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Two recent alumni of our Sustainable Food & Farming program have purchased Kitchen Garden Farm in nearby Sunderland, with help from the Lotta Agricultural Fund administered for the benefit of UMass graduates. Max Traunstein and Lilly Israel are 2014 graduates of the Sustainable Food & Farming program at Stockbridge School of Agriculture, and both have been working at Kitchen Garden Farm for several years. Both Max and Lilly credit their mutual love of farming, and their confidence to take on such a big project, to experiences in their college years at Stockbridge, and on the UMass Student Farm.
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This winter, Stockbridge sent 11 students to two national competitions sponsored by professional organizations in the turfgrass industry. There, they had the chance to network with alumni, many of whom are now employers seeking Stockbridge talent. Students also got to competitively demonstrate the knowledge they developed at Stockbridge. The Alumni Turf Group, industry sponsor Vermont Greenscapes Association, and several individual Stockbridge alumni, provided substantial donations to enable 11 current students to attend two national events and compete against other college teams.
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Pappas, who earned two degrees from Stockbridge (Turfgrass Management AS ’10; Plant & Soil Sciences ’12), is the newest Field Director for the National Football League (NFL). Pappas was the MVP for both teams in the 31 days leading up to kickoff, in charge of building and delivering the one-time-use special turfgrass field that made the whole event possible. Pappas and his team took over Allegiant Stadium two days after the Raiders’ final home game on January 7. The job started with ripping up the original turf on which the Raiders played. Pappas posted photos over the next 31 days, detailing how his turf for Superbowl LVIII was prepared.
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Petrus (Peter) Veneman has passed. In his 34 years of teaching at UMass, and as chair of the Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences department, his research, teaching, mentorship, and funding advocacy contributed greatly to the Stockbridge School of Agriculture as it stands today. His research, tracking the effects of pollutants in soil and wetlands, helped to illuminate the role soil scientists can play in protecting the natural environment. Today, students of Dr. Veneman have careers as environmental professionals across Massachusetts and New England, and hold leadership positions in the United Nations' World Health Organization (WHO), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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Stockbridge sent a large contingent of faculty and students to St. Louis, Missouri to present their latest research at the conjoined annual international conference of three allied professional organizations. The American Society for Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, jointly host this premier gathering of ideas, solutions, and innovation from across the field of environmental sciences.
Students presenting their research at a conference like this learn important skills including how to organize data, how to respond to professional critiques of their work, and how to communicate science to a non-science public.
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Students from the two-year Landscape Contracting associate degree program welcomed Chancellor Reyes to the planting of a class tree intended to welcome students entering this Fall 2024. Landscape Contracting students spend time in their drafting studios inside the ultra-modern Olver Design Building, learning to design landscape space. In the building's dedicated assembly space, students learn how to build landscape elements which they install on campus in collaboration with the University's professional Landscape Management department.
Students receive close attention due to a low student-faculty ratio, and are advised by Mike Davidsohn who is both an alum of the program and it's long-time director.
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Dr Baoshan Xing's latest research on waterborne nanoplastics has identified microscopic life that accelerates the degradation of microplastics into nanoplastics. Prominently featured in both Scientific American, and by the Environment section of British news outlet The Guardian, Xing's research is fueling efforts to ban modern dissolvable plastics, such as laundry "pods," that actively pollute our water, soil, and naturally grown foods.
“We need to collaborate with toxicologists and public health researchers to determine what this plague of nanoplastics is doing to us," says Xing.
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Soon after visiting the UMass Student Farm, Chancellor Reyes asked to learn more about the university's Joseph Troll Turf Research Center which, at over 100 years old, is the longest running turf research center in the nation.
The overall goal of the Center is to provide practitioners with the tools needed to produce healthy functional turf in the most economically viable, and environmentally sound manner possible.
The land and resources provided by the Center are central to the Stockbridge School's 2-year and 4-year degrees in Turfgrass Science and Management.
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In the Princeton Review's 2024 Ranking of Green Colleges, UMass rose by 10 spots to #18, and is the largest university in New England to make the Top 20 Green Colleges List.
The list recognizes colleges that exhibit superb sustainability practices, a strong foundation in sustainability education, and a healthy quality of life for students on campus.
“In the top 20 list this year, we are only one of five institutions with 20,000 or more students. This shows how UMass is a sustainability leader across all of higher education,” says Ezra Small, campus sustainability manager.
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Kristina Bezanson, certified arborist and coordinator for the Stockbridge Arboriculture associate degree program, has been chosen to receive the coveted 2023 Ryan Award, as granted by the International Society of Arboriculture's New England chapter.
The Dr. H. Dennis P. Ryan III Award is the highest honor bestowed by the ISA New England chapter. It is given in recognition of outstanding service in advancing the principles, ideals, and practices of arboriculture.
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Chancellor Reyes is wasting no time getting to know the ins and outs of UMass Amherst. Stockbridge School of Agriculture is where UMass started, so Reyes decided to start here too. Last week, Chancellor Reyes visited the Agricultural Learning Center, and toured the UMass Student Farm, just north of campus. Reyes also invited the Stockbridge Floral Design class to collaborate on ways to sustainably decorate the Hillside gardens at the Chancellor's house.
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The 2023-2024 Best Global Universities rankings have been released by U.S. News and World Report. For the fourth year in a row, the University of Massachusetts Amherst ranks #1 in the U.S., and #5 in the world for Agricultural Sciences. Says Stockbridge Associate Director and Professor Dan Cooley, "Our consistently top ranking is due to an overall effort in the College of Natural Sciences, tackling the existential challenges of safe and sustainable food production in the face of pollution and climate change.”