College of Science

During the month of April, the students in George Mason University’s Sustainability in Action course (EVPP 480) were incredibly busy making a difference on and off campus.

Black-footed ferrets were once thought to be extinct, until a small population was discovered in Wyoming in 1981. The species is still endangered, but scientists—including a George Mason University researcher and students at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC)—are coming to the rescue.

In December 2020, Willa, a black-footed ferret who died in 1988, was cloned using her cells that had been frozen. That clone, Elizabeth Ann, is now the first North American endangered species to be cloned in the United States. Senior Research Scientist Klaus-Peter Koepfli conducted critical research on her genetic cell line.

Thomas Lovejoy was among the roughly 100 scientists serving on a Scientific Advisory Group that helped craft the U.N.’s “Making Peace with Nature” report that envisions a sustainable economy driven by renewable energy and nature-based solutions that will create new jobs, cleaner infrastructure and a more resilient future.

Mason junior Jackie Luu is named a recipient of the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for the upcoming 2021-22 academic year.

COVID-19 antibody research by Mason scientists shows a lot of promise

Faculty teaching pandemic-related classes say that students are particularly engaged in learning because their classes help them better understand the world into which they have been thrust.

Mason scientists Lance Liotta and Virginia Espina discuss their COVID-19 research that is helping to make Mason safer for students, faculty and staff during the latest "Access to Excellence" podcast.

George Mason University has signed a collaboration agreement to give Noble Life Sciences access to the National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases BSL-3 facility at the Science and Technology Campus in Manassas.

The opening of George Mason University’s new Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory in the Spring 2021 semester establishes Mason as a leader in forensic anthropology and investigations and a valuable community partner with law enforcement.