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.
AMHERST, Mass. – Scientists studying how early land vertebrates evolved from fishes long thought that the animals developed legs for moving around on land well before their feeding systems and dietary habits changed enough to let them eat a land-based diet, but strong evidence was lacking. Now, for the first time fossil jaw measurements by Philip Anderson at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and others have tested and statistically confirmed this lag.
AMHERST, Mass. – A team of researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is proposing a new investigative roadmap for the field of evolutionary developmental biology, or “evo devo,” to better understand how innovation at the genetic level can lead to ecological adaptations over time. Evo devo seeks to understand the specific genetic mechanisms underlying evolutionary change.
AMHERST, Mass. – Geoscientist Michele Cooke and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst take an uncommon, “Earth is lazy” approach to modeling fault development in the crust that is providing new insights into how faults grow. In particular, they study irregularities along strike-slip faults, the active zones where plates slip past each other such as at the San Andreas Fault of southern California.
AMHERST, Mass. – New recommendations by a National Research Council (NRC) expert panel on green and sustainable building performance could lead to a revolution in building science by creating the first large building performance database, says panel member Paul Fisette, a nationally recognized sustainable building expert at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
AMHERST, Mass. – Evolutionary ecologist Sonya Auer of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has won the Elton Prize, one of only five British Ecological Society (BES) young investigator awards given each year to recognize the best research papers published in the society’s journals by early-career scientists.
AMHERST, Mass. – Officials at the University of Massachusetts today celebrated the launch of construction of a $95 million New Academic Classroom Building (NACB) that will provide state-of-the-art academic space and create a new hub of student activity near the Campus Center and Student Union. The event was held in the Student Union Ballroom, a location overlooking the construction site.
AMHERST, Mass. – This fall 40 University of Massachusetts Amherst students are venturing into the world to study with extra financial support through the campus’s International Programs Office. 
AMHERST, Mass. – The Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management at the University of Massachusetts Isenberg School of Management is celebrating its 40th Anniversary. Created in 1972, the McCormack Department of Sport Management is the second oldest of its kind in the world, and the largest and most academically diverse department in the nation. As part of celebrating the milestone, the department will host several alumni events on Saturday, Oct. 27 during Homecoming weekend.