Reports Detail the Health of School Cafeterias, UMass Food Scientist Comments
According to state law, local health inspectors must inspect school cafeterias at least twice a year. Amanda Kinchla, a food safety expert in food science, says corrective actions are the most important item to note when reviewing inspection reports.(Western Mass News 2/5/18)
Massachusetts Success Stories Featured in USDA SNAP-Ed Connector
UMass Extension Nutrition Education Program (NEP) program partnered with Pernet Family Health Service of Worcester. Various program elements are showcased in national online publication. (SNAP-Ed Connection 1/2018)
Hurricane Irene: It Wasn't the Wind, it was the Water, UMass Professor Explains
Christine Hatch, UMass extension associate professor of water resources and climate change, pens editorial about the devastating weather event of August 28, 2011."Tropical Storm," Irene's official designation, doesn't do justice to what occurred in watersheds along the mid-Atlantic coast, Connecticut River Valley and tributaries: a catastrophic flood. (Gazette 1/26/18)
UMass Food Scientists Developing Low-cost Tool to Detect Bacteria in Food, Water
Food scientist Lili He and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst report that they have developed a new, rapid and low-cost method for detecting bacteria in water or a food sample. Once commercially available, it should be useful to cooks using fresh fruits and vegetables, for example, and aid workers in the field responding to natural disasters, He says. (Indianpublicmedia.org 3/1/18, MSN.com 2/23/18, wellandgood 2/22/18, WFCR, KPCC 2/19/18, NEPR 2/6/18, Wonderful Engineering 1/27/18, Cooking Light, News Medical Life Science 1/25/18, The Tribune [India], 1/25/18, The Health Site, Morning Ag Clips, The Baltimore Sun, Swiftnary, Deccan Chronicle [India], R & D magazine, Feedstuffs, 1/24/18, Science Codex, Phys.org, Daily Meal 1/23/18)
Katie Kahl Named Extension Assistant Professor at UMass Amherst's Gloucester Marine Station
Gloucester resident Katie Kahl was named to a newly created position, extension assistant professor in sustainable fisheries and coastal resilience, at UMass Amherst's School of Earth and Sustainability at the Gloucester Marine Station. Kahl will serve as a contact between community interests and the university's research resources. (Globe 1/19/18; News Office)
Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Association Names First Female President
The Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Association elected Joanne M. DiNardo as its first female president at its recent annual business meeting. UMass Extension educator Jon Clements, said, "In this day and age, gender difference is not what it used to be, although farming and apple growing were largely male-dominated. That is changing now and most apple growers just view Joanne as an extremely competent, well-versed advocate of apple growing." (Telegram 1/3/18)
Experts Dash Hopes That Frigid Temps Will Kill Local Ticks
Ticks have a natural antifreeze system that helps them survive cold — even severe cold — weather. "Ticks lying underneath the snow pack could be larvae, nymphs or adults," said Dr. Stephen Rich, a microbiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "Adults will be active as soon as the snow melts and temps warm," he said. "Nymphs will follow in late May/June." (Cape Cod Times 1/13/18)
MassWildlife Proposes Limits on Dogs in Preservation Areas, UMass Professor Weighs in
After repeated complaints regarding negative and unsafe encounters with unleashed dogs and issues with dog waste, MassWildlife is now taking action. They've proposed regulations that require dogs to be leashed and their waste to be removed from wildlife management areas. UMass professor Paige Warren offers comments. (Hampshire Gazette 1/9/18)
Release of 1 Million Gallons of Sewage into Nantucket Harbor a 'Serious Concern,' UMass Professor comments
The release of over 1 million gallons of raw sewage into Nantucket Harbor following a sewer main break on Thursday could cause significant harm to the harbor's ecosystem and shellfish populations, according to a University of Massachusetts Amherst professor of environmental conservation, Timothy Randhir. (Masslive 1/6/18)
Winter Moth May Become a Non-Pest Says Professor Elkinton
