Stockbridge graduate students Arthur Siller and Alexa Smychkovich have each been awarded grants in the amount of $15,000 for their ongoing research on the science of soil and crop management. 

Both are members of Masoud Hashemi Lab, where their team investigates the use of cover crops and forage to manage soil health, an important component of sustainable farming systems.

The two grants, totaling $30,000 were competitively awarded by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program, a decentralized source of grants to support "the science and finance of the agricultural community in the Northeast United States," said Dr. Hashemi.

Arthur Siller's project is "Performance and Agronomic Management of Crabgrass to Meet Summer Forage Shortfalls in the Northeast."  

Alexa Smychkovich's project is "Evaluating Decomposition Trends and Effects of Fall-Planted Cover Crops on Spring Soil Active Carbon in the Northeast."  Both are PhD candidates in Plant & Soil Sciences.

Research by Stockbridge students and faculty contributes to the University of Massachusetts being ranked #1 in the U.S., and #5 in the world, for Best Agricultural Sciences University.

Stockbridge has been very successful in the SARE competitive grants program for many years.  Past recipients include:

  • Samantha Glaze-Corcoran (Hashemi Lab)
  • Amit Sadeghpour (Hashemi-Herbert Lab)
  • Emad Jahanzad (Barker Lab)
  • Ajay Giri (Piñero Lab)
  • Dorna Saadat (Piñero Lab)
  • Caroline Wise (Hashemi Lab)
  • Emily Cole (Xing Lab)

The active research engine at Stockbridge School of Agriculture produces outstanding opportunities for Stockbridge students, while demonstrating the strong reputation of our school in the field of agricultural sciences. 

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