News

UMass Amherst Turf Club Turns Green into Gold at National GCSAA Turf Bowl

AMHERST, Mass. – The grass is always greener when it is being tended by the nation’s number one-ranked turf team, which just happens to be part of the University of Massachusetts Amherst Turf Club.
 
The 19th annual Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Turf Bowl held Feb. 7 in San Diego was dominated by a UMass Amherst team consisting of Evan Bradstreet, a senior from Gorham, Maine; Sean Raposa, a junior from Tiverton, R.I.; Kevin Shewmaker, a senior from Granby, and Peter J. White III, a senior from Worcester.

Home Drone: A Public Art 'Intervention' at UMass Amherst Set to Bring the Drones Home across Massachusetts

AMHERST, Mass. – An 18-foot-long rhinestone-covered replica of a U.S. Predator drone will be the center of a new multimedia art exhibit opening on March 1 at the Hampden Gallery at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The exhibit, titled “Home Drone,” challenges viewers to imagine their reaction if thousands of deadly drones had struck in the U.S. – specifically Massachusetts – rather than in Pakistan, Yemen and Afghanistan.
 
The exhibition was created by Heather Layton, an internationally known social intervention artist and senior lecturer at the University of Rochester, and

Home Gardening Workshop Series Led by UMass Amherst Kicks off Across the State on March 9

AMHERST, Mass. – A series of seminars on home gardening topics taught by University of Massachusetts Amherst agriculture faculty and professional staff is being offered at sites around the state starting March 9.
 
All of the workshops take place on Saturdays. Registration fees vary. Online registration and full descriptions of the workshops and other upcoming events are available at http://umassgarden.com or call 413/545-2254.  
 
The schedule is as follows:

  • Pruning Fruit Trees, March 9, 1:30-3:30 p.m., Sholan Farms, 1125 Pleasant St., Leominster (registration $50)

  • Growing and

Science Café Series Presents 'Beyond the Chatter: Adventures in Animal Communication'

AMHERST, Mass. – Sarah Partan of Hampshire College will present “Beyond the Chatter: Adventures in Animal Communication” at a Science Café on Monday, March 4 at 6 p.m. at the Esselon Café in Hadley.
 
Partan will highlight the fascinating world of animal communication and answer such questions as: Why did the robot squirrel wave its tail? What do female pigeons really want, his song or his dance? Do urban birds find it harder to get a date over all that noise?
 
Light snacks will be provided and drinks will be available for purchase. 
 
The Science Café series is organized by graduate

UMass Amherst Professor to Participate in Panel on Springfield’s African-American Heritage

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
 
DATE:           Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013
TIME:            1 p.m. 
PLACE:         Pan African Historical Museum, 1500 Main St., Springfield
 
 
Amilcar Shabazz, professor of Afro-American studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will be a panelist on “Discovering Springfield’s African American Heritage” on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m. at the Pan African Historical Museum in Springfield.
 
Joining Shabazz in the discussion will be Wayne E.

UMass Amherst’s Center for Women & Community to Honor Six Women with 40th Anniversary Leadership and Advocacy Awards

AMHERST, Mass. – Six area women will be honored for their achievements in the arts, politics and social justice advocacy on Friday, Feb. 22 when the Center for Women & Community (CWC) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst marks its 40th anniversary with a gala from 7-10 p.m. in the Amherst Room of the Campus Center.
 
Janet Aalfs, former poet laureate of Northampton, is receiving the Arts award in recognition of the enormous positive impact that creative contributions have on the local community.

UMass Amherst Biologist Thomas Zoeller to Discuss Far-Reaching Chemical Impact on Hormones and Health

AMHERST, Mass. – University of Massachusetts Amherst biologist R. Thomas Zoeller continues the campus’s 2012-13 Distinguished Faculty Lectures Series on Monday, Feb. 25 with a discussion of ways in which chemicals in the environment may disrupt the body’s endocrine system.
 
His lecture, titled “The Brain on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals,” begins at 4 p.m. in the Massachusetts Room at the Mullins Center followed by a reception. All lectures in the series are free and open to the public.
 
Zoeller’s research laboratory has pioneered the study of the role of thyroid hormone in brain

UMass Amherst Engineer Studying How Smart Buildings Can Be Made Cheaper and Greener

AMHERST, Mass. – David Irwin, an electrical and computer engineer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has received a five-year, $461,434 grant from National Science Foundation to fund research on energy efficiency in houses and buildings.
 
The grant is from the NSF’s Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program.
 
Irwin says understanding how and why individual electrical devices consume electricity is critical to improving a building’s overall energy efficiency.

Psychology Professor Nilanjana Dasgupta to Discuss Shortage of Women in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fields

AMHERST, Mass. – Nilanjana Dasgupta, professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will speak on “STEMing the Tide: How Female Experts and Peers Act as ‘Social Vaccines’ for Girls and Women in STEM” on Thursday, Feb. 28at 4 p.m. in the Campus Center Auditorium.

In her presentation, Dasgupta will propose that individuals’ choice to pursue one career path over another is not really a free choice, but rather is constrained by subtle expectations in achievement environments that send the message some individuals “naturally belong” in science, technology, engineering and

Recent Nor'easter Was a Storm of Historic Proportions, Says UMass Amherst Climate Scientist

AMHERST, Mass.– Last week’s Nor’easter will go down in the record books as a once-in-a-lifetime event for residents across much of central New England, with record snowfall at locations from southern Connecticut to eastern Maine, says Michael Rawlins, manager of the Climate System Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
 
Hartford’s total of 22.8 inches ranks secondin the historical record, and the 28.2 inches recorded at Worcester is third. In Boston, the 24.9 inches reported by the National Weather Service (NWS) places the storm at fifth.

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