Research Projects

Better knowledge of how to beneficially use residuals and reclaimed water is essential for environmental protection, soil quality, crop yield, food safety and human health. From this project, we will generate new and useful information on beneficial use residuals and reclaimed water. We will examine the fate, processes and bioavailability of various contaminants (including antibiotics, nanoparticles, nanoplastics) in soils. Analytical methods for nanoparticles and microplastics will be developed, and these methods are expected to be used widely by students, scientists and professionals. In addition, we will modify biochars to make functional biochars to be used in soil improvement and remediation. Furthermore, we will provide the fundamental and useful data for developing nano-enabled technology for sustainable agricultural production.

1-The issue under investigation in this proposal is important because reproductive performance in beef and dairy cattle is often suboptimal resulting in increased intervals to conception and/or rebreeding failures that collectively reduce farm revenues due to decreased milk production or calf production efficiencies. Therefore, approaches that facilitate conception and increase conception rates will benefit the farmer and the economy in general.

2-The Umass research groups in this grant, Drs. Fissore and Visconti will be focused on two of the three Objectives,

Objective 1: Identify Mechanisms that Regulate Ovarian Function and Oocyte Quality during the Estrous Cycle.

Objective 2: Determine Factors Associated with Fertilization, Embryo Development, and Conceptus-Endometrial Interactions that Dictate Pregnancy Success.

3-Colleagues working in fertilization, embryo development, and fertility in mammalian species including humans, post-docs and graduate students, technicians, undergraduate students, embryologists, and producers.  

4-Oocyte quality is of one the parameters affected in high milk-yield cows. Therefore, examining how specific molecules and mechanisms might be downregulated or inactivated in those animals will improve the quality of the oocytes and their developmental potential such that a higher proportion of the fertilized oocytes and early embryos can progress to implantation and term-pregnancy. A second area is to prepare the sperm for fertilization akin to what happens in the female reproductive tracts. We plan to pre-treat bull sperm prior to adding it to oocytes or females. Recent studies from the Visconti lab show that changing the metabolic status of mouse sperm prior to fertilization can enhance post-fertilization outcomes, including embryo development and implantation success. We will extend these to the bovine sperm and embryos.

We designed full-size field trials to test the effectiveness of sorghum-maize intercropping at the UMass Crop and Animal Research and Education Farm in South Deerfield, MA. Plots of sorghum monocrop and maize monocrop served as controls with two intercropping systems, alternating row and mixed seeding intercropping. All four planting treatments were coupled with DMPP application to compare the biological inhibition of sorghum to an artificial inhibitor. Nitrogen and potassium fertilizers were applied in a manner similar to local practices, with DMPP application occurring concurrently. Plants were grown throughout the summer and harvested in early October for the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons to represent a typical corn system in Massachusetts.

The methodology of this work relies primarily on the capture and analysis of N2O gas leaving the soil, which represents a loss of nitrogen from the system as well as a problematic source of greenhouse gas emissions. To capture this gas flux, we implemented static chambers placed over the soil for a period of 30 minutes and sampled gas from the chamber every 15 minutes. Gas samples were loaded into pre-evacuated glass vials and analyzed through gas chromatography. To ascertain the temporal variability of N2O flux, these measurements were carried out throughout the New England summer every 2 or 3 days. This sampling scheme is more intensive than those typically employed in the literature, with many studies measuring gas flux on a weekly basis or longer gaps. The high frequency of sampling events allowed us to better account for stochastic variables in the system such as soil moisture and temperature fluctuations as they changed throughout the season.

In addition to gas flux, we collected data on soil temperature and moisture, as well as detailed atmospheric data from a nearby weather station at the research farm. At the end of the growing season, we collected above ground biomass from representative areas of each plot to measure bulk yield for silage production, the intended production outcome for this experiment.

To further understand the underlying mechanisms of the reduction in N2O flux we periodically and destructively took bulk soil and root samples for microbial community analysis. In this analysis we compared the abundance of microbial communities responsible for nitrogen transformations in the soil, mainly ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and archaea as well as denitrifying bacteria. We will also be coupling these comparisons to more broad observations of the microbial community structure at high resolution to get insights into how the wider microbial community responds to N2O reduction treatments and intercropping systems.

