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May1
Stockbridge News
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Berquist Develops Floral Design Course to Include Diverse Voices
Stockbridge professor Sarah Berquist will travel to the Slow Flowers Summit conference in Seattle this summer, to capture diverse voices from the floral design and growing industries. The audio clips she collects will be edited for use in her redevelopment of a classic Stockbridge class: Retail Floral Design. The project demonstrates how the research appointments of Stockbridge faculty perpetually revitalize and renew the content of Stockbridge courses, placing students at the vanguard of new developments in the field. -
Stockbridge Director Ranked in Top 20 Best Scientists in the U.S.
Stockbridge Director and Professor of Environmental and Soil Chemistry Baoshan Xing has been recognized by Research.com on two of their 2023 lists of Best Scientists in the U.S. Dr. Xing is ranked at #15 in the U.S, and #25 in the world, for Best Scientists in Environmental Sciences. He is also recognized as one of the top 100 in the U.S. for Best Scientists in Chemistry. Across nine UMass Amherst faculty recognized by Research.com, Xing earned the highest ranking. Xing has been previously recognized by Clarivate as one of the Most Highly Cited Researchers in the World. -
Student-Proposed Permaculture Garden and Outdoor Classroom Wins Sustainability Research Award
Community Classroom of Hope (CCOH), a new residential permaculture garden program proposed by Stockbridge students Jo Fuchs and Hannah Gould, will be operationalized by the campus community in 2023. The proposal submitted by Fuchs and Gould was awarded one of five Undergraduate Sustainability Research Awards for 2023. -
Keiser Lab Publishes Research on Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles
New collaborative research by Ashley Keiser demonstrates the role of soil carbon as a gatekeeper of the nitrogen mineralization and nitrification processes. During the decomposition of biomaterial into nutrients, nitrogen mineralization and nitrification processes make ammonium and nitrate available to plants across divergent ecosystems. The study, published in Biogeochemistry Letters, was highlighted by the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. -
Taj Mahal Proud to be a Stockbridge Alum 60 Years Later
Blues musician Taj Mahal '63 is quick to mention his college years at Stockbridge, every chance he gets. In a recent Relix magazine interview, Taj explains his ability to identify breeds of cattle, which comes from spending his younger years working on dairy farms, then choosing to majoring in animal husbandry at Stockbridge School of Agriculture. "There are two things that people are not going to do without," teases Mahal... -
Faculty Mentor Supports Rising Researcher Julietta Mascitelli '23
The University of Massachusetts Amherst has recognized Stockbridge Plant and Soil Sciences major Julietta Mascitelli with a Rising Researcher Award. Mascitelli will graduate this May, having completed their own research project under the direct mentorship of Stockbridge professor and plant pathologist Elsa Petit. Mascitelli feels ready to meet the future: "I feel more confident that I have something I can contribute, and a stronger sense of belonging in the STEM field. I've developed a lot of technical skills from tools, processes, equipment, and software that was new to me. My project reinforced what lab skills I had gained from my classes."
Spotlight Scholar
Prof Dhankher Awarded Highest Honor by Crop Science Society of America
Stockbridge is proud to be the academic home of 2023 UMass Amherst Spotlight Scholar Om Parkash Dhankher.
Plant and agriculture biotechnologist Om Parkash Dhankher was recently named an ASA Fellow by both Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and the American Society of Agronomy (ASA). Awarded to fewer than 0.3% of the members, CSSA and ASA Fellowship is the highest honor bestowed by each organization.
Dr. Dhankher is an internationally recognized leader in the field of phytoremedation of arsenic-contaminated soils, and the development of climate-resilient crops, and environmentally safe nanomaterials, for sustainable agriculture.
Om and his students are currently at work on several projects, including genetic refinement of plants to maximize their ability to remove pollution from soil, the development of rice cultivars best suited to resist the uptake of arsenic from soil, and the engineering of oil seed crops into bio-fuels.
Dr. Dhankher's work represents some of the cutting-edge research happening at Stockbridge School of Agriculture every day.

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