News

EEE, West Nile Mosquito Threat Cancels UMass Amherst Sunwheel and Sky Watching Events on Sept. 22

AMHERST, Mass. – The threat of two mosquito-borne illnesses, Eastern equine encephalitis and West Nile virus, has led University of Massachusetts Amherst astronomer Judith Young to cancel sunrise and sunset events planned to mark the autumnal equinox at the UMass Amherst Sunwheel on Saturday, Sept. 22.
 
Young said she is honoring Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy’s ban on dawn and dusk events to protect students and the public from gathering outdoors at times when mosquitos are most active. “The reality is that the sun will not quite have set by 6:30 p.m.

UMass Amherst Researchers Solve Long-Standing Mystery of How Cellulose Chains Break Down

AMHERST, Mass. – One would think that scientists had long ago cracked the secret of cellulose, the most abundant polymer on Earth, in order to break its chemical bonds and harness its wealth of energy. But in fact, only recently have theoretical chemist Scott Auerbach and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst discovered how cellulose chains break down with heat, which is critical information for efficiently converting cellulose to biofuels.
 
Reporting in the current issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Auerbach and chemical engineer Paul Dauenhauer, with

Small-Scale Forestry Issues Are Focus of International Conference at UMass Amherst, Sept. 24-27

AMHERST, Mass. – More than 80 specialists from 18 countries will convene Sept. 24-27 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst to share research results, identify future research themes and discuss solutions inherent to small-scale forests and forestry.

From urbanization to wildfires to global climate change, the world is facing unprecedented challenges to the sustainable stewardship of its forests. Now, more than ever, society needs solutions that can help mitigate or avoid the threats facing forests.

New Traveling Exhibition at UMass Amherst Libraries Tells the Story of African Americans in Baseball

AMHERST, Mass.– “Pride and Passion: The African-American Baseball Experience,” an exciting new traveling exhibition displayed on the Lower Level of W.E.B. Du Bois Library at UMass Amherst from Oct. 12, 2012 to Dec. 7, 2012, examines the challenges faced by African-American baseball players as they sought equal opportunities in their sport beginning in the post-Civil War era.  The Library is sponsoring several free programs for the public in connection with the exhibition, including an opening reception on Oct. 25 at 4 p.m. 
           
In the 1880s, more than 30 African Americans were on

UMass Amherst Sleep Researchers Study Value of Preschool Naps

AMHERST, Mass. – Parents may feel it’s clear that missing a nap means their young children will be grumpy and out-of-sorts, but scientists who study sleep say almost nothing is known about how daytime sleep affects children’s coping skills and learning.
 
Now neuroscientist Rebecca Spencer at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has received a five-year, $2 million grant from NIH’s Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to significantly advance knowledge about how napping and sleep affect memory, behavior and emotions in preschoolers.
 
Spencer says with pressure mounting in some school districts

UMass Amherst Again Ranked Among Top Public Universities by U.S. News & World Report

AMHERST, Mass. ­– The University of Massachusetts Amherst again ranks among the nation’s top 50 public universities, according to the 2013 U.S. News & World Report Best Colleges rankings released this week.
 
In the Top Public National Universities Category, UMass Amherst ranks No. 42, tied with three institutions. Among all National Universities, public and private, UMass Amherst ranks No. 97, tied with three other institutions. The engineering program at UMass Amherst ranked No. 58 in the country.
 
The United States has more than 2,700 four-year colleges and universities.

UMass Amherst’s Eighth Annual Faculty Convocation is Sept. 14 in Bowker Auditorium

*** MEDIA ADVISORY ***
 
DATE:            Friday, Sept. 14, 2012
TIME:             11 a.m. 
PLACE:          Bowker Auditorium, Stockbridge Hall
 
The University of Massachusetts Amherst is holding its Eighth Annual Faculty Convocation on Friday, Sept. 14, at 11 a.m. in Bowker Auditorium in Stockbridge Hall. Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy will give the keynote address and five nationally acclaimed faculty members will be presented with the Award for Outstanding Accomplishments in Research and Creative Activity.
 
Those receiving awards are: Cynthia L.

UMass Amherst Chemists Develop Nose-like Sensor Array to 'Smell' Cancer Diagnoses

AMHERST, Mass. – In the fight against cancer, knowing the enemy’s exact identity is crucial for diagnosis and treatment, especially in metastatic cancers, those that spread between organs and tissues. Now chemists led by Vincent Rotello at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a rapid, sensitive way to detect microscopic levels of many different metastatic cell types in living tissue. Findings appear in the current issue of the journal ACS Nano.
 
In a pre-clinical non-small-cell lung cancer metastasis model in mice developed by Frank Jirik and colleagues at the University of

UMass Amherst Cancelling Evening Outdoor Activities as Precaution Against Mosquito-Borne Illnesses

AMHERST, Mass. – Officials at the University of Massachusetts Amherst today cancelled nighttime outdoor activities as a precautionary measure against mosquito-borne illnesses such as eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).
 
The dusk-to-dawn ban (approximately 6:30 p.m. to 6 a.m.) on outside events is in accordance with recommendations from the state Department of Public Health for towns designated at high or critical risk for EEE. Amherst is considered a high-risk community, according to DPH, which is urging communities to bar outdoor evening events until the first hard frost.
 
EEE is a rare

UMass Amherst and the EPA Reach Landmark Consent Agreement on Window Glazing Contaminated with PCBs in the Lederle Research Center

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst has entered into a consent agreement and final order with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that would safely allow the polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contaminated window glazing found in the Lederle Graduate Research Center low-rise and 16-story Tower A to temporarily remain in place. The agreement is considered a first-in the-nation solution to a problem found in many buildings built from 1950 through 1979.
 
Under the agreement, UMass Amherst agrees to encapsulate the window glazing in the two buildings, test the

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