Campus licenses microorganism to boost corn and soybean plant health

A recent exclusive license agreement between UMass Amherst and LidoChem, Inc., a New Jersey-based wholesale turf and agricultural nutrient supply firm, means a fungus-fighting bacterium discovered and developed by Haim Gunner, professor emeritus of Environmental Sciences, will now be marketed nationally as part of an eco-management approach to plant disease protection.
 
Gunner, a co-founder of the Environmental Sciences Department in the 1960s, first identified the bacterium Bacillus amyloliquifaciens as a contaminant in a laboratory experiment in the 1990s, when he was trying to grow a

Senate panel’s budget plan differs from 50-50 formula adopted by House

The Senate Ways and Means Committee is proposing a $33.92 billion fiscal 2014 state budget that calls for a $35 million increase for the public higher education system, about $75 million less than the amount included in the House budget and backed by Gov. Deval Patrick.
 
The Senate plan, which was unveiled May 15, includes $454.8 million for the UMass system, an increase of $16 million from this fiscal year.

New UMass Rising website conveys goals, reasons for supporting fundraising campaign

UMass Rising, the campus’s $300 million, comprehensive fundraising campaign, has launched a new website outlining its goals and priorities accompanied by testimonials from alumni benefactors, recent graduates, faculty, staff and Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy.
 
The campaign, which was formally announced last month’s Founders Week, has raised $183.7 million, or 60 percent, of its goal.

Nuclear physicist, with hundreds worldwide, tracks huge magnetic ring across country for muon experiments

Nuclear physicist David Kawall is among scientists from 26 institutions worldwide who are waiting patiently for an electromagnet 50 feet in diameter to be transported from New York to Illinois, where they plan to launch an experiment in 2016 that could open new realms of particle physics.
 
Kawall’s responsibility will be to measure very precisely the magnetic field inside the ring-shaped magnet when it arrives at its new home sometime in late July. “It’s definitely new territory,” he says, “because we need to measure the field accurately to 70 parts per billion in this huge magnet.

Stockbridge School of Agriculture salutes 80 graduates

At the 91st Commencement for the Stockbridge School of Agriculture on May 11, speakers told graduates they will become stewards of the world through their chosen professions as well as the latest addition to a long standing family of graduates who support each other. The students in six majors received associate of science degrees and bachelor’s degree of science in Bowker Auditorium.
 
Degrees were awarded to 14 graduates in Arboriculture and Community Forest Management, 12 in Equine Industries, seven in Sustainable Food and Farming, 12 in Sustainable Horticulture, 15 in Landscape

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