Welcome

The Department of Plant, Soil & Insect Sciences (PSIS) is part of the College of Natural Resources & the Environment (NRE) at UMass Amherst. With more than 30 faculty, PSIS is the largest department in NRE. PSIS was formed by merging the Departments of Plant & Soil Sciences with Entomology. At the same time, several Plant Pathologists on campus joined PSIS, and now the department specializes in areas ranging from molecular genetics to management of whole plants and insects. The main focus areas of PSIS are emphasized in the Department's Plant & Soil Sciences Division (which includes the Plant Pathology Program), and the Entomology Division.

The breadth of our department is extensive, covering areas like genetic engineering to enhance plant uptake of heavy metals to ameliorate contaminated soils; medical entomology to fight menaces like malaria, eastern equine encephalitis and Lyme disease; herbs and medicinal plants and natural products; integrated pest management; turf science; sustainable agriculture and many other fields that may be of potential interest to you. Please click on Faculty Research Interests to read research and instructional interests of our faculty and click on Academic Offerings to check the wide variety of course offerings.

The Department offers one common undergraduate degree. Our undergraduate courses are listed under the PLSOILN rubric. Our 500 level graduate courses are also available to undergraduates, and are listed under the PLNTSOIL and ENTOMOL rubrics. The Undergraduate Major Program allows students to tailor their course selections to best reflect their academic interests and career goals. The Department offers several Concentration Areas for specialization. Due to the merger, we are presently in the process of revamping our curriculum to include a wide variety of new Concentration Areas. Currently, the Concentration Areas offered include: Ornamental Horticulture, which focuses on the production, marketing, and use of herbaceous and woody ornamental plants. Soil Sciences examines the role of soil in the environment, bioremediation, waste treatment, and wetland science. Turf Management is our largest program and focuses on the maintenance and production of grassed areas including ballparks, golf courses, and other athletic surfaces.  The concentration in Sustainable Agriculture – Food Systems prepares students for careers in policy, advocacy, community outreach and education. Sustainable Agriculture – Crop Production focuses the student on the production of food and fiber through ecologically sound, viable, and socially responsible approaches. The General Studies option allows students to select from a wide variety of courses, permitting almost custom tailoring of their educational experience. Presently, students interested in insects and plant diseases should select the General Studies program. For more information about our Undergraduate Programs and course offerings, click on Academic Offerings and Degree Programs.

At the graduate level the department offers Master of Science (M.S.) and doctoral (Ph.D.) degrees in two programs, one in Entomology and one in Plant and Soil Sciences. These programs are administered by different graduate program directors (GPD), are governed by different Graduate Policy Committees, and have separate graduation requirements. Click on "Academic Offerings" to learn about each program in general and about specific requirements for each program. Contact the individual GPDs if you have additional questions dealing with the curriculum. Courses in the Entomology degree program are designated by the ENTOMOL rubric, whereas the Plant and Soil courses are indicated by the PLNTSOIL rubric. Information regarding your application for admission to can be obtained from the UMass Graduate School.

The following pages provide a wealth of information and we invite you to explore. If you still have questions, please contact Dr. Deborah Picking for information about the undergraduate program. If you have questions about the graduate program in Entomology contact the GPD, Dr. Stephen Rich. Questions about the Plant and Soil Sciences graduate program may be directed to Dr. Wesley Autio, the GPD for that program.

If you are interested in visiting UMass, the university offers campus tours and hosts several open houses for undergraduate students. Dr. Picking, our undergraduate program director, will be happy to meet with you to discuss the programs within our department in greater detail. If you are interested in graduate studies you should make arrangements to visit with faculty who work in areas that are of interest to you.

Quick Facts

• The University of Massachusetts Amherst is located in the beautiful Connecticut River Valley in Western Massachusetts.

• UMass has 18,500 undergraduate and 6,000 graduate students.

• The campus is about 2 hours west of Boston and about 3.5 hours north of New York City. 

• The ocean is about 2 hours away from campus and ski slopes are located within a couple of hours drive from campus.

• The Berkshires, west of Amherst, provide plenty of recreation ranging from white water rafting to hiking and rock climbing.

• PSIS is home to over 30 faculty. All have a Ph.D. in their respective fields.

• PSIS has over 120 undergraduate students.

• PSIS has 60 graduate students.

• PSIS has 9 individuals working at the post-doctoral level.

• PSIS has over 60 staff and extension specialists.

• PSIS has over 13,000 SF of greenhouse bench space for teaching and research.

• PSIS has 3 experimental farms.

• the Cold Spring Orchard Research and Education Center in Belchertown, MA, has over 80 acres dedicated to fruit research.

• the Joseph Troll Turf Research and Education Center, located in South Deerfield, MA, consists of 20 acres of research plots serving the New England turf industry.
• the Crop Research and Education Center, also located in South Deerfield, comprises 40 acres dedicated to agronomic and vegetable crops.

• Turfgrass management is our most popular undergraduate major with over 50 students enrolled at the 4-year B.S. level. An additional 80 students are enrolled in the 2-year turfgrass management program.

• PSIS faculty teach many of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture courses. This 2-year program leads to an Associate of Science degree. Upon graduating from Stockbridge many of the 2-year students transfer to the 4-year program.