The need to feed the ever-growing human population while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from large-scale agriculture remains a global problem of paramount importance. One major source of these emissions is through nitrous oxide (N2O) production, a greenhouse gas with a warming potential nearly 300 times that of CO2. This potent greenhouse gas is formed through the action of soil microbes when they compete for artificial nitrogen fertilizer. While there are synthetic inhibitors that reduce N2O emissions, there can be many off-target effects. A promising alternative to these inhibitors is leveraging the natural ability of some plants to antagonize the microbial production of N2O, termed Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI). This ongoing research utilizes the BNI capacity of Sorghum bicolor, a staple grain crop in Africa and Southern Asia intercropped with corn (Zea mays). Plants were grown as monocrops or intercrops with alternating row and mixed seeding at the UMass Crop and Animal Research and Education Farm in South Deerfield, MA. These cropping treatments were repeated with an artificial nitrification inhibitor, DMPP, for comparison. Throughout the growth season, soil gas flux samples were collected via chambers covering the soil and analyzed through gas chromatography. Measured N2O concentrations over time were then converted to overall flux (production and consumption) to determine the reduction in N2O emissions. In addition to gas measurements, soil and roots were destructively sampled periodically throughout the growth season. Community analysis of the bulk soil and rhizosphere will reveal the microbial community’s response to the different cropping systems or the synthetic inhibitor treatment at high levels of resolution. At the end of the field season, plants were harvested to determine overall yield for all treatment groups. This experimental design has been repeated for a second year to account for seasonal variations in weather patterns. Throughout both years of the field trial, we found nearly 20% fewer N20 emissions in the sorghum monocrop plots as well as with mixed seed intercropping with the addition of DMPP, compared to the corn monocrop control. Total plant biomass production was not influenced by either treatment variation.

        The core hypothesis of this work is that the BNI capacity of sorghum will result in more nitrogen fertilizer available for both corn and sorghum when planted in close proximity, as well as reduced N2O emissions. The inhibitory chemicals secreted from the sorghum roots will affect the root zone of corn when planted in a way that both root systems overlap. This effect will lead to more plant-available nitrogen, lower N2O emissions, and higher silage yields for both corn and sorghum in intercropped systems. We expect this effect to be most pronounced in the mixed seeding plots as those plants are grown in the closest proximity. This work will determine the efficacy of intercropping corn, a plant with heavy nitrogen fertilizer needs with sorghum, a plant which has evolved ways to better compete with soil microbes for the available nitrogen applied as fertilizer, compared to the commercial inhibitor DMPP. To better understand the role of soil biological processes in controlling plant available nitrogen, a subsequent, complimentary experiment will be carried out this year to uncover the mechanism of action of the sorghum inhibition. These experiments together investigate a promising alternative to the current synthetic inhibitors in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in large-scale agriculture, while simultaneously reducing the amounts of artificial nitrogen fertilizer required to grow corn in today’s agriculture. Both resulting effects, the increased nitrogen fertilizer availability and reduced N2O production, will directly support the chosen objective, and widen our understanding of soil health and resilience. Resilience of this agricultural system is further supported by the documented drought resistance of sorghum, which will be needed with the expected longer drought periods in the currently changing climate. These changes will directly affect farmers who produce crops for silage.

Cranberry production has a long history in Massachusetts (MA) that adds important economic and aesthetic value to the region.  About 30% of US acreage and the two largest cranberry handler companies are located in Massachusetts. Threats to the sustainability of cranberry production in MA and elsewhere in the US come from many sources: consumer demands for sustainable but inexpensive products, commodity pricing in an industry that is currently over-supplied with juice concentrate, changes to industry (handler) fruit quality standards, rising costs for energy and pest management products, climate change, and changing standards in pesticide use to accommodate global marketing. 

