Extension/Outreach Projects

Hard cider has long been enjoyed here in New England. After a brief hiatus in popularity, it has made a significant comeback. This gives apple growers in the region a new marekting aopportunity. However, there is still a lack of knowledge around which apple cultivars for cider grow best in this region. This project is desined to gain insight onto six different apple cultivars grown specifically for cider production; from growth habits to best harvest timing all the way down the line to the finished fermented product and how it is recieved by consumers. 

The 4-H Military Project connects children ages 5-18 with educational, recreational and social activities before, during and after the deployment of a parent.  The project provides direct assistance to military children and families and educates the broader community on the effects of deployment on children to ensure that all Massachusetts military youth are safe, healthy, and supported.

Since 1919, the Massachusetts 4-H Program has provided support, resources and educational opportunities to Massachusetts youth. The mission of Massachusetts 4-H is to prepare youth to become independent and contributing members of society by providing them with the tools they need to be successful.

The 4-H Sustainable Communities Project will engage young people in the city of Springfield in the out of school time hours to provide educational enrichment and promote life skills development. An area of national and local need that has been identified by the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, National 4-H Council and UMass Extension 4-H is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education (STEM).

A modern, pedestrian apple orchard system(s) comparison using a disease-resistant rootstock (Geneva 11) and variety (Crimson Crisp) was planted in 2022 at the UMass Orchard. The multi-leader systems comparison includes super-spindle (single leader), bi-leader, and multi-leader cordon. Annual data collection to include fruit quality and yield as well as casual observation of training systems differences.

As Massachusetts faces increasing pressure from population expansion, along with increasing challenges due to climate change, we seek a solution to the growing demand in housing that supports the local timber industry and rural economies and also creates an opportunity to store more carbon both in our buildings and across our regional forested landscape. Recent advances in timber technology have produced promising new methods for meeting some of the demand for building materials, as well as the need to store carbon.

Reliable, sustainable sources of clean water are increasingly hard to come by. But did you know that there are a lot of additional benefits from cultivating and protecting freshwater wetlands atthe source of some of these waters? Wetland ecosystem services include, but are not limited to, providing verdant habitat and food supply for a large diversity of plant, animal and insect species, water filtration, slowing and spreading of floodwaters, limiting erosion, storage of carbon and other nutrients, temperature buffering, pollinator habitat and forage lands, and water storage. One of the most basic, defining metrics of a wetland is, as the name implies, its wetness. The relative water content in the soil can be assessed in a variety of ways, and this quantity alone is important for reasons beyond wetland function. Specifically, for a wetland to become established and remain functional independently, sufficient water must be present throughout the year to favor wetland plants and animals, which thrive in wet environments but are unlikely to outcompete invasives or other species in drier regimes. We forsee a continued interest in wetland restoration in Massachusetts and predict that measurable metrics to assess the success of such restoration efforts are desired. Two recent developments support this: first, Massachusetts DER created a new Cranberry Bog Program in 2018 to facilitate exactly these types of restorations, and second, Living Observatory (LO) has begun a learning collaborative of scientists, artists, and wetland restoration practitioners to document the science and best practices of freshwater wetland restoration projects. Building on recent projects and successes, we propose to identify and establish a comprehensive catalog of metrics for measuring the success of freshwater wetlands that have been restored. We will continue our observations of soil moisture and subsurface thermal regimes, and add additional observations of weather and climate variables, phenological change, subsurface water levels, water chemistry, and microclimates and topographic influences of microtopography and other restoration practices.

Regeneration is the future of Massachusetts forests. It is critical for the conservation of the State's forestlands and for the continued provisioning of the myriad ecosystem services they provide (sustainable timber and wood products, carbon storage,wildlife habitat, clean drinking water, biodiversity, recreational opportunity, and aesthetic/intrinsic value). Global change related factors including novel climatic conditions, invasive plants, deer overpopulation, and habitat fragmentation threaten current and future forest regeneration within Massachusetts. These threats come at a critical time when we are already observing increased mortality of economically and ecologically important tree species across the State at the hands of non-native pests and pathogens. Ensuring successful regeneration of desired tree species and natural communities within these damaged forests is paramount to the continued health, vigor, and viability of the State's forest resources.Adaptive forest management may be used to overcome contemporary regeneration challenges, ensuring the conservation of healthy and valuable forest ecosystems. However, we currently lack sufficient regeneration data and scientific understanding of the various factors impacting regeneration to develop and test meaningful adaptive management strategies.

Advanced apple variety selections from the Midwest Apple Improvement Association breeding program are being planted as they become available and casually evaluated for tree growth and fruit characteristics. In the past, numbered selections have been named, giving apple growers a heads-up on new apple variety selections worthy of planting in their orchards.
 

We will employ a suite of quantitative and qualitative methods to accomplish our goals of determining whether and how the Mass ECAN programs have increased peer to peer learning and knowledge exchange, increased adoption of best practices, and fostered new relationships and collaborations among climate change practitioners or researchers. For this project, we will use a combination of surveys, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. 

Baseline surveys will be conducted with Mass ECAN members (Program Participants), Work Group members and leaders to establish baselines in a variety of areas including use of existing resources, levels of knowledge, degree of collaboration and peer-learning. A series of follow-up surveys will be implemented over time to facilitate a repeated measures analysis of the data.  Participants will engage periodically in facilitated focus groups to generate additional data and feedback on the type and degree of peer learning that is occurring, whether specific products and activities facilitate networking, and emergence of collaborative programming and adoption of practices. Structured interviews will be conducted with work group leaders to obtain alternate perspectives on program approaches and resources and how they influence learning and collaboration. Focus groups and interviews will be transcribed and a content analysis will be conducted to consolidate key themes and synthesize results. Survey data will be combined with qualitative assessments to generate a feedback loop for program improvement and to build our understanding of effective processes and pedagogical approaches to be incorporated into the design of future programs.