Author: Alexandra Renna

UMass Students Attend National Collegiate Landscape Competition Over spring break, 11 students traveled to North Carolina State to compete in the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (NCLC). The National Collegiate Landscape Competition is an annual three-day event which brings together the top landscape and horticulture students, top industry companies, and dozens of the biggest industry manufacturers and suppliers. These top industry companies create and judge 31 different events that test students’ skills and knowledge. The UMass NCLC Team was made up of students from Landscape Contracting, Arboriculture, Urban Forestry, Landscape Architecture and Horticultural Science and supervised by Michael Davidsohn from LARP and Kristina Bezanson from NRC.   Overall, UMass placed 13th out of 43 Colleges and Universities. The top scoring three students in each event were recognized Saturday morning: First Place   -   3D Exterior Design   -   Andrew Reilly (BSLA) First Place   -   Hardscape Installation   -   Amanda Ramsdell & Joseph Contardo (both Landscape Contracting):  received an all-expense paid trip to the National Hardscape competition in Louisville this October to...

Bob Bond passed away in late August at almost 96 years of age.  Bob had a 21-year faculty career at UMass, and he remained an integral part of the ECo community even after moving to Penn State University to direct their School of Forest Resources. He was a beloved forestry professor who was committed to training the next generation of forestry professionals. Bob was very generous to the department.  He and his late wife Barbara donated the 234-acre Savage Hill Forest property in Princeton MA to the department in 2001. In recognition of his many contributions to forestry, Bob was elected a Fellow to the Society of American Foresters. Bob has left a great legacy of trained foresters across the region. Professor Curt Griffin reminisces that “Although Bob had departed UMass many years before I arrived in 1984, there were still many stories circulating amongst the senior faculty. They spoke of Bob’s generous nature and dedication to the students and department....