Smithsonian connections helped shape this conservation scientist’s academic path

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George Mason University graduate student Jose Meneses has always been fascinated by the natural world. Like many future scientists, he spent hours as a child watching nature documentaries.

"I grew up watching National Geographic and the Smithsonian Channel," said the Falls Church, Virginia, native. "I've always been interested in nature, biology, ecology-anything related to wildlife."

During the pandemic, Meneses transferred to George Mason from Radford University to be closer to home. That decision that would ultimately reshape his future.

One opportunity in particular at his new university caught Meneses's attention: the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) and its Smithsonian-Mason Semester, which allows students to spend a semester at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, conducting research alongside Smithsonian scientists.

"When I heard you could spend an entire semester there doing fieldwork and getting lab experience, I thought that was amazing," he said.

Meneses enrolled and the experience confirmed that he had found his calling. "It was probably the best semester I've had in college."

In 2023, Meneses graduated from George Mason with his bachelor's degree in environmental science but stayed on for his graduate studies as part of George Mason's Bachelor's to Accelerated Master's Program. He will graduate with a master of science in environmental science and policy this May.

George Mason graduate student Jose Meneses doing field work in Florida. Photo provided

And he has continued his relationship with the Smithsonian Institution throughout his time at George Mason, working with different animals.

During his Smithsonian-Mason Semester, Meneses worked on a five-week research project studying salamander skin peptides-natural compounds produced by salamanders that help defend against deadly fungal infections-in the Smithsonian's Center for Conservation Genomics.

After graduation, he took an internship in National Elephant Herpesvirus Laboratory at the National Zoo, where he helped analyze blood and trunk wash samples to detect the deadly virus affecting elephants. Later, he joined the zoo's Reproductive Sciences Laboratory, assisting researchers studying new methods for preserving reproductive cells from endangered feline species.

These experiences gave Meneses exposure to a wide range of conservation research and strengthened his interest in the complex relationships between organisms. Eventually, that interest led him to zombie crabs.

Before beginning his master's program, Meneses searched for a faculty advisor whose research matched his growing curiosity about ecological relationships. One scientist stood out to him- Amy Fowler, an associate professor who leads the Aquatic Ecology Lab at George Mason's Potomac Science Center.

Fowler studies parasitic barnacles that infect the tiny mud crabs of the Chesapeake Bay, manipulating the animals' biology and behavior, making them zombie crabs. Meneses soon joined Fowler's lab as a graduate research assistant and began designing the research that would become his master's thesis.

Meneses in the lab at Fort Pierce. Photo provided

This academic year Meneses was a Smithsonian Link Foundation Fellow and spent 12 weeks in Florida collecting mud crabs from traps he placed earlier in the summer and studying them at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce. Meneses's project looked at parasite local adaptation-how parasites are better at infecting local host populations than foreign host populations. Every two weeks, he drove hundreds of miles along Florida's East and West coastlines, pulling the traps from marina docks and transporting their tiny occupants back to the lab for infection trials to measure susceptibility across different populations.

During his time at George Mason, Meneses also participated in three study-abroad trips that had a profound effect on his studies.

The first took him to Indonesia, where he studied marine mammal conservation and visited a dolphin sanctuary where he helped collect behavioral data on dolphins and other marine species. The program also included a journey up the Mahakam River in Borneo to search for the endangered Irrawaddy river dolphin. "We found a small group of them, which was really exciting," Meneses recalls. "There aren't many left in the wild."

Another study-abroad course took him to Kenya, where George Mason students explored the country's biodiversity, visiting the Maasai Mara and Ol Pejeta Conservancy. For his project there, Meneses studied a classic example of mutualism-the partnership between acacia trees and the ants that defend them from browsing animals like giraffes and elephants.

"The ants get food and housing from the plant. And in return, they protect the tree," he said. "I think Kenya is my favorite of all the places that I've visited."

Jose Meneses mentoring students in the Aspiring Scientist Summer Internship Program. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Office of University Branding

His third trip came when he enrolled in a SCUBA certification course at George Mason this spring. As part of the program, Meneses and other students traveled to Roatán, Honduras, where they completed their open-water certification while diving along coral reefs. The trip included multiple dives each day and a reef shark dive he won't soon forget.

"It was incredible. We saw so much marine life," he said. "I actually found a shark tooth. Apparently, that's pretty rare."

As for what's next in his career, Meneses said he is still interested in disease ecology but would like to transition to studying bats. He is applying to technician and research assistant positions in bat disease and behavioral ecology with the aim of getting more experience before applying to PhD programs.

To students interested in pursuing research while at George Mason, Meneses advises them to go out and explore. "There are a lot of opportunities on campus, a lot of clubs, and a lot of cool people. It was through participating in programs and organizations that I really gained that new perspective on the environment and research and ecology."

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