The majority of cranberry acreage in MA is still under old cultivars with low productivity and poor disease resistance and MA does not have a breeding program for new cultivars. Growers in MA are interested in bringing in new hybrid cultivars from breeding programs in New Jersey and Wisconsin. However, without proper cultivar evaluation under MA growing conditions, growers are hesitant to do so because of the significant financial risk.  This project will evaluate new hybrid cultivars under MA growing conditions and provide growers with reliable data to use in decision making when considering bog renovation.

Pollination is critical for yield of many crops, but many pollinator species are in decline due to a variety of stressors including pathogens, pesticides, and insufficient food resources. Our work will ask how flowering plants and land use around farms affects the number of bee individuals and species at farms, and how effective bees are at pollinating sunflower crops. We will also determine how diet and floral resources affect bee health and ability to resist disease. Finally, many crops have seeds that are treated with pesticides to improve growth, but these pesticides can be incorporated into pollen and affect bees. We will ask how the amount of water a plant receives affects the concentration of pesticides in pollen, and the consequences for bees. Taken together, this work represents a comprehensive approach to understand some of the factors involved in pollinator decline.

In Massachusetts, several invasive insect species are either already affecting or pose a serious threat to the specialty crop industry. Stakeholders have voiced the need to address the most destructive invasive insects threatening their crops. In recent years, there has been interest in reduced-risk materials with insecticidal properties for the invasive pest spotted wing Drosophila (SWD), a vinegar fly that attacks berries and other soft-skinned fruits such as peach and cherry. Of particular interest are low-cost materials that could be used as attractants in traps or as insecticidal food-based baits, as opposed to broad-spectrum insecticides applied to the foliage against some pests. In this project, we will determine whether materials that are commonly available in households can be used to attract adult SWD to traps. Efforts will be made to develop an inexpensive insecticidal bait. The response of female codling moth and Oriental fruit moth, two important pests of apple, pear, and related crops, to lures that are based on plant material will be quantified under laboratory and field conditions. Our ultimate goal is to develop a food bait for SWD that is inexpensive and effective. This project also seeks to improve the effectiveness of monitoring systems for codling moth and Oriental fruit moth. If successful, results may lead to the development of more effective monitoring systems for these two moth pest species.

Objective 1: Characterize and quantify PGP microbe effects on belowground plant growth using B. distachyon accession Bd21-3 expressing luciferase and inoculated with B. subtilis strain GB03.

We recently transformed B. distachyon accession Bd21-3 with a constitutive luciferase reporter system consisting of the luciferase-encoding LUC2o gene coupled with the proZmUBI1 promoter, derived from a maize ubiquitin gene. Adding D-luciferin to growing plants within the rhizotron system allows imaging of growing root and shoot tips. Creating Z-projections of daily images permits  visualization of older roots in more developed plants. These efforts have allowed us to quantify how root area changes over time in plants grown with an unidentified microbial community. Further refinement of these scripts, as well as protocols to capture other aspects of belowground growth will enrich the toolkit that we have to understand PGP bacterial effects.

In this aim we will grow 16 replicates of B. distachyon accession Bd21-3 transformed with the luciferase reporter system in standard rhizotron conditions. Following our best-practices results from prior trials, we will inoculate plants at the seed stage upon sowing. All seeds will be surface-sterilized using 15% bleach plus 0.1% Triton-X. The sterilized seeds will be incubated on damp paper towels at 4°C for one week (vernalization), to synchronize germination, and then sown in sterilized rhizotrons filled with model soil with washed ryegrass stems as organic matter. For inoculation, spores of B. subtilis GB30 will be cultured in LB for two days. A subculture will then be established and grown until an OD600 between 0.75 and 1.5 is achieved, corresponding to the bacterial log phase. Bacteria will then be pelleted and resuspended in phosphate buffered saline.

