News from the Media

Lili He, food science, who was the lead author on a study that found washing fruits and vegetables with a baking soda solution removes most chemicals and pesticides from their skins, says it a good method to try. (Yahoo! News, 7/10/19)

David J. McClements, Distinguished Professor in food sciences, says when he took his daughter and her friends to try the new meatless Impossible Burger at Burger King, they couldn’t believe it wasn’t meat. (Yahoo! News 7/9/19)

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)

A new report from researchers at UMass Amherst and the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (NCASC) says maple syrup production will decline in New England in the next century as rising temperatures shift peak syrup production northward into Canada. Toni Lyn Morelli NCASC and Kristina Stinson, environmental conservation were on the research team. (NBC5 6/24/19; Gazette, 6/21/19; ScienceBlog, 6/18/19; News Office release)

Scientists from UMass Amherst, led by John Gibbons, food science, have shed new light on the genomic foundation of the polar bear’s ecological adaptation. Gibbons, along with Ph.D. student Shu Zhao and graduate students from Vanderbilt and Clark University, have published findings pinpointing rapid changes in the bear’s gene copy numbers in response to their diet shifting from vegetation to meat. (CBC, 6/23/19; Phys.org, 6/17/19; Technology Networks, 6/18/19; News Office release)

ReGreen President David V. Bloniarz, who is also project director for the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said the Forest Park Arboretum project in Springfield is well under way. “By October 2019, we will have labeled the first 300 trees,” Bloniarz said, adding that the project’s goal is to have 500 trees labeled by August 2020. (Republican, 5/28/19)

At a public event held at UMass Amherst’s Mount Ida campus, Stephen Rich, microbiology, presented information about TickReport, a service his lab runs that allows people to mail in ticks and receive a report about disease-causing microbes the tick may be carrying. (Boston 25 News, 5/14/19; News Office release)

Scott D. Jackson, UMass Extension and environmental conservation, comments in a news story about the regional effects outlined in a United Nations report that finds the loss of plant and animal species around the world will increase in coming years. Jackson says he is worried about the unexpected consequences of biodiversity loss. (Globe 5/6/19)

Six teams of UMass Amherst food science students, most of them seniors and food science majors, had their newly developed ice cream flavors tasted and judged by Maple Valley Creamery representatives and a panel of culinary professionals on May 1 at the Integrated Learning Center. The winning flavor, Vanilla Chai, will be produced by Maple Valley Creamery in Hadley and sold in local markets, branded with a UMass Amherst logo. The product development course is taught this year by Matthew Steffens, a UMass Amherst food science alumnus. (WWLP-TV 22, 5/1/19; News Office release)