Thomas C Wood
Thomas C Wood
Associate Professor
Conservation Studies
Dr. Wood
Dr. Wood has a long history of dedicated service to George Mason and our Northern Virginia community. He is a tenured Associate Professor of Integrative and Interdisciplinary Studies in the School of Integrative Studies (SIS). He created the Smithsonian Mason Semester and directed the development of Mason's joint program with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. He now serves on the National Advisory Committee for the Carnegie Foundation Sustainability Classification. He is leading Masonʻs effort to earn Sustainability recognition from Carnegie.
Dr. Wood has extensive experience advancing faculty interests in the faculty senate and has served on committees at all levels of the University. Dr. Wood's research interests are in interdisciplinary education, traditional ecological knowledge, conservation biology, ecology, and education. He advises graduate students and undergraduate students involved in many projects ranging from biodiversity monitoring to education reform.
He advises Native American and Indigenous students and has been appointed to the Mason Vice Presidentʻs Task Force for Indigenous Inclusion and Collaboration. He is a recipient of the George Mason University Excellence in Teaching Award and frequently represents the University at national education meetings. He has been appointed Head Marshall by President Washington.
Dr. Wood has extensive experience in funded science education reform efforts including the NSF sponsored project SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities) where he serves as senior Leadership Fellow and co-directed the Chesapeake SENCER Center for Innovation. Dr. Wood has received funding from the Dept. of Education Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE) to reform curriculum in Conservation Biology and from private foundations. He regularly consults with faculty teams from universities around the country and internationally to improve access for indigenous students to science education.
Dr. Wood has co-developed many interdisciplinary, team-taught, learning community courses focused on science and civic engagement. His course “Mysteries of Migration, Consequences for Conservation” was selected as a national model course for science education reform in 2000.
He serves as the Dive Control Officer of the George Mason chapter of the American Academy of Underwater Scientists and directs the scientific diving training program at Mason. Dr. Wood enjoys introducing people to the natural world.
Current Research
Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Biodiversity monitoring with the Chickahominy Indian Tribe
Monitoring Avian Reproduction and Survivorship
Global Population Dynamics of Baleen Whales
Environmental DNA analysis for Amphibians
Population dynamics of Mole Salamanders in the Virginia Piedmont
Evolution of North American Swans
Outdoor science education
Selected Publications
Wood, T., Adkins, D., Mohebbi, S., Campbell, J. (2024) Awakening Indigenuity at George Mason University. Science Education & Civic Engagement An International Journal. Vol 16, 2. ISSN: 2167-1230
Garner, P., Gabitova N., Gupta, A., Wood, T. (2017) Innovations in science education: incusing social emotional principles into early STEM learning. Cult. Stud. of Sci. Educ. DOI 10.1007/s11422-017-9826-0
Davis, H., Rice R., Rockwood, L., Wood, T., Marra, P. (2017) The economic potential of fruit trees as shade in blue mountain coffee agroecosystems of the Yallahs River watershed, Jamaica W. I. Agroforest Syst. DOI 10.1007/s10457-017-0152-z
Schwartz, K. Parsons, C., Rockwood L., Wood, T. (2017) Integrating in-situ and ex-situ data management processes for biodiversity conservation. Frontiers in Ecol. and Evol. DOI:10.3389/fevo.2017.00120
Dutta, T., Sharma, S., Maldonado, J. E., Wood, T. C., Panwar, H. S., Seidensticker, J. (2013) Gene flow and demographic history of leopards (Panthera pardus) in the central Indian highlands. Evolutionary Applications: DOI: 10.1111/eva.12078
Sharma, S., Dutta, T., Maldonado, J. E., Wood, T. C., Panwar, H. S., Seidensticker, J. (2013) A highly informative microsatellite panel for individual identification and sex determination of jungle cats (Felis chaus). Conservation Genetics Resources DOI: 10.1007/s12686-013-9873-0.
Sharma, S., Dutta, T., Maldonado, J. E., Wood, T. C., Panwar, H. S., Seidensticker, J. (2013) Spatial genetic analysis reveals high connectivity of tiger (Panthera tigris) populations in the Satpura-Maikal landscape of Central India. Ecology and Evolution. 3(1) 48-60. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.432
Dutta, T., Sharma, S., Maldonado, J. E., Wood, T. C., Panwar, H. S., Seidensticker, J. (2012) Fine-scale population genetic structure in a wide-ranging carnivore, the leopard (Panthera pardus) in central India. Diversity and Distributions. DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12024.
Dutta, T., Sharma, S., Maldonado, J. E., Wood, T. C., Seidensticker, J. (2012). A reliable method for individual identification and gender determination of wild leopards (Panthera pardus fusca) using non-invasive samples. Conservation Genetics Resources 4(3): 665-667.
Campbell, S, Wood T.C. (2013) Influences of Acorn Mast, Temperature, Precipitation and Snow Accumulation on White-Tailed Deer Body Mass in the Northern Piedmont of Virginia. Northeastern Naturalist 20, (3) 469-477
Dutta, T., Sharma, S., Maldonado, J. E., Wood, T. C., Panwar, H. S., Seidensticker, J. (2013) Gene flow and demographic history of leopards (Panthera pardus) in the central Indian highlands. Evolutionary Applications: DOI: 10.1111/eva.12078
Book Chapter:
Sterling, E.J., J. Lee and T.C. Wood. (2007) Conservation education in zoos: an emphasis on behavioral change. In: Zoos in the 21st Century: Catalysts for Conservation? Edited by Matthew Hatchwell et al. Cambridge University Press.
Grants and Fellowships
Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education
Carnegie Foundation
Ohrstrom Foundation - Science education for K-12 faculty
National Science Foundation funded project SENCER
OSCAR undergraduate research funding
Courses Taught
Dr. Wood has developed over 15 interdisciplinary courses at Mason. He has taught courses in Integrative Studies, Environmental Science and Policy, Biology, Honors and Health Fitness and Recreation Resources. He was involved in the creation of the core requirements for the science curriculum. His teaching excellence has been acknowledged through the national dissemination project SENCER and the Carnegie Foundation.
Education
BS Animal Science, University of California Davis 1986
MS Animal Science, Louisiana State University 1988
Ph.D. Environmental Science and Public Policy, George Mason University 2006
Recent Presentations
Carnegie Foundation Sustainability Classification Development meeting. April 29-May 2, 2025, Invited participant. Sagrado Corazon University, Puerto Rico,.
Sustainability and Climate Change Across the Curriculum. Invited Workshop Participant. College of Social Sciences at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in collaboration with the Association for Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) and the national Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) Center for Innovation West. April 16, 2024.
American Association of Geographers Conference Panel Discussion Participant. April 19, 2024. Islands becoming Archipelagos: Linking Place-Based Indigenous-led Resurgence Projects to Planetary Health. Representative of the Indigenous Knowledges, Engagements, and Experiences (IKE’ Alliance) work by invitation.