            At planting, 8 replicates of B. distachyon will be inoculated with B. subtilis BG03 and 8 mock-inoculated with saline solution. Plants will be grown in a controlled chamber under 16 hours of light at 24°C and 8 hours of dark at 20°C. To maximize the likelihood of detecting microbial growth-promoting effects, fertilizer will be withheld. Starting upon seedling emergence and on a daily basis 500 µL of luciferin will be added to the water of each plant. Plants will be imaged every three hours in our custom chamber equipped with an Andor iKon-M CCD camera. Plants will be imaged until about two weeks after flowers emerge and the stem has completely elongated. The time series of images will be analyzed to estimate total above and below ground growth over time and to compare these to each other. Using the bioinformatic tools we have developed we will assess BG03 effects on root architecture, root growth patterns, and root area, as well as shoot growth patterns, allowing us to understand how above and belowground growth differ from each other and how they are differentially affected by inoculation.

Objective 2: Assess the differential effect of B. subtilis strain GB03 on growth of B. distachyon accessions that are parents of established mapping populations in controlled rhizotron environments.

Several B. distachyon recombinant inbred line (RILs) populations have been established, are publicly available, and are in use in the Hazen lab. These RILs have the advantage that both parents and all lines are nearly homozygous and have been genotyped across the genome with either whole-genome sequencing (WGS) or genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS). To determine which set of RILs can be used to identify loci governing PGP bacterial response in B. distachyon, we will inoculate 8 selected parents with B. subtilis strain GB03, which we have shown to have an effect at least on B. distachyon accession Bd21-3. Seeds will be prepared as in Objective 1 The length of cold-treatment will be extended to two or four weeks for those accessions previously found to require longer vernalization periods to trigger flowering. Spores of B. subtilis GB30 will be prepared as in Objective 1.

            For each parental accession we will carry out 8 replicates of inoculated plants and 8 replicates of controls mock-inoculated with phosphate buffered saline. Plants will be grown in a controlled chamber under 16 hours of light at 24°C and 8 hours of dark at 20°C. To maximize the likelihood of detecting microbial growth-promoting effects, fertilizer will be withheld.

We will harvest and phenotype plants at flowering and at senescence, which will allow us to assess if observed effects are dependent on developmental stage. We will work with a total of 256 plants (8 accessions x 8 replicates x 2 treatments x 2 developmental time points). Phenotypes to be evaluated will encompass those displaying genotype x microbe interactions in our pilot study (SLA, LAR, stem height, and dry root weight), phenotypes important for bioenergy and forage crops (total biomass), and phenotypes of relevance to cereal crops (flowering time, seed number, and seed weight).

Growth phenotypes will be examined for response to PGP-bacteria application. Trait responses will be compared among B. distachyon genotypes, allowing us to identify what traits have an across-the-board response to PGP microbial inoculations and which are genotype -specific. B. distachyon genotypes displaying different responses to B. subtilis will be identified as ideal parents for mapping populations that can be used to map plant genes influencing PGP microbe x plant genotype interactions.

Objective 3: Upon establishing microbial effects on mapping parents, phenotype growth on a selected set of mapping populations to identify genes controlling response to B. subtilis strain GB03.

We will use our results from Aim 1 to proceed with the set of genotyped RILs with the greatest parental contrast in growth response to PGP microbial application and, secondarily, the most similar flowering times or vernalization requirements. For the chosen mapping population, we will work with 100 RILs chosen randomly and the two parents. We will inoculate 8 replicates of each RIL and parent with B. subtilis GB03 and mock-inoculate 8 further replicates as in Objectives 1 and 2. Planting and growth conditions will be as above. The length of vernalization needed for each RIL is unknown, as each RIL is a novel combination of parental genotypes. Thus all RILs will be subjected to 2 to 4 weeks of vernalization, based on the vernalization requirements of the parents. The same phenotypes as in Objective 2 will be scored at the same developmental stages. This will entail inoculation, growth, and phenotyping of 102 x 2 x 8 = 1632 plants.

To identify the loci underlying PGP bacterial response, mapping will be carried out on the set of mock-inoculated RILs and separately on the set of inoculated RILs. We will use genotypes obtained from whole genome sequencing or genotyping by sequencing, which has been approved for all crosses from Aim 2 by JGI (Joint Genome Institute). QTLs detected in the inoculated set and not the mock-inoculated are likely to represent loci involved in growth response to B. subtilis GB30. We will use the package R/qtl2 which can handle dense genetic markers like those produced by whole-genome sequencing and GBS for mapping. Haley–Knott (HK) regression will be used for genome scans to associate genotype with phenotype. If the degree of missing data in the sequenced RILs is deemed too high, we will carry out SNP imputation prior to regression analysis. Permutation tests will be performed in R/qtl2 to establish QTL significance, with BLUP-based estimates of QTL effects.

