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Through an NSF-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, 10 students from around the country will take part in field-based conservation projects at Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation in Front Royal, Virginia, in the summer of 2026.

When Trish Jarvis, BS Biology ’10, tells people what she does for a living, their eyes usually light up. As an employee at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C., Jarvis has one of the most coveted—and adorable—jobs around: She’s a panda keeper.

On a recent field trip to Patuxent River Park in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, undergraduate students from º£½ÇÉçÇø’s Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation got to view secretive marsh birds up close, including Virginia and sora rail birds.

A 1992 Mason Gazette story about the hatching of the very first Komodo dragons born in captivity outside of Indonesia.

In September 2009, Smithsonian-Mason Semester students took a during a behind-the-scenes tour of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Mason senior Eva Noroski spent a month assisting alumna and Elephant Trails keeper Ashley Fortner at the National Zoo, researching elephant sleep patterns.