAND project, Mason Korea aims to become a key bridge connecting Korea and the world.

Gyu Tag Lee, professor of global affairs and inaugural director of the center, and a leading expert on K-pop and popular music, presented the center’s vision. “We envision this center as more than a space for research,” he said. “It will be a meeting point for people from around the world to create, share, and learn from K-content.”

A panel discussion followed, centered on the book Exploring Hallyu: History and Theory, co-authored by Lee and fellow scholars.

Guy Tag Lee will direct the new center. Photo provided

The event brought together representatives from major cultural and educational institutions, including the Seoul Foundation of Culture, Hunminjeongeum Globalization Foundation, Incheon Global Campus Foundation, American Korean Businessmen Friendship Forum, Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, the World Olympic Taekwondo Federation, Incheon National University, and South Korean educational public radio and television network EBS, with support from Incheon Metropolitan City and the Incheon Citizens’ Life College.

The ceremony also featured a congratulatory video from Incheon mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, and remarks from Yun Wonsok, commissioner of IFEZ.

Discover Mason Korea

The brain may not be a muscle, but it still needs exercise

Taylor Thomas — Thu, 16 Oct 2025 14:09:59 +0000

The brain may not be a muscle, but it still needs exercise Taylor Thomas Thu, 10/16/2025 - 10:09

As we age, keeping our bodies active helps us stay healthier for longer and protects against chronic disease. We can also exercise our brains to prevent age-related mental decline with activities like reading aloud, writing by hand, and simple math exercises.

Photo by Getty Images

The idea of “working out” the mind is core to the StrongerMemory program, a rigorous brain training curriculum developed by the Goodwin Living Foundation and tested by 91�� social workers. Gerontology research specialist Emily Ihara, with co-investigator George Mason Professor of Social Work Catherine J. Tompkins, found that mental exercise such as preventing age-related mental decline resulted in both self-reported and researcher-assessed improvements in key brain health indicators among older adult participants.

“The StrongerMemory program was associated with both objective and subjective improvements in cognitive functioning among older adults. The components stimulated and strengthened working memory, attention, and decision-making processes,” said Ihara, professor and chair in the Department of Social Work at George Mason’s College of Public Health (CPH).

Unlike previous cognitive exercise programs, which focused on a single aspect of brain health (e.g., memory or attention alone), the activities of this program were specifically chosen to stimulate multiple parts of the brain with the goal of combating progression of Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias (ADRD).

“By combining reading aloud, writing by hand, and simple math exercises, the program engages multiple cognitive pathways, offering broader benefits than single-domain approaches. The results can inform practitioners, policymakers, and families about practical, affordable, non-pharmacological ways to possibly mitigate cognitive decline and promote healthy aging,” said Ihara.

Emily Ihara. Photo by Ayman Rashid/Office of University Branding

Older adults in the StrongerMemory program participated in three daily activities for 30 minutes per day: 10 minutes each of reading aloud, writing by hand, and completing simple math problems. The program was tailored, allowing participants choice in reading material and writing content. For example, some older adults chose to write letters to family. At the conclusion, implementers interviewed participants and conducted tests on memory recall, verbal fluency, attention, dates, and location.

Age-related cognitive decline can include memory loss, lapses in attention, trouble performing daily tasks, and confusion, among others that could be warnings of ADRD. Participants were recruited from older adult living communities, and self-reported cognitive decline but did not have a formal ADRD diagnosis.

Can brain exercises mitigate cognitive decline? A quasi-experimental evaluation of the StrongerMemory program was published July 2025 in Educational Gerontology.

Tompkins, who is also associate dean for faculty and staff affairs, and Hyun Kang from the James Madison University, and a former CPH postdoctoral researcher, served as co-authors of the study. Additionally, several George Mason and CPH alumni were contributors, including Francesca A. Keesee, MSW ‘23; McKenzie S. Lauber, BSW ’23, MSW ‘24; Catherine M. Magee, MSW ‘23; Kendall Barrett, BSW ‘20, MSW ‘22; Madeline Holden, MSW ‘22; Harveen Pantleay, MSW ‘22; and Gergana N. Hardy, MA Sociology '24.

Read more about the efficacy of the StrongerMemory program:

I Have Decided to Read Out Loud for the Rest of My Life! Cognitive Health and the StrongerMemory Program

Boosting Cognitive Training through Social Engagement: Impacts on Older Adults With Subjective Cognitive Decline

About the researcher

Emily Ihara is a social work and gerontology researcher focused on developing and evaluating community-based interventions that support cognitive health for people living with dementia and their caregivers. Her expertise bridges practice-based innovation and rigorous research methods, with an emphasis on accessible, scalable solutions to pressing challenges in aging societies.