As an alternative to separate mapping in inoculated and mock-inoculated RIL sets, a degree of differential response can be calculated for each trait in each RIL by subtracting the mock-inoculated trait values from the inoculated ones. QTL mapping will be carried out as above for each trait differential response, to identify loci underlying growth responses to GB03 applications.

The project will employ established field and laboratory methods to measure litter decomposition, soil organic matter turnover, and nitrogen transformations. These methods could include isotope labeling and recovery, litter decomposition, quantifying soil organic matter, gross nitrification and nitrogen mineralization, potential net nitrification and net nitrogen mineralization, nitrous oxide production, carbon mineralization, and quantifying microbial biomass. These measurements are often collected from both field equipment and laboratory microcosms. The results are analyzed using a variety of tools. Generally, graphing tools are first used to examine trends in the data. The data will then be statistically analyzed using linear mixed models and, potentially, model selection. The statistical output is combined with graphic trends and site background information to interpret data and produce study outcomes. This study will incorporate formal education programs. The research project will be the basis from which to train a graduate student on methods in soil biogeochemistry and incorporation of applied research into graduate study. The field sites and methods will be incorporated into formal laboratory instruction for undergraduates. Involving undergraduates provides both inclusion in primary research and evidence of how research outcomes can be incorporated by farmers. 

A New England Food Vision is the outcome of a regional collaboration, led by the University of New Hampshire, that began in 2014 in response to climate change, local economics, and food security (Donahue et. al, 2014). The Vision identified the potential to increase local food production and enhance our agricultural sector economics. To increase our local animal production, the Vision identified the need to locally produce 64% of the feed that is concurrently required. The feasibility of this goal heavily depends on the utilization of marginal lands not suitable for row crop production to be managed as pasture and hay land. Fortunately, there is also an increasing movement among both consumers and farmers for grass-fed production in New England, as evidenced by the 2019 formation of the New England Grazing Network.

Regionally appropriate management techniques are necessary to support farmers shifting to increased pasture-based feed production systems. It is well understood that well-managed perennial grass systems have great potential to sequester carbon and protect water quality (Franzluebbers et al., 2012; Eyles et al, 2015; Oliveira et al., 2019). However, poorly managed systems can introduce environmental harm due to over grazing and non-point source pollutants. Moreover, nutrient management and grazing management must be fine-tuned in order to maximize production, long-term sustainability, and economic viability.

Our work seeks to reduce the reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertility in pastures to increase environmental sustainability and reduce the cost of production. We also seek to extend the grazing season so as to reduce the necessity to produce hay to feed animals during winter months, as hay production requires labor and fuel costs as well as fossil fuel emissions. This work hopes to increase the understanding of nitrogen cycling as influenced by the effect of forage composition on manure-N composition, which can in turn support farmers in nutrient planning. Finally, we seek to further investigate the effect of grazing height on the regrowth of common grass species and their physiology. Knowledge of the physiology over time is critical to careful management plans that support maximum production and can help predict responses to environmental stresses that accompany climate change.

Plant diseases cause crop loss, reduce food production and threaten global food security (Savary et al., 2012). Focusing on two distinct pathosystems that cause Fusarium vascular wilts and the Basil downy mildew (BDM), respectively, we propose to establish a pipeline to dissect host-pathogen interactions and provide novel means to develop disease resistant cultivars in order to manage plant diseases that threaten food security.

The relationship between domesticated animals and humans is a close one, and has existed for at least ten thousand years. It is important to understand the immune defenses of many animals, in addition to the immune defenses of humans and mice. The goal of our project is is characterize the genetic diversity of a family of immune receptors in domesticated animals and use this information for selective breeding and the design of better vaccines.

