News

UMass Amherst, American Museum of Natural History Researchers Develop Tools for Discovering New Species

AMHERST, Mass. – For hundreds of years, naturalists and scientists have identified new species based on an organism’s visible differences. But now, new genetic techniques are revealing that different species can show little to no visible differences.
 
In a just-published study, evolutionary biologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) combine traditional morphological tests plus genetic techniques to describe new species.

UMass Innovation Institute Forging Commercial Links between Academic Research and Industry in its First Successful Year

AMHERST, Mass. – The UMass Innovation Institute (UMII) is accelerating connections between advanced science and technology available in campus laboratories at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and private business. Its most recent initiative is a five-year strategic partnership with BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, to develop new advanced materials for the automotive, building, construction and energy industries. The new agreement was announced this week in Cambridge.
 
The agreement between BASF and the UMII along with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of

UMass Amherst Hosts International Arctic Workshop March 11-13

 
*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
 
DATE:           Monday, March 11 through Wednesday, March 13
TIME:            10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
WHAT:          43rd Annual International Arctic Workshop
WHERE:       UMass Amherst Campus Center
 
Climate scientists and specialists in Arctic research will converge on the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus next week for the 43rd annual International Arctic Workshop. Speakers will present their latest work and posters on high-latitude environments of the past, present and future.
 
Media will have the opportunity to interview such outstanding experts as

New York-Based Consultant Hired to Review Residence Hall Security Program at UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. – Business Protection Specialists, Inc., an independent security consulting firm based in Canandaigua, N.Y., has been hired by the University of Massachusetts Amherst to conduct a comprehensive review of its residence hall security program and recommend improvements to ensure a safe campus community.
 
As part of the study, BPS representatives will visit campus during spring break, March 18-22, to tour the 45-residence hall system, inspect technical security measures and current visitor access in the six residential areas.

Geoscientist Laurie Brown Discusses Magnetic Field Reversals in Distinguished Faculty Lecture at UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. – Professor Laurie Brown of the department of geosciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst will be presenting a Distinguished Faculty Lecture titled "Magnetic Field Reversals: The Ups and Downs of Earth's Dipole, as seen from South America" on Monday, March 11 at 4 p.m. in the Massachusetts Room of the Mullins Center.

While studying an active volcano in the Chilean Andes, Brown discovered lava flows that gave evidence of the most recent reversal of Earth’s magnetic poles.

All-Girl Teams to Build LEGO Robots Saturday, March 9

 
***MEDIA ADVISORY***
 
DATE:         Saturday, March 9, 2013
TIME:          9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; 3:45 p.m. is best for team robot competition
WHAT:        Girls’ team workshop to build and program LEGO NXT robots
WHERE:      Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center
      100 Bigelow Street, Holyoke
 
Dozens of middle school girls from across western Massachusetts will converge on the new Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPPC) in Holyoke on Saturday, March 9, where they will learn how to build and program LEGO robots as part of “Girls Connect,” a program

The Discarded Infants of Ancient Poggio Civitate Horrify, Provoke and Fascinate 2,500 Years Later

AMHERST, Mass. – More than 2,500 years after tiny infant bones were scattered, perhaps offhandedly, amid animal remains on the floor of an Etruscan workshop, recently-discovered fragments of those bones are causing a stir far beyond Italy’s Poggio Civitate Archaeological Project.
 
University of Massachusetts Amherst archaeologist Anthony Tuck recently told an Archaeological Institute America annual meeting in Seattle that the bones discovered in the ancient Etruscan town of Poggio Civitate were “simply either left on the floor of the workshop or ended up in an area with a heavy concentration

UMass Amherst Biochemists Gain New Insight into Double-Protected Dance of Cell Division

AMHERST, Mass. – Biochemists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst including assistant professor Peter Chien recently gained new insight into how protein synthesis and degradation help to regulate the delicate ballet of cell division. In particular, they reveal how two proteins shelter each other in “mutually assured cleanup” to insure that division goes smoothly and safely.
 
Cells must routinely dispose of leftover proteins with the aid of proteases that cut up and recycle used proteins.

Applications Open for Juniper Summer Writing Institute and Institute for Young Writers at UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s MFA Program for Poets and Writers, one of the nation’s oldest and finest creative writing programs, will hold its 10th annual Juniper Summer Writing Institute from June 23-29 and eighth annual Institute for Young Writers from June 22-30.
 
The Juniper Summer Writing Institute offers a week of workshops in poetry, fiction, and memoir, craft sessions, readings, and manuscript consultations with world-renowned faculty and writers in residence including Mark Doty, Joy Williams, Dara Wier, Anthony Doerr, D.A.

New England Public Radio Breaks Ground for New Downtown Springfield Facility

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A new era for New England Public Radio began today as the station formally broke ground on a new, multi-million dollar production and operations facility at the corner of Main and Bridge streets in downtown Springfield.
 
The CEO and general manager of NEPR, Martin Miller, was joined at the ceremony by Congressman Richard Neal, Mayor Domenic Sarno, Elizabeth Cardona of the governor’s Springfield office and John Kennedy, vice chancellor for university relations at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, which holds WFCR’s broadcast license.
 
“The choice to move to the

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