In This Story

Emily Ihara, PhD, MSW, FGSA

George Mason researcher is using AI to identify human trafficking hot spots

Katelynn C Hipolito — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 18:20:46 +0000

George Mason researcher is using AI to identify human trafficking hot spots Katelynn C Hipolito Mon, 09/29/2025 - 14:20

Illicit massage businesses (IMBs) run by human trafficking rings are rampant in the United States. A 91�� professor has helped build what may be the best artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tool to root them out.

Human trafficking rings are at their most dangerous when they masquerade as legitimate commercial activity. IMBs are one of the most common ways in which exploitive networks operate in plain sight.

The Network, an anti-trafficking nonprofit, estimates that there are more than 13,000 IMBs active in the United States, raking in annual total revenue of more than $5 billion.

Abhishek Ray

“You are stuck in a massage business. You’re not allowed to go out,” says Abhishek Ray, assistant professor of information systems and operations management at the Donald G. Costello College of Business at George Mason, describing the plight of IMB workers. “Your passports are taken away, and you’re supposed to do a certain amount of business every day and give the money to the trafficker. It’s a really abhorrent form of abuse.”

Ray is one of a growing group of researchers exploring how various forms of AI could help resource-constrained law enforcement agencies differentiate between IMBs and the legitimate enterprises they try to mimic. His ongoing research using graph neural networks has yielded more promising results than rival approaches, when put to the test in a recent experiment.

His co-researchers on the IMB project are Lumina Albert and Swetha Varadarajan of Colorado State University.

According to Ray, “Graph neural networks are just a fancy way of saying that if I get a graph of a city or locality at one point in time, and I add data to it, can I predict future patterns on this graph if I know the past?”

This approach made sense for detecting IMBs, because try as they might to appear above board, they have geographical needs that conventional businesses don’t. “IMBs don’t allow their trafficked employees to go out of the parlor,” Ray says. “But since they’re humans, they need sustenance. They have to be near groceries, gas stations, where they can get stuff and come back.”

The researchers combined several graph neural networks into a framework called IMBWatch. The training data-set for IMBWatch comprised publicly available information such as online customer reviews, arrest and raid data for known IMBs, and advertisements from websites promoting illicit activities (e.g., the infamous Backpage). The result, in essence, was a series of snapshots mapping the evolution of the IMB network in a given city or county over a period of time. This could then be overlaid on geographical maps to tease out hidden patterns.

To gauge IMBWatch’s relative performance, the researchers let it loose on a testing data-set alongside four other AI models, which were not as sensitive to the nuanced interplay of spatial and temporal factors. Of the five models, IMBWatch provided the most accurate, precise and informative predictions. In other words, it outperformed the others at spotting IMBs among a larger mass of local businesses.

“Graph neural networks are just a fancy way of saying that if I get a graph of a city or locality at one point in time, and I add data to it, can I predict future patterns on this graph if I know the past?”
— Abhishek Ray, assistant professor of information systems and operations management

While encouraging, these outcomes require further confirmation with a larger data-set. “IMBWatch was trained on data from Georgia and Louisiana, not the entire United States,” Ray says. “These were small, manageable data-sets, but we will now scale up to major states such as New York and California.”

The researchers are also looking at enhancing IMBWatch with data related to how workers end up wandering into trafficking webs. These might include “proximity to hospitals, religious places, etc. because a lot of times people are coerced by religious compulsions, or because they’re pregnant and need some care,” Ray says.

This is not Ray’s first foray into the field of AI-fueled anti-trafficking. Previously, Ray co-developed a model for improving machine learning-based detection of human trafficking activity at transit stations and on fishing vessels.

However, law enforcement agencies and other pertinent stakeholders (e.g., business owners) are often wary of adopting AI-based solutions, due to a lack of trust in the technology. Ray and his co-researchers are currently devising a framework that will clarify how these stakeholders can work together with tech experts and, perhaps most importantly, human trafficking survivors to make the best possible use of AI.

“This qualitative piece is required to make sure that people who are on the sidelines, on the fences about using this actually start using it, because that’s the need right now,” Ray says.

Learn more about Artificial Intelligence at George Mason

In This Story

Abhishek Ray

This content appears in the Spring 2026 print edition of the Mason Spirit Magazine with the title "Using AI to Identify Human Trafficking Hot Spots."

