Tag: 2018

Kevin Magerr

KEVIN MAGERR

Faculty Advisor

Mr. Kevin Magerr is a professional engineer with nearly forty years of experience in environmental protection. Kevin holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Widener University and a Master of Science in Water Resources and Environmental Engineering from Villanova University, and has completed more than two dozen specialty courses and certifications throughout his career. As an EPA Alum, Kevin has worked in a number of environmental programs including air and water protection. For the last 15 years, he conducted environmental assessments of major capital projects including airports, nuclear power plants, off-shore wind farms, mass transit and highway projects. He has worked on numerous publications, as well as teaching experience in several universities, at the high school level and has been recognized by multiple awards, including the Gold Medal for Excellence in Government. Kevin continues teaching and advising at Temple University in several areas: Biotechnology, and Civil and Environmental Engineering at the graduate level, Environmental Science at the undergraduate level, and as Senior Faculty Advisor for the Washington Youth Summit on the Environment at George Mason University. Kevin is very active in the community by working with high school students in track and cross-country programs, and being on the Executive Board at the Nicholas Newlin Foundation for the Historic Newlin Grist Mill. When not working he enjoys hiking and kayaking.

Maction Komwa, Ph.D.

MACTION KOMWA

Faculty Advisor

Maction Komwa, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science (GGS) is a passionate educator with expertise in environmental geography, conservation, and sustainability. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on topics like resource conservation, biogeography, geospatial technologies, and sustainable development. Since joining the GGS department a decade ago, Dr. Komwa has demonstrably impacted student development by fostering a love for environmental problem-solving. Dr. Komwa leverages geospatial tools to tackle critical environmental challenges, including resource conservation, global food systems, and sustainable development initiatives. Driven by a desire to create a positive global impact, he actively collaborates with researchers across the university and international organizations focused on biodiversity, climate change, and sustainable food systems. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion. Serving as Faculty Advisor for Washington Youth Summit for Environment (WYSE) since 2010, Dr. Komwa extends a warm welcome to delegates for summer 2024.

Marieke Kester Jones

MARIEKE KESTER JONES

Faculty Advisor

Marieke graduated from George Mason University with a PhD in Environmental Science and Policy in 2017. For her dissertation research, she studied reproduction and chemical communication in the maned wolf with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. After graduation, Marieke was delighted to take a position at the University of Virginia as a Data Specialist, assisting life sciences researchers with data analysis. Aside from her deep passion for statistics, data, and endangered species conservation, Marieke tries to live sustainably, with a minimal carbon footprint. She bike commutes to work, is installing solar panels on her home, grows some of her own food, and plans to plant a large native pollinator garden this season.

Gretchen Gorecki

GRETCHEN GORECKI

Faculty Advisor

Gretchen Gorecki is the Natural Resource Manager at the Virginia Department of Conservation’s Division of State Parks. She also serves as a DCR Prescribed Burn Crew Member and is working on becoming a Squad Boss. Gretchen was previously an environmental consultant for federal clients. She completed her MS in Biodiversity, Wildlife, and Ecosystem Health from the University of Edinburgh. She obtained her BS in Environmental Science, BS in Geography, and a GISc certificate from the University of Mary Washington. She is a certified GIS Professional (GISP), completed a National Fellowship with the Environmental Leadership Program, participated as a Fellow in the Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute, serves on the board of the Friends of Lake Anna State Park, judges Virginia regional science fairs, and is a tenor drummer with the UMW Eagle Pipe Band. Gretchen enjoys outdoor recreation and spending time at her backyard farm with her four dogs, horse, and cows.

Donielle Nolan

DONI NOLAN

Greenhouse Coordinator, George Mason University

Doni Nolan graduated from Mason in the spring of 2014 with her BA in Biology. During her years as a student she volunteered for Monica Marcelli in the greenhouse and always dreamed of having her own greenhouse one day. For three years she was the President of the GMU Organic Garden Association. She joined the Office of Sustainability in 2013 as the summer intern for the Potomac Heights Organic Vegetable Garden and later as the assistant coordinator for the 2014 Permaculture Design Certification Course. After working all summer in the garden, she knew that growing food was her passion. She is delighted to continue teaching students and community members about growing their own food through her current position as the Greenhouse Coordinator for the President’s Park Greenhouse. The facility utilizes hydroponics to grow lettuce, micro greens, basil and other herbs that are served at Ike’s dining hall.

