News

UMass Amherst Researchers Propose New Model of RNA Transcription Initiation

AMHERST, Mass. – For years scientists have worked to understand molecular events at the initiation of RNA transcription, when special proteins called RNA polymerases, assigned to make a new hemoglobin molecule for example, kick-start the process. Now chemist Craig Martin and molecular biologist Luis Ramirez-Tapia at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have isolated these first steps and provide a new model for how and why it works.
 
Martin says, “People knew these steps happened, but we’re explaining why they happen and the consequences.” Using a combination of fluorescence imaging

Three Major League Baseball General Managers, all UMass Amherst Alumni, Return to Campus for a Night of 'Covering the Bases'

AMHERST, Mass. – The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management at the Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst is proud to host “Covering the Bases – An Evening with our GM’s” on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at the UMass Amherst Campus Center Auditorium.
 
Major League Baseball General Managers and sport management alums Chris Antonetti of the Cleveland Indians, Ben Cherington of the Boston Red Sox and Neal Huntington of the Pittsburgh Pirates will return to UMass Amherst for a unique question-and-answer session moderated by ESPNBoston.com reporter Mike Reiss, also a UMass Amherst

UMass Amherst Poll to Conduct Exit Polling in 15 Precincts around Massachusetts on Election Day, Nov. 6

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***

 

DATE:           Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012
TIME:            7 a.m. to 8 p.m. 
PLACE:         15 precincts in cities and towns across the state
 
The UMass Poll will be interviewing voters across Massachusetts on Election Day for its bi-annual exit poll survey. This is the only academic exit poll in the state. Interviews will take place in Boston, Cambridge, Lawrence, Methuen, Orange, Plymouth, Springfield, Weymouth and Worcester.
 
Exit poll results relating to the Massachusetts U.S.

UMass Amherst Researchers Reveal Structure of Human Enzyme, Offering Hope to Children with Rare Metabolic Disorders

AMHERST, Mass. – Considered separately, inherited metabolic disorders such as Tay-Sachs disease and mucopolysaccharidosis 4A (MPS 4A) are exceedingly rare, complex and difficult to study. But taken as a group, the collection of more than 50 lysosomal storage diseases become more common, affecting approximately 1 in 7,000 births, and lessons learned about any one can be applied to the others.
 
Now a team of structural biologists led by Scott Garman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has again moved the field forward by revealing the structure of human galactosamine-6-sulfatase

'Microbes Shake the Tree of Life' Is Topic of November's Science Café

AMHERST, Mass. – Laura Katz, professor of biological sciences at Smith College, will speak on “Microbes Shake the Tree of Life” at a Science Café on Monday, Nov. 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Esselon Café in Hadley.
 
Katz will discuss her work exploring the position and influence of microbes on the tree of life. Microbes, she reminds us, have dominated Earth’s history and represent the bulk of biodiversity and biomass on our planet, yet much remains to be learned about microbial life. Light snacks will be provided and drinks will be available for purchase.

UMass Amherst Hosts McGill University’s Ismael Vaccaro For Distinguished Lecture in the Anthropology of Europe

AMHERST, Mass. – Ismael Vaccaro, associate professor of anthropology and environmental sciences at McGill University in Montreal, will present this year’s Distinguished Lecture in the Anthropology of Europe at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Monday, Nov. 5 from 4-5:30 p.m. in 1001 Campus Center. A reception will follow the lecture.

Vaccaro’s lecture, “The 21st Century Peasant: The Case of the Catalan Pyrenees,” will examine the region’s transformation during the last 200 years.

UMass Amherst School of Education Awarded $11.2 Million Contract to Help Build 'Community College' Model in Afghanistan

AMHERST, Mass. – The School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has signed at $11.2 million agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development to expand and extend efforts to improve higher education in Afghanistan.
 
The agreement more than doubles funding for the School of Education’s Center for International Education's (CIE) work in Afghanistan, bringing the total to more than $21 million.

UMass Amherst to Reopen Oct. 30

AMHERST, Mass. - Following an evaluation of conditions both on and off campus in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, UMass Amherst will be open Tuesday, Oct. 30. The university will resume full operations.

UMass Amherst Closed Oct. 29 in Advance of Hurricane Sandy's Arrival

AMHERST, Mass. - With forecasters predicting heavy rain, strong winds, power outages and flooding in the region due to Hurricane Sandy, university officials announced that UMass Amherst and its off-campus facilities around the state will be closed Oct. 29.

The closing notice was communicated to students, staff and faculty through broadcast e-mails, text messages, the recorded emergency closing telephone line and via the campus's website. The notice was also distributed to local television and radio outlets.

The closure decision came after Gov.

UMass Amherst Urges Caution in Advance of Expected Severe Weather

AMHERST, Mass. – The National Weather Service expects Hurricane Sandy to affect New England early next week. UMass Amherst officials are making preparations in advance of the storm, which is expected to peak on Monday and Tuesday with heavy rain, wind and possible power outages, according to Thomas O’Regan, emergency preparedness and business continuity planning manager with Environmental Health & Safety.
 
While the exact path of the storm is still uncertain, the university is taking steps to secure buildings, stockpile supplies of food and water, and ready its emergency communications

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