Researchers including faculty members David Irwin, Prashan Shenoy, engineering, and Benjamin Weil, environmental conservation, have developed WattScale, an open-source AI tool that identifies energy-wasting homes. (VentureBeat, 7/7/20)
News from the Media
Research by Baoshan Xing, environmental and soil chemistry, and colleagues in China, is showing direct evidence that nanoplastics can accumulate in land plants. Xing says, “Plant accumulation of nanoplastics can have both direct ecological effects and implications for agricultural sustainability and food safety.” (BioplasticsNews 7/6/20; Technology Networks, 6/24/20; iCrowdNewswire, 6/23/20 Environmental News Network, ScienceDaily, 6/22/20; News Office release)
Hang Xiao, food science, has received a federal grant to expand his research into the health benefits of strawberries. Xiao and colleagues will aim to identify the mechanism by which whole strawberries affect the gut in positive ways. (Vegetable Growers News, 6/17/20)
UMass magazine publishes article about home gardening, touting extension fact sheets as great resource. (UMass Magazine, summer 2020)
An article in Ohio newspaper offers advice for vegetable gardening and includes a tip sheet from UMass Extension among its list of resources. (Akron Beacon Journal, 6/11/20)
TickReport, UMass Amherst’s tick-testing service, is closed until June 19 because of staff furloughs. Stephen Rich, professor of microbiology and director of the lab, says one can send ticks in after June 19 when they reopen. (MassLive, 6/10/20)
Conserving biodiversity in a rapidly changing world, Toni Lyn Morelli, UMass Amherst ecologist, along with her team, synthesized refugia science developments to date. (ESAjournal 6/1/20, News Office release 6/1/20)
In a new study published in People and Nature, researchers from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst found a higher prevalence of bed bug infestations in neighborhoods with lower incomes, higher eviction rates and crowding. (Washington Post, 6/6/20; News Office release)
Chris Von Achen, food science research assistant, is one of the organizers of a free webinar on residential composting that will be presented by the Greater Quabbin Food Alliance’s Food Waste Reduction and Composting Working Group on May 29. (Recorder, 5/27/20)
An article about the best ways to fertilize various plants, trees and shrubs mentions and links to tips offered by the UMass Extension Landscape, Nursery & Urban Forestry Program. (Markets Insider, 5/27/20)