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)
News from the Media
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UMass Extension Helps Garden Columnist Manage Cabbage Worms
July 15, 2018 -
UMass Amherst Researcher Studies Faba Bean, as Natural Source of L-DOPA Used by Parkinson’s Patients
July 12, 2018Plant scientist Fatemeh Etemadi, a PhD candidate (Hashemi Lab) at Stockbridge School of Agriculture, UMass Amherst, investigated the accumulation trend and the amount of L-Dopa in various parts of of faba bean plant and concluded that the L-Dopa concentration was in the following order; leaves, seeds, flowers, roots, and stems. (News Office 7/9/18)
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4-H Youth Shine at Heath Fairgrounds
July 12, 2018Young people had a chance to showcase their farming skills at the Franklin County 4-H Fair, which was held Saturday, June 30, at the Heath Fairgrounds. (Recorder 7/6/18)
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Connecticut River Flow Restoration Report Released
July 11, 2018A new decade-long study of the Connecticut River watershed has provided scientists some valuable tools for understanding how dams affect a river’s ecological health, but also suggests that little can be done to alter dam operations for environmental gain. Christine Hatch, UMass extension associate professor of geosciences, comments. (Gazette 7/10/18; News Office 6/13/18)
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Climate Change Is Making Allergies Worse, UMass Professor Comments
July 10, 2018Kristina A. Stinson, environmental conservation, discusses how climate change affects allergies, that with warming temperatures, spring is coming earlier and in response to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, plants are producing more pollen. She also says warmer air traps smog and pollution. (WCAI 7/5/18)
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UMass Tawny Simisky Discusses Gypsy Moth Caterpillar Issues on WBUR
June 22, 2018When that rain-like sound in your oak trees is actually gypsy moth caterpillars pooping, and what you can do about it. (WBUR 6/22/18)
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Mass leads Nation in Wildland-Urban Interface, UMass Professor Remarks
June 18, 2018With changes in habitat, animal adaptation, restrictions on hunting and trapping, and the strategic reintroduction of extirpated wildlife, wild animals have become a fact of life in many communities around Greater Boston. "Because of the way Massachusetts is settled, growing wildlife populations are particularly likely to come into contact with humans," said Paige Warren, an associate professor of environmental conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. (Globe 6/15/18)
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UMass Testing Mosquitos for National Science Foundation
June 18, 2018The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Laboratory of Medical Zoology (LMZ), better known for its national tick-borne disease testing service, has begun mosquito testing with the arrival of 15,000 vials of mosquitoes collected from 47 sites across the continent as part of National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) project, says microbiologist and LMZ director Stephen Rich. (WFXTV-25, News Office 6/6/18)
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Dual-use Solar Panels and Crops Story Notes UMass Pilot Program
June 11, 2018A story about dual-use farms, where crops are planted around and under solar panels, notes that one pilot program at UMass Amherst grows a variety of plants, including kale, peppers, beans, cilantro and tomatoes, below solar panels elevated between 7.5 feet and 9 feet above the ground. (Scientific American 6/6/18)
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UMass Research: Common Antimicrobial Ingredient Linked to Bowel Cancer
May 31, 2018A large research team led by senior author Guodong Zhang at the University of Massachusetts Amherst reports that the antimicrobial ingredient triclosan, found in hand soaps and toothpastes among other products, could have adverse effects on colonic inflammation and colon cancer by altering gut microbiota, the microbes found in our intestines. (Jordan Times 7/2/18; Sky Chronicle 6/11/18; Medicalnewser 6/10/18; ChemicalWatch 6/7/18; Metro.us, Science and Technology Reserach News, Health Care Purchasing News 6/4/18; Salon 6/3/18, Minneapolis Star Tribune, LA Times, Popular Science, AOL.com, CBS Boston, The Patch 5/31/18, Daily Mail [UK], Stamford Advocate [The Conversation] 5/30/18; Medkit.info, Biosciencetechnology.com, Firenewsfeed.com, Infosurhoy.com, 5/31/18; News Office Release)
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UMass Amherst is Ground Zero for Tick Research
May 26, 2018Stephen M. Rich, microbiology and director of the Laboratory of Medical Zoology and the Tick Testing Lab, is quoted in an article highlighting the dangers of tick bites. UMass Amherst, the report says, “is ground zero for tick research. Every week, thousands of people from across the country send ticks to its TickReport program to be tested for diseases." (CNN 5/26/18)
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A Serious Tick Season is Here, Just Like Always, Professor Rich Comments
May 15, 2018Prof. Stephen Rich, a microbiologist at UMass-Amherst and the director of its Laboratory of Medical Zoology, says there’s no such thing as a light tick season. They’re all bad. (The Sun Chronicle 5/14/18)
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Using Biodiversity to Weather a Changing World, UMass Weighs In
May 9, 2018UMass extension educator and “Fruit Advisor,” Jon Clements advises commercial fruit growers across the state on the best practices to cultivate their crop and turn a profit against the reality of a changing climate. (Gazette 5/9/18)
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Tens of Thousands Likely to Get Tick-borne Disease in MA This Year
May 8, 2018A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns of a recent surge of tick-borne disease incidence in the United States said microbiology professor Stephen Rich, director of the Laboratory of Medical Zoology (LMZ) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A new $100,000 grant from the state’s public health department, using CDC funding, will help to subsidize the cost of tick testing for Massachusetts residents through a contract with the LMZ. ( Berkshire Eagle, Keene Sentinel [via Cape Cod Times], 5/21/18; WFXT-TV 25, WPRI-TV 12, Medicine News Line, 5/9/18; Phys.org, WWLP-TV 22, 5/8/18; News Office; Globe 5/7/18)
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Richard Peltier Examines Causes of Air Pollution and Human Health Impacts
May 7, 2018Richard Peltier, UMass Amherst, environmental health sciences, examines the causes of air pollution and its adverse impact on human health. (The Conversation, 5/7/18)
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UMass Amherst Food Scientists Discover How Obesity Could be Linked to Colon Cancer
April 30, 2018University of Massachusetts Amherst researchers have identified an enzyme that might be responsible for increased colon inflammation in obese people — and they’re hoping that, by inhibiting it, they might someday prevent colon cancer, said Guodong Zhang, a food science professor at UMass Amherst. (Globe; New China 4/30/18)
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Quebec Cree Camp Hosts UMass Students
April 30, 2018UMass professor Paul K. Barten, environmental conservation, takes annual trip with students to the James Bay region of Quebec where they visit a Cree culture camp. “The Cree in particular, how self-reliant and resourceful they are, by any standard measure it defines what conservation and sustainability really is,” Barten says. (CBC [Canada] 4/27/18)
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Vegetable Growing Season Set Back By Cold Spell
April 24, 2018The cold, wet weather this month has set the vegetable growing season behind, according to Katie Campbell-Nelson, a vegetable expert with the UMass Extension in Amherst. (NEPR, 4/24/2018)
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Faba Fix for Corn's Nitrogen Need, UMass Tests Cover Crop
April 17, 2018Masoud Hashemi and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst tested faba bean as a cover crop before planting sweet corn with good news for growers. (Science Newsline 4/12/18)
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UMass Amherst Food Science Study Cited in Article About Clean and Dirty Foods
April 10, 2018A news story on the cleanest and dirtiest fruits and vegetables mentions that a recent study done at UMass Amherst found that soaking produce in a solution of baking soda and water does a good job of removing pesticides. (Food Safety, 4/10/18)
