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A team of 8 Turfgrass Science and Management students escaped our New-England-in-February weather for a trip to Orlando, Florida, location of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) Annual Conference.
Their focus was the 28th annual Turf Bowl Competition, for which Stockbridge has been a standard bearer for many years, often placing in the top ten against collegiate teams from all around the country.
The annual conference of the GCSAA is national and draws upwards of 10,000 turf professionals, vendors, educators, students, and recent graduates with a focus on turf management for the golf industry.
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Stockbridge plant pathologist and soil scientist Elsa Petit was selected as a Fellow for the university's Public Engagement Project. The program facilitates connections between researchers, lawmakers in both in the U.S. Congress and Massachusetts State House, and journalists. Fellows receive a stipend and technical training in communicating scientific research to non-academic audiences.
Dr Petit will develop material for growers to adopt environmentally-friendly agricultural practices, and will communicate with legislators to create public policy that support growers.
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Cam Anderson, PhD candidate in Environmental Conservation, and recipient of the Future Leaders in Science Award, went to Washington DC to advocate in Congress for agricultural and climate policies that are based in peer-reviewed research.
After learning how to have effective meetings with busy congressional representatives, Anderson led their team's meeting with the office of Rep. Jim McGovern (D), who represents the second district of Massachusetts and the home of UMass Amherst.
"We discussed the importance of research in bringing us towards a safe, secure, and accessible food system," reports Anderson
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The Arboriculture program at Stockbridge School of Agriculture is actively partnering with PowerCorps Boston, a federally funded program to train under-employed adults for living-wage careers in the green industries and other growing fields.
The university’s Principles of Arboriculture course is now taught in-person at the Mt Ida campus over 14 weeks as part of the PowerCorps BOS workforce development program.
The hands-on learning focus, which is the historic specialty of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture has proven successful in providing the experiential learning style best suited for under-employed adults.
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Beginning with the Spring 2023 season, Stockbridge School will be a promoted sponsor for "As Schools Match Wits," the televised quiz competition for more than 25 teams of academic achievers from local and regional high schools.
Two fifteen-second video spots will air in alternation, announcing our sponsorship at the start of each episode, along with some of the majors we offer. Previews of the two spots are available in the article.
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For 2023 U.S. News & World Report assessed online programs at more than 1,800 colleges and universities and ranked 1,730 online bachelor's and master's degree programs, the most in the survey’s history.
Overall, all UMass online bachelor’s degree programs ranked 16th nationally, up from 19th last year, cementing our place in the top one percent.
Stockbridge established, and continues to offer, the nation's largest fully online bachelor degree program in sustainable agriculture. Over 300 students are currently enrolled in Stockbridge courses online. The degree can be completed online, or student may transfer courses upon admission to our on-campus degree program.
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The soil that covers the five million acres of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the foundation for our food, our forests, our drinking water, and the biodiversity of our many unique ecosystems. The quality of our soil is also increasingly important in helping us to adapt to the impacts of climate change.
2023 marks the release of the state's first Healthy Soils Action Plan (HSAP), a comprehensive approach to reducing impact from climate change and restoring our ecosystems.
Faculty from Stockbridge, and other parts of the University, contributed their expertise to the development of this novel policy document.
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Last year, Stockbridge announced a new "5th Year" Accelerated Masters Degree program in Plant and Soil Sciences. This year, we are pleased to celebrate the first three students to graduate from the program.
The "5th Year" program allows students earning a bachelor degree to get a head start on some of the higher level courses required to earn a Masters degree. Such acceleration can makes students more competitive in job markets, sooner. Their research topics continue themes long associated with the Stockbridge School of Agriculture.
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John Stoffolano, affectionately known as the Lord of the Flies, began teaching at UMass in 1969, when the radio played "Hot Fun in the Summertime" by Sly and the Family Stone, "Let the Sunshine In" by the 5th Dimension, and "It's Your Thing" by the Isley Brothers.
Stoffolano's thing was the physiology and behavior of synanthropic (non-biting) flies.
Upon his retirement this year, Stoffolano is expected to receive emeritus status from the University.
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The National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) is pleased to announce that the first recipient of the NTEP Distinguished Service Award is Dr. Scott Ebdon, Professor Emeritus of Turfgrass Science, at Stockbridge School of Agriculture.
The Distinguished Service Award recognizes individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the turfgrass industry through cooperation with, or support of NTEP.
Because of his research on water use and drought tolerance in turfgrasses, Dr. Ebdon is a recognized expert on how grasses utilize water and in understanding drought tolerance mechanisms.
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Plant/agriculture biotechnologist Om Parkash Dhankher was named as a CSSA Fellow, the highest recognition bestowed by the Crop Science Society of America.
To be eligible for recognition as a Fellow, one must have a minimum of 7 years active membership in CSSA, and must have made “outstanding contributions in an area of specialization, whether in research, teaching, extension service, or administration…”
Fewer than 0.3% of the Society’s membership attain this rank.
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Unilock, the landscape architecture and design firm that pioneered the manufacture and use of paving stones in North America, has just announced it's first round of scholarship recipients, who will share $100,000 to assist with their education expenses in the green industries. 2 of the 22 inaugural recipients of Unilock's "Paving the Future" scholarship program, Sean Weber and Drew Wildes, are current students in the Stockbridge School's associate degree program in Landscape Contracting. Weber, who at age 15 was working 40 hours a week doing landscape construction, writes in his application essay that "At a very young age I knew for certain that I would not be working in a cubicle for the rest of my life."