"We are in the process of turning the winter moth into a non-pest," said Joe Elkinton, professor in the Agricultural Engineering Department at UMass Amherst, who heads an effort to control the winter moth with the Cyzenis albicans fly. (Wicked Local Ipswich 12/27/17)
CAFE's Clean Energy Extension Works on Large Battery Project at UMass Amherst
UMass Amherst has been awarded a $1.1 million state grant from the Advancing Commonwealth Energy Storage project to work with Tesla Energy to construct a large battery at the Central Heating Plant. Working with Tesla and the Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment's Clean Energy Extension, the goal is to reduce peak energy demand on the Amherst campus and related costs. (Business West12/8/17, Energy Manager Today 12/8/17, Masslive/Springfield Republican 12/7/17, Commonwealth magazine 12/7/17, WBUR 12/7/17, State House News Service 12/7/17, Electrek 12/10/17, Framingham Source 12/8/17, Daily Hampshire Gazette 12/13/17, Greenfield Recorder 12/14/17)
Sylvia Discusses Wild Cranberry Bogs
Martha Sylvia, a research technician at the University of Massachusetts Cranberry Station in Wareham and scientists have studied the wild bogs in Provincetown and Truro for the last 25 years, in part to learn how a bog behaves without the cultivation practices used in cranberry farming. (Cape Cod Times11/22/17)
Sandler Discusses Cranberry Growing on Public Radio
Technology in cranberry farming has come a long way in just a handful of years. Hillary Sandler, director of the Cranberry Station at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, explains how drones, lasers and smartphones are used to grow and harvest cranberries. (WUMW 11/23/17)
UMass Amherst Food Scientists Find Transient Effects on Gut Microbiome
Antimicrobial compounds added to preserve food during storage are believed to be benign and non-toxic to the consumer, but there is "a critical scientific gap in understanding the potential interactions" they may have with the hundreds of species of microbes in our intestines, say David Sela, a nutritional microbiologist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and colleagues. (Globe, 12/20/17; Technology Networks, 12/19/17; News Office release)
UMass Chemist Tracy Allen and Staff Analyze Soil Across the U.S.
Tracy Allen, chemist and supervisor, UMass Soil Laboratory, discusses soil samples the lab tests for and amendment recommendations made across the country. (Gazette 12/15/17)
Developing a New Mosquito Control District in the Pioneer Valley, Stephen Rich Comments
Rich says the biggest health threat from mosquitoes is the spread of West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis, which is very rare but untreatable and often fatal. (Gazette 12/13/17)
Some Trees Are Not Dropping Leaves, Richard Harper Explains Why
This year, the balmy weather has scrambled the classic autumn script.
As a result, some tree species, particularly Norway maple, oak, and pear, are "not giving up the ghost in terms of winding up the growing season," said Richard W. Harper, extension assistant professor of urban forestry at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. (Globe 12/8/17)
Prashant Shenoy named to Fellows of American Association for Advancement of Science
University of Massachusetts professor, Prashant Shenoy, has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in recognition of his "efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished." Professor Shenoy is the Principal Investigator of the Massachusetts Energy Extension Initiative. (Gazette 12/5/17, News Office 11/20/17)
Why This Autumn Has Been Less Colorful Than Previous Ones
According to Richard Harper, professor in the Environmental Conservation department at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, warmer nights can certainly delay and even mute the color of fall leaves. (Crain's New York Business 11/7/17)
Test Soil Now for 2018 Spring Planting
Tracy Allen, supervisor, UMass Soil Laboratory, explains that soil properties are not going to change much in the winter because soil processes slow way down in the cold, so soil test results and recommendations that offered this fall will be accurate and useful for the whole growing season in your garden next year.
In the spring, the lab is deluged with requests and that can cause a backlog. "It could take twice as long to get your results back and that is valuable time in the planting season," Allen said. (MassLive 11/1/17, News Office 11/1/17, Recorder 11/4/17)