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Blog Education In the News

Potomac Science Center Dedication

This week, the public were welcomed to the Potomac Science in Belmont Bay, for the Potomac Science Center Dedication Ceremony!

The event was highlighted by several publications:

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Blog Education OSCAR

PAID Undergraduate Research Position!

Paid Summer Research for Undergraduates

Have you been following last summer’s OSCAR research on micropollutants in the Potomac? Are you an undergrad who would you love a PAID summer research experience like that? There are TEN positions open!

Apply now at https://gmu-csm.symplicity.com/

Watch the video below to see how much last year’s OSCAR students loved their experience!

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Blog Education OSCAR

What’s in our water?

Curious about the results of of the 2017 summer undergraduate research?  Led by principal investigators Amy Fowler and Kim de Mutsert, the Summer Team Project looked at the effects of micropollutants on the Potomac River watershed. Watch the video to find out what the researchers found and how this experience changed the undergraduates.

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Blog Education OSCAR

Micropollutants in the Potomac

Led by principal investigators Amy Fowler and Kim de Mutsert, the Summer Team Project looked at the effects of micropollutants on the Potomac River watershed. Projects were funded by the Students as Scholars at Mason as well as the Patriot Green Fund, and the videos were produced by graduate student, Chelsea Gray, thanks to the Virginia Sea Grant.

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Blog

IN MEMORIAM…

LARIN ISDELL (May 30, 1979 to November 11, 2017)

Taken while collecting samples on the Potomac River.

PEREC has lost one of its own. Mr. Larin Isdell passed away on November 11, 2017 at his home in Stafford, Virginia. An MS degree candidate in Environmental Science and Policy under PEREC Director R. Chris Jones, Larin had completed all coursework for his degree and was in the final stages of revising his thesis. Larin had filed for winter graduation this year. Larin had a bachelor’s degree from Mary Washington University with double major in music and biology. Larin joined the Jones lab about 4 years ago and had proved an invaluable asset. In addition to his thesis work studying the bioaccumulation of PCB’s in fish tissue in the tidal Potomac River near Alexandria, he was instrumental in analyzing benthic invertebrate samples for a major grant with the National Park Service and held a Research Assistantship on that project for two years. Larin became the most skilled macroinvertebrate specialist at PEREC. On a personal side, Larin was a cheerful, but dedicated individual who was very giving of his time and expertise to others in the lab. Said Dr. Jones, “everyone came to admire his grittiness and good spirit as he worked his way through both his research and various health issues. He was symbolic of the returning student at GMU; he knew what his mission was and he dedicated his time and energies to his own goals without losing sight of the larger team effort. He will be sorely missed.”

Larin’s family is hosting a “Celebration of Life” memorial service at 2 pm on Saturday, December 2, 2017 at the Mullins & Thompson Funeral Home, 1621 Jefferson Davis Highway, Fredericksburg, VA, 22401 / (540) 373-5842 (literally at the intersection of Rt 1 & Rt 3..going SOUTH on Route 1, it is at the last building before the “curve” of merging from Route 1 onto Route 3).

The family is encouraging as many as Larin’s fellow students who have an interest to come to the memorial service and I hope that we can have a good turnout. His father, Lee Isdell, says, “What I anticipate is some “lighter” than a traditional ‘memorial’ service. I’m hoping I can encourage his associates to take a few moments and share some stories, the sillier the better…as we literally ‘celebrate’ his life.”

A full obituary may be found at:
http://m.legacy.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Larin-Isdell&lc=7538&pid=187250349&mid=7640641

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Blog

A New Way to Study Fish?

Written by: Jessie Melton

River herring, Alosa pseudoharengus and Alosa aestivalis, are an anadromous fish species that migrate from marine waters through estuaries to freshwater nurseries in order to spawn and lay eggs. River herring have historically been a valuable commercial species in fisheries, but the stocks collapsed throughout their native region along the Atlantic Coast since the 1990s. The Potomac Environmental Research and Educational Center (PEREC) has conducted an ongoing study of Gunston Cove for the past three and a half decades, and has incorporated the monitoring of river herring population to aid in determining whether or not the moratorium is beneficial to the decline in river herring abundance. 

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Blog OSCAR

Why are there Drugs in the Potomac River?

OSCAR student Heather Nortz talks about her summer 2017 research. Led by principal investigators Amy Fowler and Kim de Mutsert, the Summer Team Project looked at the effects of micropollutants on the Potomac River watershed. Projects were funded by the Students as Scholars at Mason as well as the Patriot Green Fund, and the videos were produced by graduate student, Chelsea Gray, thanks to the Virginia Sea Grant.

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Blog OSCAR

Are Potomac Fish on Drugs?

OSCAR students Lisa McAnulty and Tabitha King talks about their summer 2017 research. Led by principal investigators Amy Fowler and Kim de Mutsert, the Summer Team Project looked at the effects of micropollutants on the Potomac River watershed. Projects were funded by the Students as Scholars at Mason as well as the Patriot Green Fund, and the videos were produced by graduate student, Chelsea Gray, thanks to the Virginia Sea Grant.

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Blog OSCAR

Macroinvertebrates and Micropollutants

OSCAR student Michael Rollins talks about his summer 2017 research. Led by principal investigators Amy Fowler and Kim de Mutsert, the Summer Team Project looked at the effects of micropollutants on the Potomac River watershed. Projects were funded by the Students as Scholars at Mason as well as the Patriot Green Fund, and the videos were produced by graduate student, Chelsea Gray, thanks to the Virginia Sea Grant.

Categories
Blog OSCAR

What Can a Fish’s Diet Tell Us?

OSCAR student Sammi Alexander talks about her summer 2017 research. Led by principal investigators Amy Fowler and Kim de Mutsert, the Summer Team Project looked at the effects of micropollutants on the Potomac River watershed. Projects were funded by the Students as Scholars at Mason as well as the Patriot Green Fund, and the videos were produced by graduate student, Chelsea Gray, thanks to the Virginia Sea Grant.