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News from the Media

  • D-FW Is Burning Up for Spicy Food. Here’s the Science Behind It

    December 21, 2022

    Research by Alissa Nolden, food science, is cited in an article about how chefs in Dallas, Texas, are responding to customers’ tastes for spicy food.

  • Farmers Use $60 Billion of Pesticides Each Year. 2 MIT Scientists Have Developed a New Technology That Could Cut That Number in Half

    December 20, 2022

    Susan Scheufele, UMass Extension, led a UMass team that conducted field trials of a new technology which could sharply reduce the amount of pesticides farmers use.

  • With Clean Energy Corps Help, Municipal Buildings Find Green Future

    December 8, 2022

    The work of UMass Amherst Clean Energy Extension’s Clean Energy Corps is profiled. The Clean Energy Corps is a class for UMass upper-level students that uses consulting methods to solve these problems. 

  • What Your Love of Spicy Food Says About Your Personality

    December 7, 2022

    Coverage of a Frank’s Redhot survey of how much spice respondents prefer includes an interview with Alissa Nolden, food science, into people’s perceptions of spicy food and the oral effect of capsaicin, the chemical in chili peppers that creates a burning sensation in the mouth.

  • To Save Nature, Focus on Populations, Not Species

    December 1, 2022

    New research led by Brian Cheng, environmental conservation, is the first to show that the focus on species-level extinction risks due to global warming obscures a wide variability in temperature tolerance, even within the same species, and that this variability is greater for marine species than terrestrial ones. 

  • Forests and Their Role as a Natural Climate Solution

    November 30, 2022

    In an episode of the podcast "This is U.S. Sustainability," Paul Catanzaro, co-director of the Family Forest Research Center, discusses trees' unmatched ability to combat climate change, and his work with family forest owners along with Professor Tony D’Amato, a silviculture expert from the University of Vermont.

  • Climate Change at Home: UMass Toolkit Helps Towns Clear Barriers to Solar Power

    November 24, 2022

    The UMass Clean Energy Extension has developed a planning toolkit to help small towns develop solar energy. Director Dwayne Breger, Associate Director River Strong and Research Fellow Zara Dowling say the toolkit creates realistic scenarios towns can work with to develop plans that meet their needs.

  • Get Growing with Mickey Rathbun: Perennial advice in the 2023 UMass Garden Calendar

    November 14, 2022

    A column details information included in the latest UMass Garden Calendar, which has been produced for more than 30 years by the staff of the UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program. 

  • Oregon Company Borrows Concept from Iconic Bridges for Elevated Solar Arrays

    November 9, 2022

    Dwayne Breger, Clean Energy Extension director, is quoted in a story about using the design concept of suspension bridges to design elevated solar projects 

  • Christine Hatch will represent Western Massachusetts’ unique water needs and challenges in state agency

    November 3, 2022

    Christine Hatch, extension professor of geosciences, was recently appointed a member of the Commonwealth’s Water Resources Commission. Hatch will be the only member of the commission representing Western Massachusetts.

  • Masoud Hashemi Elected President of Three Organizations

    November 2, 2022

    Masoud Hashemi, extension professor of sustainable farming and agronomy management, has been named president-elect of the Northeastern regional branches of the Agronomy Society of America (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). He will lead the triumvirate for two years (until late 2024).

  • Weird, Tiny, White, Fluffy 'Boogie-Woogie' Bugs Filmed Dancing Around Leaf

    October 28, 2022

    An article about beech blight aphids cites information from a fact sheet created by UMass Extension’s Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program.

  • The Cranberry Bog Misconception You Can Stop Believing

    October 24, 2022

    An article about popular misconceptions surrounding cranberry bogs cites facts provided by the UMass Cranberry Station’s website.

  • USDA NIFA Workshop Report on Toxic Elements in Food Released

    October 20, 2022

    The report from a virtual workshop on toxic elements in food held in April by Om Parkash Dhankher, Stockbridge School of Agriculture, and Jason C. White, director of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) and an adjunct professor in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, has been released by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

  • Roundtables Talk Clean Energy Expansion Following Northeast Biodiesel Opening

    October 2, 2022

    Dwayne Breger, director of the Clean Energy Extension, spoke at a roundtable discussion in Greenfield focused on how municipalities and nonprofits can use new incentives from the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act to build solar arrays.

  • Earth Matters: Falling for Cedars

    September 29, 2022

    Christine Hatch, geosciences, has written a column about cedar trees, and how large Atlantic white cedars were logged and their lands flattened for cranberry cultivation.

  • Accelerating the Future of Clean Energy

    September 28, 2022

    The UMass Amherst Clean Energy Extension provides technical assistance to municipalities, conducts applied research, and offers workforce training to achieve the Commonwealth’s sustainability goals.

  • What To Do If You Find a Spotted Lanternfly in New England

    September 26, 2022

    Tawny Simisky, UMass Extension entomologist, is quoted in an article providing advice on how to recognize spotted lanternflies and what to do once one is found.

  • Grafton Discusses Growing Crops Under Solar Panels

    September 21, 2022

    UMass-Amherst’s Clean Energy Extension Program is mentioned as a partner in collecting data for an “agrivoltaic” project in Grafton. Agrivoltaics combines solar energy production and crop cultivation in the same area by growing crops underneath solar panels.

  • Farmers Invited to Learn About Attracting Native Pollinators

    September 20, 2022

    Hannah Whitehead, an educator with UMass Extension, is quoted in a story on the benefits of local pollinator habitats. “On-farm pollinator habitat has been shown to enhance bee abundance and diversity, and to boost pollination services,” Whitehead says.

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