George Mason partners with DoD agency to bring closure to the families of lost U.S. service members

sbrown79 — Mon, 28 Jul 2025 17:39:16 +0000

George Mason partners with DoD agency to bring closure to the families of lost U.S. service members  sbrown79 Mon, 07/28/2025 - 13:39

There are currently more than 80,000 unaccounted-for service members from World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Cold War, the Persian Gulf War, and other conflicts. 91��’s ongoing collaboration with the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is exploring new ways of locating the missing remains of those American service members and bringing closure to their families. 

This partnership, which began December 2020, is finding success, and deeper meaning, as it extends beyond the classroom to the grieving families of prisoners of war (POWs) and missing soldiers, and it showcases George Mason’s commitment to being a veteran-serving institution.   

John C. Winters, MA History ’13, is a DPAA postdoctoral research fellow at George Mason’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (RRCHNM) in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) whose research includes war, diplomacy, and the 19th and 20th centuries. 

John C. Winters. Photo provided.

“I’ve previously worked on cemetery projects, and my responsibilities were to essentially help not only map the cemetery as it stood, but to identify places where people were not cataloged properly, or were forgotten over time,” said Winters, who has been a fellow at the center since January 2025.  

Winters is also working with the Henry Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine with the goal of supporting and expanding a wide range of DPAA operations, from initial case development to field mission planning. 

“The advantage of conducting research at the Center for History and New Media is that the people there are experts in using intricate digital mapping tools. It's really wonderful to see that faculty, as well as graduate students, are so comfortable using these tools to make their research accessible,” said Winters. 

Digital mapping is a critical tool for the agency’s mission as it helps researchers visualize where someone was lost and supports investigation and excavation proposals.   

George Mason has access to ArcGIS Pro, the mapping program that Winters is currently using to track missing or unidentified soldiers.  

“ArcGIS is a really dynamic program. There are a lot of facets to it including a base-level digital cemetery mapping, and the ability to create informational and visually engaging maps. They're accurate and concise, and they deliver all the information at a glance,” said Winters, who earned his PhD in history from the City University of New York in 2020. 

Jesse Stephen, chief of innovation at Defense POW/MIA accounting agency, said their mission has two goals: to search for, locate, recover, and identify missing-in-action personnel, and to communicate. 

Jesse Stephen. Photo provided.

“These projects are multidimensional and address active casework. They also tell the story of a conflict and of our missing individuals,” said Stephen. “That involves going back into archives and looking for information about a particular case or campaign. It's organizing, reviewing, and analyzing that information we find, and then putting all these different pieces together to build a case.”  

Over the course of the partnership, DPAA has learned more about more than 3,000 unaccounted-for losses. George Mason Fellows have reviewed more than 1,000 deceased personnel files of people who served alongside the unaccounted-for. 

Throughout the process, DPAA staff, Service Casualty Offices, and family members meet and review the specifics of a loss. Documentation, including maps, is shared with family members, who can see where the last-known sighting of their loved one happened. 

The partnership also employs George Mason students as interns and to date has given nine interns real-world experience in managing data, giving presentations, and project management. Beyond service to students, research partner fellows are encouraged to give presentations at museums and other venues on the mission and how unaccounted-for are found.  

“These were people who gave their lives while fighting to protect democracy, so I see the important work I’m doing at George Mason as a public service and it’s relevant to a very large body of veterans in the Northern Virginia area,” said Winters. 

Currently, more than 150 Virginian service members are unaccounted for. 

Discover the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

When the mosquitos bite, the Biomedical Research Lab bites back

sholla4 — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 19:45:51 +0000

When the mosquitos bite, the Biomedical Research Lab bites back sholla4 Thu, 07/03/2025 - 15:45

It’s summer, and with those longer days come backyard cookouts, outdoor activities and—ouch!—bug bites. Mosquitoes love Northern Virginia’s infamous hot and humid summers. And as the world’s deadliest animal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, they’re more than just a nuisance at the family barbeque: They’re a health hazard.

Farhang Alem. Photo by Creative Services

But in partnership with Prince William County, 91��’s Biomedical Research Laboratory (BRL) is working to prevent outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases.

Since 2016, in response to the Zika virus outbreak, the county and the university partner each year to collect mosquito samples and test them for diseases like West Nile virus.

“West Nile is endemic in the United States, and infections can be lethal,” explained Farhang Alem, MS Biology ’15, PhD Biosciences ’19 , associate director of the BRL. Alem has led the mosquito testing program since 2019.

“Eighty percent of people will have no symptoms,” he said, “but about one in every 150 cases of West Nile is severe.” It’s a neuroinvasive disease, meaning severe cases can damage the nervous system, resulting in high mortality rates and a high likelihood of disability if survived. Even those with non-neuroinvasive West Nile virus, though most likely to make a full recovery, could experience symptoms for weeks or months.

