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).
News from the Media
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Masoud Hashemi Elected President of Three Organizations
November 2, 2022 -
Weird, Tiny, White, Fluffy 'Boogie-Woogie' Bugs Filmed Dancing Around Leaf
October 28, 2022An article about beech blight aphids cites information from a fact sheet created by UMass Extension’s Landscape, Nursery and Urban Forestry Program.
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The Cranberry Bog Misconception You Can Stop Believing
October 24, 2022An article about popular misconceptions surrounding cranberry bogs cites facts provided by the UMass Cranberry Station’s website.
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USDA NIFA Workshop Report on Toxic Elements in Food Released
October 20, 2022The 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).
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Roundtables Talk Clean Energy Expansion Following Northeast Biodiesel Opening
October 2, 2022Dwayne 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.
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Earth Matters: Falling for Cedars
September 29, 2022Christine Hatch, geosciences, has written a column about cedar trees, and how large Atlantic white cedars were logged and their lands flattened for cranberry cultivation.
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Accelerating the Future of Clean Energy
September 28, 2022The UMass Amherst Clean Energy Extension provides technical assistance to municipalities, conducts applied research, and offers workforce training to achieve the Commonwealth’s sustainability goals.
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What To Do If You Find a Spotted Lanternfly in New England
September 26, 2022Tawny 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.
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Grafton Discusses Growing Crops Under Solar Panels
September 21, 2022UMass-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.
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Farmers Invited to Learn About Attracting Native Pollinators
September 20, 2022Hannah 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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A Cranberry Shortage is Brewing With Thanksgiving Around the Corner
September 20, 2022An article about a nationwide cranberry shortage resulting from this summer’s drought in Massachusetts cites UMass Amherst data showing that cranberries are the state’s largest crop, valued at almost $100 million annually and accounting for 6,900 jobs and $1.4 billion dollars of the Massachusetts economy.
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Why You Should Pay Attention to Fly Vomit
September 19, 2022New 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.
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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.
