News

UMass Amherst, National Team Define Limits of Microbial Life in an Undersea Volcano

AMHERST, Mass. – By some estimates, a third of the Earth’s organisms by mass live in our planet’s rocks and sediments, yet their lives and ecology are almost a complete mystery. This week, microbiologist James Holden at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and others report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the first detailed data about a group of methane-exhaling microbes that live deep in the cracks of hot undersea volcanoes.
 
Holden says, “Evidence has built over the past 20 years that there’s an incredible amount of biomass in the Earth’s subsurface, in the crust and

UMass Amherst Hosts Inaugural Meeting of the North American Wind Energy Academy Aug. 7-9

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst will host the inaugural meeting of the North American Wind Energy Academy (NAWEA) Aug. 7-9 with a series of talks and workshops to be held in Engineering Lab 1 and Lab 2 on the north side of the campus.
 
NAWEA is an organization of universities, research laboratories and industry participants dedicated to coordinating wind energy research and education activities in order to advance the state of wind energy technology and to develop the next generation of wind energy engineers, researchers, scientists and innovators in North America.
 

UMass Amherst Veterinary Scientists' Research Helps Alpaca Wool Growers in Peru

AMHERST, Mass. – This week at an international conference in Vancouver, Canada, veterinary and animal scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst are presenting results of their research, some the first studies ever done in Peru and on the UMass Amherst campus to improve the success of alpaca farmers who rely almost entirely on these animals for their livelihood.
 
Professor Steve Purdy, veterinarian and director of the camelid studies program at UMass Amherst, with recent graduates Weston Brown and Caitlin Donovan, will present three papers at the International Congress on Animal

UMass Amherst Hosts LEGO Robot Training Workshop for Science Teachers and Coaches on Aug. 7

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
 
DATE:           Tuesday, Aug. 7
TIME:            9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., MEDIA ACCESS at noon
WHAT:          LEGO robot training for teachers and adult coaches
WHERE:       Girls Incorporated of Holyoke, 6 Open Square Way, Holyoke
 
At a coach training workshop on Tuesday, Aug. 7 at Girls Incorporated of Holyoke, a visiting expert will teach science teachers and other adults how to build and program LEGO robots so they can help to form FIRST LEGO League (FLL) robotics teams for 9- to 14-year-old students in area schools and community organizations.

UMass Amherst Police to Conduct Active Shooter Training at Mark's Meadow School Building during August

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst Police Department is scheduling Active Shooter Training during August for university police officers and supporting agencies. The three weekend training sessions will be held in the Mark’s Meadow School building between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Police will secure the area during the training exercises to prevent anyone from entering the building, says Patrick Archbald, interim police chief.
 
“This training is for officers and firefighters who may be faced with incidents similar to those that have occurred across the country in college

Preparing the Green, Going Green, Raising Green: UMass Amherst's Arts Extension Service Offers Three New Courses

AMHERST, Mass. – Three new courses addressing less visible aspects of life in the arts and culture field are being offered this fall by the Arts Extension Service (AES) at the College of Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  
 
Two of the courses are being offered on campus: Arts and Culture Internship Preparation Course will help students identify their personal career interests and learn how to create the appropriate application materials, whileGreening Your Nonprofit Arts Organization will explore environmental issues unique to arts institutions.
 

UMass Amherst Polymer Scientist and Kinesiology Alumna Receive Prestigious Presidential Early Career Awards

AMHERST, Mass. – President Barack Obama has named University of Massachusetts Amherst polymer scientist Alejandro L. Briseño to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the federal government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. 
 
Briseño was cited for “outstanding research accomplishments in areas of organic semiconductor nanoelectronics and molecular crystals and breakthroughs in the fundamental understanding of organic interfacial crystallization.”
 

UMass Amherst Center for e-Design Receives In-Kind Software Grant from Siemens PLM Software

AMHERST, Mass.  – The University of Massachusetts Amherst Center for e-Design in the College of Engineering has received an in-kind software grant from Siemens PLM Software, a leading global provider of product lifecycle management (PLM) software and services. The gift has a commercial value of nearly $2.3 million.

UMass Amherst to Conduct Test of Outdoor Warning System on Tuesday, July 24 after 6 p.m.

AMHERST, Mass. – There will be a test of the UMass Amherst Alerts Emergency Notification System (ENS) on Tuesday, July 24 after 6 p.m. The ENS test will include the UMass Amherst Alerts emergency text messaging, broadcast e-mail and outdoor warning sirens. This is part of the university’s continuing effort to test, evaluate and improve its ability to provide timely and effective emergency notification and warnings during a campus emergency.

UMass Amherst Launches New Agricultural Learning Center to Serve as a Field Laboratory for Agriculture Courses

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst will develop a new Agricultural Learning Center on the former Wysocki Farm on North Pleasant Street to serve as a hands-on, living classroom for students to learn about farming and the horticultural, nursery and landscape industries. The center will also have small areas devoted to livestock, fruits, vegetables, turf and landscape crops.
 
The center is being created by the university’s Center for Agriculture and the Stockbridge School and will open for classes in fall 2014. The project will be located on Wysocki Field (40 acres) on the

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