Integrating research and outreach education from UMass Amherst
Rivers and streams in New England will inevitably flood, and there are some low-cost steps that federal and state governments can take to help communities be better prepared. That’s the message from a recent UMass Amherst report.
Geography Professor Eve Vogel led the study, and presented the findings Friday in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. (12/2/16 NEPR)
Wildlife ecologists who study the effects of climate change assume, with support from several studies, that warming temperatures caused by climate change are forcing animals to move either northward or upslope on mountainsides to stay within their natural climate conditions. But a new study of lowland and higher-mountain bird species by wildlife ecologists Bill DeLuca and David King at UMass Amherst, now shows an unexpected and "unprecedented" inconsistency in such shifts. (11/28/16 Science Daily, 11/29/16 Environmental News Network, 11/30/16 Foreign Affairs)
UMass Amherst entomologist Joe Elkinton and UMass Extension entomologist Tawny Simisky are quoted in this article in this AP article on the this year's predicted arrival of the winter moth. (Westerly Sun, 11/23/16)
Cranberries are a billion-dollar industry in Massachusetts and employ more than 6,900 people. But the market is getting crowded, and that’s pushing down the price. Wisconsin has been the top grower in North America for years. Quebec has only been growing cranberries for the last 20 years, but it surpassed Massachusetts in its cranberry harvest in 2014. Why hasn’t Massachusetts kept up with Wisconsin and Quebec? “It’s not so much that our production is down, it's that it's stable, and other areas are growing,” according to Carolyn DeMoranville, the director of the UMass Cranberry Station in Wareham. (WCAI 11/21/16)
Lisa McKeag, a UMass Extension vegetable education specialist, has received a two-year, $144,617 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Food Safety Outreach Program to promote food safety education, training, and technical assistance for owners and operators of small- to mid-sized farms, farmers’ markets, and others who must deal with recent new federal food safety guidelines. (Lab Manager, 11/18/2016)
Stockbridge School of Agriculture professor Baoshan Xing is being recognized as a UMass Amherst Spotlight Scholar. An expert in analyzing the chemical behaviors of soil and soil contaminants, Xing has been identified as a most highly cited researcher in the area of environmental and ecological sciences by Thomson-Reuters for the past three years. He represents one of the world’s “most influential scientific minds.” (11/8/16 UMass News Office)
Make-It Springfield was only supposed to be a temporary summer pop-up shop, but its success will keep this space open for the "foreseeable future." With 25 different workshops, Make-It Springfield allows visitors to indulge in a variety of subjects like arts and crafts, bicycle repair, make-up techniques, healthy eating habits and computer help. (11/2/16 MassLive)
The browntail moth that is infamous for an itchy, painful rash caused by the hairs of its larvae, increased in population and territory in Maine this year. The moths remain an occasional problem on Cape Cod, but that's the only place in Massachusetts where they're a problem, said Joe Elkinton, professor of entomology at the University of Massachusetts. (Press Enterprise [Maine], 10/23/16; Berkshire Eagle, 10/22/16)
UMass Amherst Geosciences Professor David Boutt quoted in Boston Globe article on current drought in Massachusetts. (Boston Globe, 9/22/16)
Local apples are particularly sweet this year because of sunny weather and not much rain, a combination that adds up to apples concentrating their sugar more. That is the assessment of "Mr. Honeycrisp," as Jon Clements is known. (Herald 9/22/16)
In the first global analysis of environmental risk from invasive alien species, researchers, including Bethany Bradley, Environmental Conservation, say one sixth of the world's lands are "highly vulnerable" to invasion, including "substantial areas in developing countries and biodiversity hotspots." The study appears in the current issue of Nature Communications.
Wildlife ecologist Curt Griffin at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, with postdoctoral researcher Scott Schlossberg, are members of a research team that compiled the data for the Great Elephant Census. It confirmed massive declines in African Savannah Elephants over the last decade. (9/1/16 News Office)
A new study from urban ecologists at the University of Massachusetts suggests that when urban and suburban lawns are left untreated with herbicides, they provide a diversity of “spontaneous” flowers such as dandelions and clover that offer nectar and pollen to bees and other pollinators. (Recorder 9/7/16, News Office)
UMass Extension tree fruit specialist Jon Clements quoted on this year's apple crop in New England. (Tri-Valley Dispatch [Arizona], 9/7/2016)
The Student Farm at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has achieved Commonwealth Quality certification from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR). (UMass News Office, 9/7/2016)
Daniel Lass, University of Massachusetts resource economist, comments on low milk prices. When farmers look back at their ledgers for 2016, Lass says, “This year is going to be terrible. Horrible,” largely because of an oversupply of milk in New England as well as most places around the world. (Recorder 8/29/16)
An educator from the UMass nutrition program is stationed at Fall River farmer’s market each week. Sue Loughlin,an educator at the UMass Extension Nutrition Education Program, offered free samples of garbanzo summer salad, recipes, and answers questions about nutrition. (Herald News 8/22/16)
Masoud Hashemi, UMass Extension, offers comments in a story about how local farmers are reacting to this year’s drought. He says some are seeking information about “no-till” farming that leaves fields unplowed and has crops planted on top of leftover plant matter from previous crops. (WFCR, 8/24/16)
Lili He, UMass associate professor of food chemistry, is featured in the cover story of Chemical & Engineering News, which introduces this year’s “Talented 12.” The magazine highlights skilled young chemists whose mission it is to use top-notch chemistry to solve some of the world's most diabolical scientific problems. (Chemical & Engineering News, 8/22/16)
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Mass. Agricultural Experiment Station
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