AMHERST, Mass. – Heat waves, droughts and fuel prices are just a few reasons for the current global food crisis that is making headlines around the world. Research by William Manning of the University of Massachusetts Amherst indicates that rising background levels of ozone in the atmosphere are a likely contributor to the problem, lowering the yield of important food crops, such as wheat and soybeans.
AMHERST, Mass. – The Juniper Summer Writing Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will host seven nights of poetry and fiction readings by acclaimed faculty and writers in residence from June 22-28.
AMHERST, Mass. – Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have received a $1 million grant from the U. S. Department of Defense (DoD) to boost the safety and performance of fuel used in thousands of satellites, space vehicles, rockets and missiles.
AMHERST, Mass. – The Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Amherst held its Commencement ceremony this afternoon in the William D. Mullins Memorial Center. Degrees were conferred on approximately 1,000 master’s and doctoral candidates. More than 900 of those eligible to receive degrees attended the ceremony, accepting their diplomas to the cheers of about 3,000 family members and friends.
AMHERST, Mass. – Susan B. Leschine, a professor of microbiology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and chief scientist of SunEthanol, will be one of the speakers at a briefing on advanced biofuels hosted by U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass., on Tuesday, May 20 at 10:30 a.m. in room 210 of the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, D.C.
Submitted expert testimony that was cited in the decision
AMHERST, Mass. – M.V. Lee Badgett, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts and an expert on the economic characteristics of same-sex couples, can comment on the California Supreme Court’s decision today overturning a ban on same-sex marriage. Badgett co-authored an amicus brief in support of gay marriage that was cited several times in the oral arguments by the chief justice describing the demographic and economic characteristics of same-sex couples in California.
AMHERST, Mass. – Rivers around the world are being tamed by massive hydroelectric dams, with high-profile projects under construction in Laos and China and several proposed for the Mekong River in Southeast Asia. Researcher Guy Lanza of the University of Massachusetts Amherst is working to limit the environmental impact of these projects, which he says often deliver a legacy of economic hardship and health problems instead of prosperity for people living near the dams and downstream.
AMHERST, Mass. – The the U.S. Department of the Interior is deciding whether polar bears should be listed as threatened by climate change under the Endangered Species Act, a decision that could impact drilling for petroleum in Alaska and force federal agencies to react to greenhouse gas emissions. Raymond S. Bradley, director of the University of Massachusetts Climate System Research Center, is available for expert comment on how climate change is affecting arctic sea ice, a major factor in the decline of polar bears, who use the sea ice as their hunting grounds.
AMHERST, Mass. – Receptors that play a role in learning and memory rapidly change their location and shape as signals travel through the nervous system. James Chambers of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Ismail Hafez of the University of British Columbia have received a three-year, $750,000 grant from the Human Frontier Science Program to develop fluorescent tags called Tri-Probes, which will allow researchers to track these movements and changes in real time.