As an important group of crops, legumes are prized for their high protein content, which is thanks to their remarkable ability to make their own nitrogen nutrient through a symbiotic relationship with a particular group of bacteria. We still do not fully understand the legume genes that allow these plants, but not most others, to enter this nitrogen-fixing symbiosis. Evolution through millions of years has turned this relationship into a very elaborate process, requiring hundreds if not thousands of genes from both partners. To speed up the rate of scientific discovery, we developed a genetic method based on the CRISPR/Cas9 technology to examine genes suspected to be involved in this mutualistic interaction. This approach will allow us not only to study one gene at a time, but multiple genes at once if necessary. We will carry out the research on a small legume species easy to manipulate in the laboratory, but the findings will have important implications for important crops, such as soybeans, peas, and peanuts.

We will develop a mathematical model that predicts how farmers (or firms) will make decisions when choosing between two markets. The markets we will study include a wholesale market, where farmer's products are no different from all other farmers, and a farm-to-school market where the farmer's products are differentiated (the farmer is known and the products are known to be locally produced). We will then design economic experiments that could be used to test the model's theoretical results. Plans for the design will focus on determining how farmers will allocate their products among the two markets given different levels of transaction costs and market power. We will also work on the design of a preliminary experiment to determine the social preferences of the "farmers." The choices of these "farmers" will then differ according to their social preferences, the transaction costs they face in marketing their products, and the amount of market power they possess and the school possesses.

A scale insect pest has been outbreaking on cranberries in Massachusetts every year since 2012, and in 2022 it is the most damaging pest of Massachusetts cranberries, affecting a majority of commercial bogs. To manage it, we need to understand basic facts about its biology, but right now we don't even know what to call it: we don't know what species it is.  It looks like the species Diaspidiotus ancylus, Putnam scale, and that is what it has been called in the literature and in presentations to growers.  But taxonomists have long suspected that multiple distinct species may have been erroneously lumped together under the name Diaspidiotus ancylus, and we have recently corroborated this hypothesis using DNA evidence.

                The goals of this project are to figure out: how many species are in this group, which plants each species attacks, how each species is distributed geographically, how they can be told apart from each other, and what their scientific names ought to be.  The group has a complex history, originally having been described as 11 different species, before these were lumped together. To help assess which of those 11 species are valid, and whether additional, yet-unnamed species need to be recognized, we will collect members of this species group and their close relatives from many locations in Massachusetts and around the eastern and midwestern US, including 22 so-called "type" localities, in 13 states, from which these species and their closest relatives were originally described.  We will sequence DNA from 3 different genes and use this in conjunction with previously-collected DNA data and other information to assess where the species boundaries lie. 

                The direct target audience for our research results will be our fellow entomologists, especially those dealing with pests identified as Diaspidiotus ancylus that attack cranberries, blueberries, other orchard crops, and ornamentals.  This study will lay the groundwork for a revised classification of the group, and for published guides to the identification, host plant use, and distribution of the consituent species -- not least, we will finally have a valid and correct name for the cranberry pest, and a published means of telling it apart from the lookalike species with which it has long been confused.  This will result in more accurate information about the pest and its biology being conveyed to growers and informing pest management.

The proposed study aims to examine the nutritional health, food insecurity, and maternity care experiences of immigrant women in Massachusetts and in communities outside of the state. Through community engagement, interviews, and surveys of 10-15 immigrant women, as well as secondary data analysis of data on immigrant and refugee women in Massachusetts, our study hopes to demonstrate the importance of the migration experience, place of residence, and host communities in facilitating optimal health and nutrition outcomes for immigrant women and their families. We work with community partners and Extension Nutrition Education Program (NEP) staff to examine and interpret study findings. This process will increase engagement of our extension educators and community partners in research on their communities and facilitate an accurate interpretation of research findings. Our work is also important for generating ideas for innovative nutrition programming to meet community needs; developing and implementing training for NEP staff and educators; and for formulating policies that prioritize investments in nutrition, food security, and health infrastructure for communities in transition and immigrants in the U.S.

