Stockbridge School of Agriculture
2-year and 4-year career-minded degrees through hands-on learning
Upcoming Events
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Sep1
Professor Lisa Depiano Awarded $30,000 Grant to Host Climate Adaptation Learning Lab On Campus
Stockbridge professor Lisa Depiano founded the UMass Carbon Farming Initiative, which for five years has trained students at our Agricultural Learning Center (ALC) in the use of agroecology, regenerative food production and climate mitigation techniques.
Carbon farming, in which carbon is sequestered into soil stocks and above-ground biomass, reduces the harmful release of carbon into the atmosphere that comes from commercial farming.
Instructors Lisa Depiano and Nicole Burton, along with our Sustainable Food & Farming students, also manage the university's first Chestnut/Sheep Silvopasture, in which trees and livestock are used to enrich soil productivity without the use of powered tractors.
The new grant, awarded to Depiano by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Partnership, will fund a new site at the ALC to teach "alley cropping," the integration of trees among farm crops, giving students additional hands-on learning opportunities to practice climate mitigation and sustainable farming techniques proven by science.
Stockbridge News
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Turfgrass Science Professor Emeritus Scott Ebdon Is First Recipient of NTEP Distinguished Award
The National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) is pleased to announce that the first recipient of the NTEP Distinguished 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. -
Om Parkash Dhankher Receives Highest Recognition from Crop Science Society of America
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. -
Landscape Contracting Students Win "Paving the Future" Scholarships
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." -
Stockbridge Professor Named to Most Highly Cited Researchers Worldwide
Web analytics firm Clarivate announces, for the 9th consecutive year, that Stockbridge Director and Professor Baoshan Xing is among the Most Highly Cited Researchers for 2022, worldwide. Highly Cited Researchers have demonstrated significant and broad influence reflected in their publication of multiple highly cited papers over the last decade. These highly cited papers rank in the top 1% by frequency of citations for a field. Fewer than 1 in 1000 researchers attain this honor. -
J. Scott Ebdon Retires After 25 Years of Service
Stockbridge alumni know Dr. J. Scott Ebdon as a kind, funny, warm, and knowledgeable mentor. Today Ebdon is a gentleman and a scholar who has earned a well-deserved retirement, and emeritus status with the University of Massachusetts. Ebdon has published extensively, his more than 200 articles and book chapters contributing to our ranking as a top agriculture science university in the world, and he has supported the scholarship of others through the peer review process. As Chief Undergraduate Advisor for the Turfgrass Science & Management program, Ebdon was honored directly by UMass students who awarded him the UMass-Amherst Residential First-Year Experience Student Choice Award. We thank Dr. Ebdon for his 25 years of service to the University. -
Baoshan Xing and International Collaborative's Paper Published by Environmental Science + Technology Journal
The ability of plants to improve soil health is limited by organic pollution. But this can be overcome, using biochar and microbial integration. Such is the conclusion of "Integrating Biochar, Bacteria, and Plants for Sustainable Remediation of Soil Contaminated with Organic Pollutants," just published as the cover page article in the prestigious research journal Environmental Science & Technology (EST). Phytoremediation, the use of plants to neutralize and remove pollution in soils, is a major research thrust across multiple faculty at the Stockbridge School of Agriculture. The article is the result of an international collaboration between Dr. Xing and top scientists from China, the United Kingdom, Canada, Albania, Australia, Korea, Germany, and the U.S.
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