Four LARP students announced as inaugural team winners of the Student Sustainability Innovation Fund (SSIF)

Michael Amato, Center
April 24, 2026
Student News
The Department of Landscape Architecture & Regional Planning is proud to announce that four students from the department will be inducted into the inaugural cohort of the Student Sustainability Innovation Fund (SSIF) on Friday, April 24th, at 1:00 p.m. during the annual Earth Day Extravaganza at the UMass Amherst Student Union South Lawn.
 
SSIF is a new living lab program, managed by the School of Earth & Sustainability in partnership with the SGA Sustainability Team. The program is designed to bridge the gap between academic research and campus operational resilience. By providing dedicated, funded mechanism for students to pilot real-world solutions, SSIF empowers the next generation of leaders to address critical climate and ecological challenges. 
 
This year, the fund will support several student innovation team projects. LARP student winners and their team projects are as follows:
 
  • Michael Amato (PhD in Regional Planning) and Kayla Speros (BSLA), "Orchard Hill Habitat Restoration," mentored Susannah Lerman (Environmental Conservation), Michael Davidsohn (LARP) and Brian Kane
     
    Orchard Hill Habitat Restoration is a student-led habitat restoration project in a high-priority area dominated by non-native species. By removing invasive plants and seeding native meadow mixes, the team aims to create a more resilient ecosystem that allows UMass Grounds to reduce mowing frequency and fossil fuel emissions.
     
  • Olivia Soolman (Sustcomm/Public Policy) and Nick Marascio (Sustcomm), "Assessing UMass Amherst’s Transportation Baseline," mentored by Eve Vogel (Earth, Geographic, and Climate Sciences), Camille Barchers (LARP), Eleni Christofa (Civil and Environmental Engineering), and Eric Gonzales (Civil and Environmental Engineering).
     
    This team is running surveys and focus groups to collect data on student transportation emissions that are currently not measured by the university's standard accounting. The findings will inform future investments in low-carbon transportation shifts.
     
  • Michael Amato (PhD in Regional Planning), "Elevating the Carbon Farming Initiative: Agroforestry in Action," mentored by Lisa DePiano (Stockbridge School of Agriculture)
     
    This project increases the diversity and resilience of the Carbon Farming Initiative plot by introducing moisture-appropriate tree species, such as persimmons and mulberry, to wetter site areas. The team is building out interactive data collection through an ArcGIS StoryMap to track tree cultivation and food production.
 
Read more about the 2026 SSIF cohort in a recent press release on Inside UMass.