“We want to prevent the spread as much as possible,” Alem said.

Testing season starts in late spring and runs through the fall. Each week, samples are collected at more than 60 sites across Prince William County, and the mosquitoes are sorted by species. Vector species—meaning those that carry disease—are sent to the BRL for testing. Researchers extract RNA from the mosquitos and check for the markers of West Nile virus. They then send their report to county officials. If mosquitoes are positive for West Nile virus, the county will follow their larvicide and adulticide spraying protocols to eliminate the threat at the site where the mosquitoes were trapped.

“It allows us to more precisely target areas before they become a concern for the local community,” said Eli Hosen, environmental project manager for the mosquito and forest pest management branch of Prince William County Department of Public Works. “The lab provides us with a quick turnaround so we can respond as soon as possible.”

The program has been effective, Alem said, in reducing the number of West Nile carriers in the region. "Spraying is definitely working to control the spread."

Alem is in conversation with other counties in Northern Virginia to see if there’s interest in expanding the surveillance program. The BRL is also hoping to learn best practices on mosquito trapping from Prince William County to implement in other areas of research.

George Mason epidemiologist Amira Roess is looking into the possibility of a similar surveillance program in India for dengue fever, for example. And if deployed, researchers hope what they learn in India can be useful to their research here as well.

With almost 10 years’ worth of data from the ongoing testing, Alem is hoping the lab can one day look at trends in disease occurrence and correlating environmental factors.

“It's leading to new avenues of research for us,” said Alem.

Learn more about the Biomedical Research Lab

In This Story

Amira Roess, PhD, MPH

Inquiring Minds

University project shows logistics, not apathy, suppress student voting

Related News

George Mason funds seven GCI catalyst research projects driving bold solutions for a prosperous future

George Mason’s Quantum Leap

91�� Space Center

Teaching Initiative for Digital Education through AI (Teaching IDE-AI)

Toward a Center for Aerial Intelligence and Digital Earth Histories

Industry-University Working Group on Climate Change and Physical Risks

Humanitarian Forensics and Peacebuilding

AI-Powered Human Rights Education for All

What Our Industry Partners Are Saying

Related Stories

George Mason delivers first commercialization under Virginia’s Lab-to-Launch initiative

Related Stories

George Mason researchers lead statewide study on ethical use of AI in higher education

In This Story

Related Stories

Topics

George Mason's Virginia Climate Center releases first-ever statewide climate assessment

Why Virginia Needs a State-Level Climate Assessment

Three Critical Climate Hazards for Virginia

Implications for Virginia’s Economy and Communities

Looking Ahead: Future Assessments and the Grand Challenge Initiative

Related Stories

Mason Korea launches Center for Korean Culture and Society

Related News

The brain may not be a muscle, but it still needs exercise

In This Story

Related News

George Mason researcher is using AI to identify human trafficking hot spots

Related Stories

In This Story

George Mason partners with DoD agency to bring closure to the families of lost U.S. service members

Related News

When the mosquitos bite, the Biomedical Research Lab bites back

In This Story

Related news

Inquiring Minds

University project shows logistics, not apathy, suppress student voting

Related News

George Mason funds seven GCI catalyst research projects driving bold solutions for a prosperous future

George Mason’s Quantum Leap

91���� Space Center

Teaching Initiative for Digital Education through AI (Teaching IDE-AI)

Toward a Center for Aerial Intelligence and Digital Earth Histories

Industry-University Working Group on Climate Change and Physical Risks

Humanitarian Forensics and Peacebuilding

AI-Powered Human Rights Education for All

What Our Industry Partners Are Saying

Related Stories

George Mason delivers first commercialization under Virginia’s Lab-to-Launch initiative

Related Stories

George Mason researchers lead statewide study on ethical use of AI in higher education

In This Story

Related Stories

Topics

George Mason's Virginia Climate Center releases first-ever statewide climate assessment

Why Virginia Needs a State-Level Climate Assessment

Three Critical Climate Hazards for Virginia

Implications for Virginia’s Economy and Communities

Looking Ahead: Future Assessments and the Grand Challenge Initiative

Related Stories

Mason Korea launches Center for Korean Culture and Society

Related News

The brain may not be a muscle, but it still needs exercise

In This Story

Related News

George Mason researcher is using AI to identify human trafficking hot spots

Related Stories

In This Story

George Mason partners with DoD agency to bring closure to the families of lost U.S. service members

Related News

When the mosquitos bite, the Biomedical Research Lab bites back

In This Story

Related news

91�� Space Center