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News from the Center

  • 4H camper sharing his tech project

    4-H Summer of Science new video

    April 1, 2014
    4-H Summer of Science rolls out exciting new video! Learn about the new adventures young students have on campus as they discover new worlds through the lens of science, engineering and technology. Watch it here.
  • Passion flower grows at Durfee Conservatory

    Durfee Conservatory Sports New Website

    March 20, 2014
    Looking for a breath of spring somewhere....anywhere? Visit Durfee Conservatory’s new website as well as the greenhouses!  This information-packed website with lovely floral images will help you remember that spring is arriving soon.
  • 4-H camp

    Massachusetts 4-H Camps: 2014 Spring & Summer

    April 1, 2014
    Join one of the many camp offerings for youth in Massachusetts. Camps are educational and interactive, a great way to encourage the love of animals in young people ages 8-18.
  • Amanda Kinchla teaches class

    Farmers and Food Producers Gain Food Safety Training

    March 26, 2014
    UMass Food Science Extension recently held an intensive 3.5-day course called “Better Process Control School” to train existing and would-be food producers in the fundamentals of food safety processing techniques and in meeting FDA requirements.
  • Student in Winter School

    UMass Winter School for Turf Managers: A Tradition of Excellence

    February 4, 2014
    You might think a lot has changed since 1927, and you would be right in many respects. One thing that has not changed is the top-quality training that turf professionals have received at UMass Amherst’s prestigious ‘Winter School for Greenkeepers.’ Established at Massachusetts Agricultural College in the same year that Charles Lindbergh made the first non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic, Winter School maintains the same rigorous standards as it did then, through classroom, laboratory and discussion activities in a seven-week intensive format.
  • VASCI to host NESA annual meeting

    January 30, 2014
    The Northeast Student Affiliate (NESA) of the Student Affiliate Division (SAD) of the American Dairy Science Association (ADSA) annual meeting will be hosted by the Veterinary and Animal Sciences (VASCI) faculty and students on Saturday, February 8.
  • Sonia Schloemann discusses rasperries at Powisett Farm, Dover, MA

    Extension IPM: Second Century of Boots on the Ground

    December 22, 2013
    Since its beginnings early in the twentieth century, UMass Extension has always brought new methods, new research, information and best practices to farmers across Massachusetts. Today, UMass Extension continues this tradition by reaching out, finding and training growers across the Commonwealth about methods in Integrated Pest Management (IPM).
  • Dean Goodwin receives Paris Award

    Dean Goodwin receives Paris Award

    December 20, 2013
    Dean Steve Goodwin, of the College of Natural Sciences at UMass Amherst, received the Guy L. Paris Award from Jim Ward, President of the New England Vegetable and Berry Growers’ Association and owner of Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, Mass. This prestigious award was presented at the 2013 New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference in December, 2013 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
  • Gretchen May, retired from Extension Service

    Reflections on 36 Years of Extension Work

    December 18, 2013
     While much has changed since Gretchen May first started coming to work in the courthouse in Greenfield for the Franklin County Extension Service in 1977, a lot has stayed the same. While the geography and the subject areas of May’s work have changed over the years, her overall goals and style of work have remained consistent. “My work has always been centered on responding to people’s needs. We learned what was needed and then went out and helped people. With newspaper columns and radio shows, newsletters, workshops, and more, we brought information on how to respond to family issues to people in whatever way we could.”
  • Scott Jackson

    Jackson Named Conservationist of the Year by The Nature Conservancy

    December 16, 2013
    Scott Jackson, Extension associate professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation, has been named the 2013 Conservationist of the Year by The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts to recognize his efforts in conserving the Bay State’s lands and waters. The award was presented Dec. 12 at the organization’s Boston office. “Scott Jackson has been a tireless advocate for science-based conservation for more than 20 years,” said Wayne Klockner, executive director of The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts. “Honoring him as our 2013 Conservationist of the Year provides just a small portion of the recognition he deserves for his countless contributions to the health of Massachusetts’ natural environment.”
  • Weeds on a cranberry farm being treated by Katherine Ghantous with the type of open flame cultivation tool used in the study.