The food industry is under transformation due to some important changes in consumer preferences. With a trend towards a healthier lifestyle, food quality, nutrition, and safety are increasingly important to consumers today. There is an increasing demand for more information about the nutritional content of food, for food considered healthy and health-enhancing. However, at the same time, obesity and diabetes rates continue to rise and so do health care costs as a result. There is significant interest in developing and implementing policies to address these problems and promote healthy eating. In this Hatch project, we examine the effects of two public policies aimed at improving consumer health outcomes.  More specifically, we propose estimating the welfare effects of a policy proposal that bans use of partially-hydrogenated oil in food products leading to a ban on trans fat. Partially hydrogenated oil as a source of trans fat, is a primary cause of deaths related to heart attack and obesity in the United States. However, use of partially-hydrogenated oil as an ingredient, even in small amounts, significantly decreases cost of production by providing longer storability and shelf stability. To evaluate welfare effects of this ban, taking into account the demand- and supply-side responses, we use the microwaveable popcorn market as a case study, use Nielsen retail scanner datasets, and estimate a consumer demand model for microwaveable popcorns. We recover consumer preferences as well as marginal cost of production. We propose estimating counterfactuals by allowing firms to endogenously choose prices as well as product portfolios. Using our model, we can simulate the expected product offerings in the market as well as the prices of those products, hence we can compute the total gain in welfare from both before and after the ban is imposed.

Widespread, international and local interest in greening municipalities and increasing urban tree canopy cover continues, largely through community-based tree planting initiatives. It is generally estimated that newly-installed (i.e., planted) trees require at least 3 or more years before establishment, when they resume pre-transplant growth rates. Most trees installed in the urban environment are dug from the nursery field with a spade and wrapped in burlap and a metal basket (‘B&B’ or ‘balled and burlap’ or ‘BnB’). There is interest, however, by tree enthusiasts (i.e., shade tree committee members, Master Gardeners, etc.) and professional urban foresters (i.e., tree wardens/municipal foresters), in planting trees grown using other easier-to-plant systems, including a variety of container-grown (CG, IGF) and bare-root (BR) tree production methods. Ideally, trees that are being planted persist longer than the individuals that are installing them, thus trees grown from these production systems, must have the potential to grow long-term and reach maturity to provide optimal value in relation to the social, economic, and environmental services that urban trees are known for. This may be a challenge, since urban environments often present very difficult growing conditions that foster widespread urban tree morbidity and premature mortality. Though advances in understanding have been made, there is a dearth of empirical data describing the survival and growth of these trees, with the preponderance of research considering trees growing in traditionally forested environments or agricultural plots, rather than urban settings. Since budget constraints are routinely identified as a key limiting factor relative to urban forest management practices, there is also a need for further information concerning the longer-term costs associated with maintaining newly-installed urban trees.

Collecting growth and maintenance cost data on established urban oak specimens in Amherst, MA, produced using various nursery systems will 1) add to the overall base of knowledge concerning urban tree growth and survival 2) enable the quantification and further understanding of the relationship of urban tree growth/survival and nursery production system 3) Enable the quantification and further understanding of the long-term costs associated with planting and maintaining urban trees. The long-term goal of this work is to gather local, empirical data that will help urban forest practitioners consider the appropriate (i.e., most cost-effective, best-performing) nursery production system, when selecting trees for urban planting in Massachusetts and other New England communities.

Reliable, sustainable sources of clean water are increasingly hard to come by. But did you know that there are a lot of additional benefits from cultivating and protecting freshwater wetlands atthe source of some of these waters? Wetland ecosystem services include, but are not limited to, providing verdant habitat and food supply for a large diversity of plant, animal and insect species, water filtration, slowing and spreading of floodwaters, limiting erosion, storage of carbon and other nutrients, temperature buffering, pollinator habitat and forage lands, and water storage. One of the most basic, defining metrics of a wetland is, as the name implies, its wetness. The relative water content in the soil can be assessed in a variety of ways, and this quantity alone is important for reasons beyond wetland function. Specifically, for a wetland to become established and remain functional independently, sufficient water must be present throughout the year to favor wetland plants and animals, which thrive in wet environments but are unlikely to outcompete invasives or other species in drier regimes. We forsee a continued interest in wetland restoration in Massachusetts and predict that measurable metrics to assess the success of such restoration efforts are desired. Two recent developments support this: first, Massachusetts DER created a new Cranberry Bog Program in 2018 to facilitate exactly these types of restorations, and second, Living Observatory (LO) has begun a learning collaborative of scientists, artists, and wetland restoration practitioners to document the science and best practices of freshwater wetland restoration projects. Building on recent projects and successes, we propose to identify and establish a comprehensive catalog of metrics for measuring the success of freshwater wetlands that have been restored. We will continue our observations of soil moisture and subsurface thermal regimes, and add additional observations of weather and climate variables, phenological change, subsurface water levels, water chemistry, and microclimates and topographic influences of microtopography and other restoration practices.

