New UMass Amherst research argues that we need to pay far more attention to non-biting flies as disease carriers. “Blood-feeding flies have taken the limelight, but we should pay attention to the ones that live among us because they get their nutrients from people and animals that shed pathogens in their tears, feces and wounds,” says John Stoffolano, professor of entomology and author of the paper published in the journal Insects.
News from the Media
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Why You Should Pay Attention to Fly Vomit
September 19, 2022 -
UMass Amherst Celebrates $400,000 Investment in Gloucester Marine Station, North Shore Economy with Leading Regional Officials
September 7, 2022UMass Amherst Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and government leaders at the federal, state and local levels gathered at the Gloucester Marine Station on Wednesday to announce $400,000 in federal and state funding to support the station’s North Shore Blue Economy initiative and its operations.
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Marine Station Helping Keep Port Viable
September 6, 2022In a column on the Gloucester Marine Station at Hodgkins Cove, Katie Kahl, environmental conservation, explains how the six-acre campus contributes to the North Shore blue economy, sustainable seafood, coastal resilience and marine ecology.
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Eversource Works To Address Hazardous Trees
September 2, 2022Rick Harper, environmental conservation, comments in an article reporting that electric utility Eversource is working to address trees made hazardous by this season’s drought.
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Gill Seeks Grant for Public Safety Complex Weatherization
September 1, 2022Ben Weil, environmental conservation, has provided recommendations to the town of Gill for weatherization of its public safety complex.
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How and When to Harvest Onions, Plus Expert Tips on Curing and Storing Them
August 24, 2022Genevieve Higgins, UMass extension vegetable production educator, provides advice on the harvesting, curing and storage of home-grown onions.
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Beech Bum: A Microscopic Bug Is Threatening Trees in Massachusetts
August 17, 2022Nicholas Brazee, UMass extension plant pathologist, is quoted on the problem of foliar nematodes that are attacking beech trees across Massachusetts and killing them for the first time.
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Fresh or Frozen, Wild or Cultivated? What to Know About Blueberries and Health
July 28, 2022Eric Decker, food science, is interviewed in a syndicated article about the – sometimes overexaggerated – health benefits of blueberries. “They’re the kind of things we should be eating but sometimes these things get overpromised,” Decker says of the berries. “Anytime you start talking about ‘superfoods’ and ‘super fruits,’ it's probably a little overexaggerated.”
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Cranberry Growers On Alert As Heat Wave, Drought Sweep State
July 25, 2022Giverson Mupambi, assistant professor at the UMass Cranberry Station in Wareham, is quoted in an article about the effect of current heat and drought conditions. If cranberries experience heat stress they can rot. “Right now is a critical moment, because we need enough water in the bog," Mupambi says.
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Wine-drinkers of the World Rejoice! New Research, Led by UMass Amherst, Finds Key to Billion-Dollar Problem
July 25, 2022New research led by a UMass Amherst team has unlocked the mystery of Grapevine Trunk Diseases which can cause more than $1 billion in damages to vineyards worldwide.
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A Secret Path to the Season's Sweetness
July 20, 2022An article praising wild blueberries includes suggestions from the UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment about when to prune the bushes (it’s early spring).
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Fake Meats: How Sustainable Are They?
July 20, 2022David Julian McClements, Distinguished Professor of food science, discusses his work to create realistic textures in plant-based meat substitutes in a story examining efforts to make products like Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat not only taste and feel like the real thing but also have far lighter environmental footprints.
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Mass. Grants Millions to Nine Organizations for Offshore Wind Workforce Development
July 18, 2022The UMass Amherst Clean Energy Extension (CEE) is among nine organizations in Massachusetts receiving state grants for offshore wind workforce development.
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Which Meat Type Is Superior to Chicken?
July 14, 2022David Julian McClements, Distinguished Professor in food science, is quoted in an article comparing how the digestibility of plant-based meats compares to chicken.
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Vertosa, University of Massachusetts Amherst join forces to study CBG
July 11, 2022David Sela, food science, is partnering with the cannabis company Vertosa to study the nutritional applications of cannabigerol (CBG) and its interactions with an individual’s diet.
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‘Plants Are Looking a Little Sad’: Where There Were Puddles Last Year, Western Massachusetts Now Sees Drought
July 11, 2022David Boutt, geosciences, is quoted in an article about current drought conditions in Western Massachusetts.
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Massachusetts Doesn’t Have a State Climatologist. Here’s Why That Matters.
July 10, 2022Massachusetts is one of the few states in the U.S. that lacks a state climatologist. Michael Rawlins, geosciences and associate director of the Climate System Research Center at UMass Amherst, says he has tried to fill the need on a de facto unpaid basis, but that without a climatologist, “there is no clear point of contact for the public, businesses, educators, and policymakers.”
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The Emerald Ash Borer Is Killing Millions of Ash Trees. A New ‘Biological Control’ Races to Save Them.
July 6, 2022Tawny Simisky, Extension Entomologist, was quoted in an article discussing the damaging effects of the emerald ash borer, an invasive beetle species whose larvae feed on ash trees.
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Trees Are Trying to Help with Climate Change, but We Need to Let Them
June 30, 2022Richard W. Harper, urban and community forestry, is quoted in an opinion piece appreciating trees and their many positive contributions to our world.
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Humans Tamed the Microbes Behind Cheese, Soy, and More
June 29, 2022Research by John Gibbons, food science, is mentioned in a story on how humans have learned to tame the microbes behind cheese, soy and more