    Flame Cultivation promising as weed control method for cranberry

    December 2, 2013
    Cranberries are important agricultural commodities in states such as Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Washington, and Oregon. But cranberry-growing operations are challenged by weeds, which compete for precious resources and often decrease fruit yields and revenues. Producers currently rely on weed management strategies such as flooding and sanding cranberry beds, hand-weeding, or applications of pre- and postemergence herbicides.
  • Kathleen Draper addresses Biochar Conference

    Harvesting Hope

    October 25, 2013
    For four days in October, the Amherst campus of the University of Massachusetts became the hub of the biochar universe, as 300 researchers, entrepreneurs, and policy makers from across North America and the world met for the 2013 USBI North American Biochar Symposium. Focused on the Symposium’s theme – Harvesting Hope: The Science and Synergies of Biochar – participants from the U.S., Canada, Japan, Korea, France, Mexico, Cameroon, Wales, and Germany attended plenaries, workshops, keynote addresses, a Tech Field Day, videos, and a Biochar Banquet.
  • Simi Hoque, PhD, Assistant Professor, Environmental Conservation

    Research Profile: Simi Hoque’s Urban Modeling

    October 13, 2013
    Dr. Simi Hoque is passionate about improving the ways in which buildings use the earth’s resources.  She teaches environmental systems and sustainable design principles in the Department of Environmental Conservation at UMass Amherst. Her research, partially funded by the Center’s Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station, is focused around the application and development of energy-efficient buildings. Dr. Hoque specializes in energy modeling, resource efficiency, and systems design. She is co-author of a recent online publication (October 2013) intended to provide a quantitative approach to assessing sustainability indicators in a city.
  • Kristen Hanley makes jams and jellies at Cold Spring Orchard

    Tasty Ways to Support Agricultural Research

    October 1, 2013
    Jams and Jellies and Fruit, Oh My! Kristen Hanley has always loved to preserve fresh food. She now parlays that love into delicious ways to extend the season for the fruits of UMass Amherst’s Cold Spring Orchard Horticultural Research Center in Belchertown, Mass., about 15 miles from the Amherst campus. If you visit the orchard, you can buy one of the 1,500 jars of mouth-watering jams and jellies that she has made this season; beware though, wait too long and they will be sold out, they always are. 
  • UMass Students Neev Blume and Cole Lanier lead tour of SFE

    First Tour of On-Campus Student Gardens a Success

    September 30, 2013
    UMass Amherst held its first Student Garden Tour on September 28, 2013 under brilliant skies.  Five unique gardens right on campus were hosted by the students who manage them.  One of our main goals was to make students aware of myriad opportunities for growing food without leaving campus. 
  • Soccer field

    Information on Nutrient Best Management Practices

    September 5, 2013
    UMass Extension has recently taken the opportunity to collect and update information about Nutrient Best Management Practices.
  • UMass Amherst Demonstration Gardens

    UMass Amherst: Our Not So Secret Gardens

    August 27, 2013
    A stunning floral display is ready for your viewing pleasure: the UMass Amherst Demonstration Gardens in front of Durfee Conservatory. This garden features several new annual plant cultivars recently introduced by plant breeders. The gardens are intended for observation of new plants under local growing conditions followed by reporting back to the breeders.
  • View of ALC from North Pleasant Street

    Master Plan Update for UMass Amherst Agricultural Learning Center

    August 14, 2013
    Master Plan Update for UMass Amherst Agricultural Learning Center It all starts with a vision. Several years ago, Dr. Stephen Herbert, Director of the UMass Amherst Center for Agriculture, began considering how to create a place for students interested in agriculture to “learn by doing” in a living outdoor laboratory. As the new ALC gains momentum, the university’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning (LARP) has contributed by developing a Master Plan for the Learning Center.
  • Frank Caruso with Ocean Spray actors

    Hero of the Bogs Retires

    July 11, 2013
    For the last thirty years or so, Frank Caruso has been the “go-to” guy for disease problems with the plants in your bogs, if you are one of those who farm the state berry of the Commonwealth. Last week, Dr. Caruso retired as Plant Pathologist with the UMass Cranberry Station in East Wareham. As late as his final days on the job, he was out in the bogs, looking at...
  • Cassie Sefton, UMass student intern plants urban garden at ALC

    Learning by Doing: Summer Internships at the Agricultural Learning Center

    July 9, 2013
    With memories of the April groundbreaking ceremony still in mind, the stakes are (literally) in the ground as farm work gets underway at the new Agricultural Learning Center (ALC) at the north edge of the Amherst campus. The purpose of the ALC is to train the next generation of farmers and other agricultural entrepreneurs by using a hands-on approach: translating classroom knowledge into practical experience in the fields.

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