Integrating research and outreach education from UMass Amherst
The western region of Massachusetts is composed of Berkshire, Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin Counties. The largest city in the region is Springfield, located in Hampden County, along the Interstate 91 corridor on the Connecticut River.
Article on environmentally-friendly dairy farming practices quotes Extension Professor Masoud Hashemi, Stockbridge School of Agriculture, on the historical move from use of nitrogen-fixing legumes to the application of artificial fertilizers and the resulting danger of contamination of water bodies and underground sources of water. (Daily Hampshire Gazette, 9/21/19)
UMass Extension help utilized in effort to rejuvenate soil for new community garden in Greenfield. (Greenfield Recorder, 9/20/19)
The University of Massachusetts Amherst has named Clem Clay as director of the UMass Extension Agriculture Program, a 110-year old educational outreach program that serves farmers, landscape and turf professionals, fruit growers, arborists, nursery owners, flower growers, service providers, public agencies, non-profit organizations and businesses.
On August 2, members of the state’s Food Policy Council visited the UMass Crop and Animal Research and Education Center in South Deerfield following a regular meeting of the Council held on the UMass Amherst campus. Agriculture Commissioner John Lebeaux, chair of the Council, Representative Daniel Donahue, 16th Worcester, and other state officials toured five project sites at the farm and heard from faculty, extension staff and graduate students on their work.
UMass Clean Energy Corps, a group of students working with Benjamin S. Weil, environmental conservation, produced a series of recommendations for energy savings at the Whately Elementary School, the largest user of energy in the town. (Recorder, 7/22/19)
Columnist discusses sycamore anthracnose of sycamore trees in yard. (Daily Hampshire Gazette, 7/12/19)
A garden columnist says she consulted with Susan Scheufele, UMass Extension, about how to identify and deal with cross-striped cabbage worms and related pests that eat vegetable crops in local gardens. (The Berkshire Edge, 7/15/19)
Newspaper article discusses state of prominent historic sycamore tree on Route 7 in Great Barrington, Mass. Article quotes CAFE website on sycamore anthracnose and how it affects the tree. Article quotes Great Barrington's tree warden, Michael Peretti, an arboriculture graduate of UMass Amherst. (Berkshire Eagle, 6/29/19)
This June, nine new brightly-painted murals have begun creating a dynamic outdoor art gallery in downtown Springfield. One of the murals “Victory” was organized by UMass Extension Assistant professor Michael DiPasquale as a way to activate vacant and “leftover” spaces in the city. Professor DiPasquale has been working on similar initiatives in Springfield for almost 10 years as part of his research related to the revitalization of America’s “Legacy Cities”, the country’s once thriving manufacturing centers.
Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment
Stockbridge Hall,
Civil Rights and Non-Discrimination Information
Mass. Agricultural Experiment Station
UMass Research and Education Center Farms
Water Resources Research Center