It takes just four minutes for an expert to shear a sheep, but veterinary and animal science students learn from experience that it takes a full year of close attention to ensure that the fleece is of high quality.

When the students work with the 40 or so Dorset sheep at Hadley Farm, they must take care to keep the wool clean, explains livestock barn manager Alice Newth. While they’re feeding the sheep and cleaning the barns they ensure that no hay, sawdust, burrs, manure, or other impurity lodges itself deep in the dense wool.

1. We’re green enough to win the gold: UMass Amherst received a Gold Star—the highest possible honor—for its commitment to innovation and leadership in sustainability, putting us among the nation’s ten most sustainable universities. (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education)

2. We know what’s good for you: As judged by such criteria as faculty research productivity, student completion rates, and diversity, our food science Ph.D. research program was recently ranked as the nation’s finest. (National Research Council)

Peter White’s first inkling to pursue a career in golf course management came when he was 15 and landed a job at a Worcester, Mass. course. His career choice brought him to the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMass Amherst where he majored in turfgrass management and is now on track to graduate in May 2013 with a bachelor of science degree, with a plant, insect, and soil sciences major.