The expansive growth of solar photovoltaics (PV) in Massachusetts has helped make the state a leader in renewable energy production, but there have been public concerns regarding the development of agricultural lands for solar PV electricity production.  In response to these concerns, the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) included provisions in the new state solar energy program which limit conventional ground-mounted solar arrays on farmland, while encouraging innovative "dual-use" technology.   Under the new Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) program, there is a significant financial incentive for dual-use systems which limit shading and obstructions, and require continued agricultural production on the land below and around solar arrays.

Dual-use systems are still novel, and to a degree experimental.  What agricultural activities are most compatible with dual-use is not well understood, nor is whether the new incentive will be sufficient to spur significant adoption of dual-use cropping systems.  UMass has important roles in the development and adoption of dual-use systems.  First, UMass Extension will serve as a clearinghouse of information and an educational resource for the agricultural and solar energy communities regarding the new technology and new incentive program.  Second, UMass faculty will provide feedback to DOER and the agricultural community regarding the success of the program, and suggest any modifications that could help further the goal of promoting expansion of renewable energy capacity, while preserving farmland and agricultural production capacity within the state.

In keeping with these roles, UMass Clean Energy Extension (CEE) is proposing an investigation that will address gaps in agricultural knowledge about the impact of dual-use systems on agricultural methods and productivity, while also exploring farmer motivations and decision-making around the adoption of this new technology.

Forest conservation and management is already complex in New England.  Changes in temperature, precipitation, winter conditions and the timing of seasons have already been documented, and further changes are expected well into the future (Horton et al. 2014). Changes in forest conditions and the geographic distribution of forest types are likely to threaten some ecosystems more than others. Areal coverage of boreal forest and Northern hardwood forests are projected to decline based on model projections (Janowiak et al. 2018). This would affect those species of plants, animals, fungi and other organisms that depend on these ecosystems (Janowiak et al. 2018).
Ecosystems within forested environments, such as streams and wetlands, are also likely to undergo changes that will make it difficult to support viable populations of fish and wildlife and maintain forest biodiversity. For example, as air temperatures rise, corresponding increases in water temperature will further stress cold-water streams. As a result, cold-water stream habitats may disappear or become smaller and more fragmented (Preston 2006, Manomet Center 2013).
Landowners, foresters, conservation organizations, and municipal officials (forest decision- makers) need research-based information on potential impacts on forests and spatially explicit information to guide adaptation strategies and actions. Active conservation measures are necessary to: limit stream warming, identify and conserve potential cold-water refugia, strategically target land protection for refugia for threatened forest types, and ensure terrestrial and aquatic connectivity to maintain viable populations of species dependent on these threatened forest ecosystems. To increase resistance and resiliency to climate change, forest management practices will need to change to ensure species and structural diversity, and adjust to emerging threats, such as invasive species, pests and diseases. 

Many bee pollinators are in decline, and exposure to diseases has been implicated as one of the potential causes. In my lab, we have already established that pollen from one domesticated sunflower source dramatically reduces Crithidia infection loads in the common eastern bumble bees in the laboratory, and that consumption of this pollen improves performance of healthy and infected bee microcolonies. We will expand this work by growing many sunflower cultivars and related taxa, collecting pollen, and repeating laboratory assays to establish how widespread this medicinal trait is across sunflower-related taxa.