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News from the Media

  • Is It Time for a Carbon Tax on Investors?

    August 31, 2023

    Jared Starr, environmental conservation, appeared on a podcast to discuss his study that found that Americans who are in the top 10% of earners are responsible for 40% of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions. "I think our attention really needs to be on the investor class and how we can shift their behavior. If we make it unprofitable to create carbon emissions, they will find other ways to profit," Starr emphasizes. 

  • A Longer Fruit-Growing Season in the Northeast, but with Considerable Trade-offs

    August 30, 2023

    Jon Clements, UMass Extension, is quoted in an article about the challenges of climate change on fruit trees. “Right now, with some of the difficulties we’re facing with the changing climate, we have new diseases moving in. We have new insect pests; I have to spend a lot of time just dealing with that and making sure that we can successfully grow what we currently have,” Clements says.

  • Pick-Your-Own Apples Will Be Hard To Come by in Berkshire County This Fall

    August 30, 2023

    Jon Clements, UMass Extension, is quoted in an article about how a frost in May damaged the apple crop in Berkshire County. “Depending on the elevation of the orchard, they’re in pretty tough shape,” Clements says. “Other counties east of here, growers have a full crop. This is a real difficult subject because there’s plenty of apples out there, but it … depends where you are.”

  • Giving the Gift of Land

    August 28, 2023

    An article on including land trusts in estate planning cites a report co-authored by Paul Catanzaro, Environmental Conservation, on conservation-based estate planning in Massachusetts.

  • Julian Garcia Walther, a Ph.D. Student in Environmental Conservation, Received Honorable Mention in the 2023 American Ornithological Society Student Presentation Awards

    August 25, 2023

    Julian Garcia Walther received an honorable mention in the 2023 American Ornithological Society Student Presentation Awards given to students who presented outstanding posters or oral presentations at the society’s annual meeting.

  • Saving Our Soil: How to Extend U.S. Breadbasket Fertility for Centuries

    August 24, 2023

    Research led by Isaac Larsen, Earth, geographic, and climate sciences, shows that the rapid and unsustainable rate of topsoil erosion can be drastically reduced with no-till agricultural methods already in practice. 

  • The Catch and Release Professor: Andy Danylchuk

    August 21, 2023

    Andrew Danylchuk, environmental conservation, is profiled as a “globetrotting academic … on a mission to improve fisheries by studying the effects of fish handling and educating anglers and future scientists alike.” He is on a quest to ensure fish are released carefully and promptly after they are caught. “Each angler has the chance to practice conservation with each fish they release,” Danylchuk says.

  • New Disease Threatens Massachusetts Beech Trees

    August 21, 2023

    Reporting about a mysterious disease affecting beech trees in Massachusetts cites 2022 comments by Extension plant pathologist Nicholas Brazee who said arborists have never seen a situation where a foliar nematode like this has killed trees.

  • Soil is Eroding 10 to 1,000 Times Faster Than It Forms

    August 17, 2023

    An article on soil health cites a UMass Amherst study on soil erosion. The study found that the rate of soil loss is nearly double what the USDA considers sustainable at an average of 0.0787 inches of soil per year over the past 160 years.

  • Can a Building Made of Wood Fight Climate Change?

    August 15, 2023

    Peggi L. Clouston, environmental conservation, is interviewed for a “Chronicle” television segment about the environmental benefits of constructing large buildings out of wood. She points to the John W. Olver Design Building at UMass Amherst as an example. “This building has some 2,000 cubic meters of wood in it, which equates to just under 2,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide stored in the wood,” Clouston says. “We should be starting to think about these buildings as carbon storage tanks.”

  • Sewage and Stormwater Flow Through the Same Pipes in Holyoke, Chicopee and Springfield

    August 11, 2023

    A kayaker describes the state of the Connecticut River after catastrophic flooding in the Valley. Scott Jackson, UMass Extension professor in environmental conservation, comments about the importance of wetlands in improving water quality and preventing flooding. 

  • 'Case-by-case': Experts Say Farmers May Be Able to Save Some Crops from Flooded Fields

    July 27, 2023

    Clem Clay, director of the UMass Extension Agriculture Program, is quoted in a radio report about Massachusetts agricultural officials and others working with farmers to see what crops may still be saved and what can’t after fields across Western Massachusetts were flooded in recent storms. Clay says crops touched by floodwaters from rivers must be destroyed, while crops impacted by flooding just from rain and not swollen rivers may be spared. 

  • UMass Extension Continues to Assist Local Farmers

    July 26, 2023

    At a meeting with farmers, Northampton State Senator Jo Comeford thanked UMass Extension for contributions and assistance to flood relief efforts. Assistance includes mitigating threats to crops, maintaining a safe food supply, and applying for financial assistance.

  • Jason Lanier Explains the Effects of Heavy Rain and Moisture on Trees in Attleboro Area

    July 23, 2023

    Jason Lanier from UMass Extension says, “One potential issue with a lot of excess moisture is disease. Disease typically needs ample moisture and extended leaf wetness to gain a foothold, and there certainly has been no shortage of that.”

  • How To Protect Your Berries From Birds, According to UMass Extension

    July 19, 2023

    A home remedy trialed by UMass Extension is mentioned in an article on how to keep birds from eating garden berries. The remedy consists of mixing four packets of grape-flavored Kool-Aid in a gallon of water and spraying the solution on ripening berries.

  • As Climate Change Brings Stronger Storms, Experts Fear More Dam Failures in New England

    July 15, 2023

    Christine Hatch, Earth, geographic and climate sciences, comments on the risk of more dam failures in New England because they “weren’t built for the kinds of really big, intense flows that are exacerbated by climate change and human land use activities.”

  • UMass Extension Helps Farmers Assess Crop Losses After Recent Flooding

    July 12, 2023

    As they continue to assess the damage caused by Monday’s downpours, local farmers were joined on Wednesday by legislators and state officials who got a first-hand view of the devastation across the Pioneer Valley. Affected farmers will work with the University of Massachusetts Extension to assess their losses. 

  • The UMass Amherst Gloucester Marine Station Hosts a Webinar Today on “Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Energy and Impacts on Ocean Habitat, Fisheries, and Coastal Communities”

    July 11, 2023
  • An Invasive Plant Is Threatening The Biodiversity Of Mount Greylock

    June 23, 2023

    Kristina Stinson, environmental conservation, is quoted in an article saying that the soil in the Berkshires seems to be more susceptible to invasion by garlic mustard than other areas in the state and that she has noticed that where mustard garlic grows, tree seedlings don’t, suggesting it is “sort of choking out the local flora.”

  • Gov Healy Includes Paul Catanzaro on Scientific Panel to Assess Forestry Strategies After Extending State Forest Logging Pause

    June 7, 2023

    Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey's administration says it will continue a pause on new logging contracts in state forests for another six months, as officials look to develop more "climate-oriented forestry practices." The administration is including Paul Catanzaro, UMass Extension professor in Environmental Conservation, on a scientific panel to assist in drafting new forestry guidelines. 

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