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.”
News from the Media
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Can a Building Made of Wood Fight Climate Change?
August 15, 2023 -
Sewage and Stormwater Flow Through the Same Pipes in Holyoke, Chicopee and Springfield
August 11, 2023A 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.
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'Case-by-case': Experts Say Farmers May Be Able to Save Some Crops from Flooded Fields
July 27, 2023Clem 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.
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UMass Extension Continues to Assist Local Farmers
July 26, 2023At 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.
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Jason Lanier Explains the Effects of Heavy Rain and Moisture on Trees in Attleboro Area
July 23, 2023Jason 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.”
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How To Protect Your Berries From Birds, According to UMass Extension
July 19, 2023A 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.
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As Climate Change Brings Stronger Storms, Experts Fear More Dam Failures in New England
July 15, 2023Christine 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.”
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UMass Extension Helps Farmers Assess Crop Losses After Recent Flooding
July 12, 2023As 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.
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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, 2023Kristina 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.”
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Gov Healy Includes Paul Catanzaro on Scientific Panel to Assess Forestry Strategies After Extending State Forest Logging Pause
June 7, 2023Massachusetts 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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Research Finds Almond Yogurt To Surpass Dairy and Plant-Based Alternatives in Overall Nutrition
June 7, 2023There is continued coverage of recent research by food science student Astrid D’Andrea, working in the lab of Alissa Nolden, comparing the nutrients of yogurts, which found that almond milk yogurt has a higher nutritional density than dairy yogurt and all other plant-based yogurts.
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Massachusetts Cranberry Growers Look Past Older Plant Varieties, With Plans for Growth
June 2, 2023Hilary Sandler, director of the UMass Cranberry Station, comments in an article about growth and other issues facing cranberry growers in Massachusetts. Sandler says that while production has increased, the price paid to growers over the past 10 years prices have been close to or below the cost of production, which is “a challenge.”
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Fruit Growers in Western Massachusetts Assessing Crop Loss After May Freeze
May 23, 2023Jon Clements, Extension educator in the Center for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment, estimates that about a third of the apple crop was destroyed state wide after the late May frost. “I don’t want to be too bleak because we just kind of have to wait and see. I’m pretty sure there will be apples. It’s just not going to be a full crop,” Clements says.
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Retired Professor Ron Kujawski Comments on the Use of Dyed Landscaping Mulch
May 20, 2023Ron Kujawski, who retired from teaching at the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, is quoted in an article updated from a 2014 article, about using mulch in landscaping. Kujawski said that dyes that are sometimes used in bark mulch are not considered toxic but his preference is to avoid using dyed materials.
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From Studying Sustainable Agriculture at UMass to Founder of a Sustainable Wine Company
May 16, 2023Alumna Kristen Olszewski left Harvard Medical School to pursue a career as a sommelier and later found Nomadica, her sustainable canned wine company. Olszewski says, “UMass has an incredible sustainable agriculture program and an amazing community garden that feeds into a co-op vegan restaurant. It was an incredible experience to be a part of and shaped so much of how I operate my own business.”
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UMass Amherst Research Ties Land Use Shifts to Water Quality and Quantity
May 11, 2023UMass Amherst researchers published a study in the journal PLOS Water that focuses on the Sudbury-Assabet and Concord watershed in eastern Massachusetts, linking hydrological changes, like floods, drought and runoff, to changing patterns of land use. “The watershed is a signature of the health of the landscape,” says Timothy Randhir, professor of environmental conservation and the paper’s senior author. “The quality of life in any particular landscape depends on how the watershed is functioning.”
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UMass Amherst Groundskeeper Fights for Campus Trees’ Champion Status
April 27, 2023Todd Cournoyer, head of grounds at UMass, is interviewed about UMass Amherst’s legacy trees, many of which are more than 100 years old, several of which are state “champion trees,” and his efforts to see them included on American Forests’ national register. Brian Kane, the Massachusetts Arborists Association professor at UMass is also interviewed.
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A New Vision For Soybean Meal: Designer Tempeh
April 25, 2023Hang Xiao, professor and Clydesdale Scholar of Food Science, has received a grant from the USDA to use “smart fermentation” to create a flavorful and nutritious protein using soybeans. Xiao says, “We will create a library of genes to produce more nutritional and more delicious tempeh food, and we can be very creative.”
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UMass Amherst Hosts Ribbon-Cutting for $8 Million Expansion of Cranberry Station in East Wareham
April 21, 2023Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy and other UMass leaders joined state officials and industry representatives Friday in celebrating the official opening of the expanded and modernized UMass Cranberry Station in East Wareham.
