News from the Media

The Senate unanimously passed a bill last week providing for the preservation and improvement of land, parks and clean energy that includes $5 million for the University of Massachusetts Cranberry Research Station at East Wareham. The money would go toward the design, construction, retrofitting and outfitting of enhanced laboratory space to include associated equipment and support to improve research performed by the station, Senate President Therese Murray, D-Plymouth, said.(Wareham Wicked Local 7/17/14)

What if you could use open space to generate solar electricity and farm it at the same time?

Stephen Herbert, a professor of agronomy at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, says this is more than a pipedream. A demonstration plot at a research station in South Deerfield is doing just that.  "We have shown that we can get 90 percent of the yield of a pasture with solar panels compared with not having them as long as we leave enough space between clusters of panels,” he said.  (Hampshire Gazette 7/16/14, Recorder 7/17/14)

More than 50 young 4-H members from around western Massachusetts are spending three days at UMass Amherst for “4-H Science Days,” June 29 through July 1. One of four tracks they can choose is “Exploring Veterinary Sciences,” which introduces them to animal sciences and pre-veterinary student activities and discussions. The events take place at the Hadley Farm. (WGGB-TV 40, 6/30/14; News Office release)

People have another reason to watch out for the tiny deer tick that transmits Lyme disease.
Scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst this spring detected the presence of a newly recognized disease in 12 deer ticks found on or near state residents — including six people from Cape Cod.
Still so new it doesn't have its own name, Borrelia miyamotoi is being known by the species of bacterium that causes a relapsing fever type of illness. (Cape Cod Times 06/30/14)

Many people who are interested in gardening and sustainability have become familiar with the term “colony collapse disorder.” While no single cause has been identified, local bee experts attribute the loss of bees in recent years to a mix of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and more typical predation by mites and diseases that destroy hives. (Hampshire Gazette 6/20/14)

An event, which kicked off a healthy food initiative by Mass in Motion Healthy Market Program, is intended to promote the importance of eating healthy.

Researchers from UMass Amherst will discuss bee health and pollination issues at the fourth annual Bee Fest from 10 a.m. to noon, June 7, on the town common in Greenfield. (Recorder, 5/29/14)

When it comes to promoting sustainable local agriculture, what could be more sustainable than preparing the next generation to understand and act on issues that affect local farms?  (Leominster Champion 5/9/14)

Joseph Elkinton, UMass Extension, comments in two stories about efforts to combat the winter moth, a destructive insect that is damaging trees in eastern Massachusetts and has now been found in part of Connecticut. (The Day [New London, Conn.], 5/16/14; Wicked Local Marlborough, 5/10/14)