Meghan A.T.B. Reese

MEGHAN A.T.B. REESE

Photographer, Washington Scholars Program

Producer, Writer, & Photographer

Meghan Reese is a producer, writer, and photographer. Reese’s credits include producing and writing for National Geographic, Discovery Channel, Travel Channel, History Channel, Smithsonian Channel, A&E, Animal Planet, HGTV, Investigation Discovery, Discovery Family, PBS, Sony/IMAX’s 3Net 3D films, Capital TV Pakistan, the White House, and the Department of State. Reese also runs Ography, her own photography and multimedia shop, capturing events for the National Park Service, the White House, George Mason University, and many other businesses, families and couples.

Reese’s first step into production was as a researcher and assistant director for WGBH PBS’s news coverage team, where Reese covered major news events including the 2008 presidential election, the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy, and Boston’s Craigslist Killer. Prior to making the switch to television and film, Reese was an award-winning writer and editor for several newspapers, medical, health and lifestyle magazines, and executive editor of Today’s Dietitian Cookbook. Her writing career began in the Life section of USA Today, covering fashion, trends, and popular culture. Reese holds a journalism degree from American University, where she held several prestigious internships around the Metro area, including The Washington Post, CNN, NPR, and at the White House.

Rachel Cleaver, MPA

RACHEL CLEAVER, MPA

Student Support and Senior Associate Director, K-12 Partnerships

Rachel is the Senior Associate Director of K-12 Partnerships in the Office of Admissions. In this role, she creates and oversees partnerships that help bring more students to the Mason campus. She works with many departments and organizations across the campus as well as the community as a whole to talk about the great things happening at George Mason as well as College Access and Success overall. Rachel oversees bringing groups of students of all ages to campus and you will often see her corralling large groups of middle school students around campus. Rachel provides general support to the Washington Scholars Program. Prior to coming to George Mason, Rachel has extensive experience leading the programmatic efforts at two college access and success programs on the East Coast, Let’s Get Ready and The Hoop Dreams Scholarship Fund. She has extensive experience in curriculum design and program management and in helping under-served high school students achieve their college dreams. She earned BS degrees in Elementary Education and Human/Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University and a Masters in Public Administration from George Mason University. She loves living in Washington, DC and looks forward to welcoming you here this summer!

Dr. Dann Sklarew

DR. DANN SKLAREW

Professor, George Mason University

Dr. Sklarew has researched and developed numerous methods to assist environmental policy, management and compliance. For EPA’s Office of Water, he identified and characterized watershed management tools, and created a Web-based decision support system to help companies comply with industry- specific federal water pollution permitting rules. As a Smithsonian Fellow, he developed a nitrogen budget for the semi-rural Rhode River basin (MD), validating demographic and agricultural census data through local interviews with residents, farmers and even the town veterinarian.

Dr. Sklarew has investigated various ways to help diverse partnerships address common ecological problems. He documented global challenges and successes in managing coastal and marine resources as producer and scriptwriter for a video documentary, Turning the Tide: Sustaining Earth’s Large Marine Ecosystems.

Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, George Mason University

The research of Dr. Ingrid Visseren-Hamakers revolves around international biodiversity governance. Her research is theoretically embedded in the political and policy sciences, while focusing especially on the relationships between different (public and private) international policies, and questions of policy performance. Empirically, current research themes include partnerships, certification, tourism & conservation, and REDD+. An important part of her research is inter- and transdisciplinary, in collaboration, among others, with colleagues from the natural sciences and conservation organizations. Dr. Visseren-Hamakers is affiliated with the Forest and Nature Conservation Policy group at Wageningen University, the Netherlands, and reports on international environmental negotiations for the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

Dr. Changwoo Ahn

Professor

Dr. Changwoo Ahn’s general research interests and experiences include ecological functions of created wetlands, wetland system ecology, water quality, wetland creation and restoration, nutrient dynamics (N, P), and ecological modeling. Currently his Wetland Ecosystem Laboratory at GMU has three main topics of study: wetland creation/restoration techniques (i.e., microtopography relations), ecological monitoring of mitigation wetlands, and microbial community patterns along biogeochemical gradients in constructed wetlands.

Through his postdoctoral work at the Illinois Water Resources Center of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Dr. Ahn focused on developing a dynamic model to predict vegetation responses to many different scenarios of river hydrology being manipulated for the restoration of Illinois floodplain-river ecosystem. Through this project, Dr. Ahn worked with a number of stakeholders, including The Nature Conservancy and National Science Foundation.

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