Maheen Aziz
Biographical Info
Maheen Aziz obtained her B.S. in Biology from George Mason University. During her last semester as an undergraduate, she took part in the Climate Action Plan and Energy Strategies seminar which led to an internship with the Office of Sustainability to work on Mason’s Climate Action Plan (CAP). The following semester, she continued to intern at the Sustainability Office while starting her graduate studies in Environmental Science and Policy. During a graduate seminar, In Search of Symbiosis, she and a group of classmates researched symbiotic relationships in the Potomac and presented their findings at the 88th Virginia Academy of Science (VAS) Meeting and soon after published The Impact of Regional Development on Symbioses from the Potomac River Valley to the Chesapeake Bay in the Virginia Journal of Science. She also has conducted individual research. Her first project was drawn from Mason’s CAP called, Reduction/Audit of Vending Machines in Academic Environments. This research project was presented at the third annual Behavior, Energy, and Climate Change (BECC) Conference in 2009 and she received the BECC Graduate Fellowship. Another research project she conducted focused on the lack of collaborative work from the political world and the science world called Scientists and Politian Symbiosis.
This was accepted to the fourth annual BECC Conference in 2010. In spring 2010, she joined Dr. Daniel Sklarew and a few colleagues to compile Fairfax County’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report. Simultaneously, Maheen continued to pursue her passion to educate children while working at Oakton High School as a long-term substitute teacher in the math and science department. At the end of spring 2011, Maheen began working for the Department of Purchasing & Supply Management as an Environmental Scientist and Sustain Programs Analyst.
Recently, Maheen received a grant from the Patriot Green Fund to conduct a Recycling Pilot Project at University Hall. The project will in theory reduce waste production, while promoting the desirable behavior of recycling. She will work closely with the Office of Sustainability and respective Departments to provide a report which will determine the feasibility of implementing the project at appropriate offices on campus. Maheen successfully has launched this project at the Fairfax County Government Center as well.