Author: C. Anderson

Insect conservation efforts by Adjunct Professor Rodger Gwiazdowski were headlined in the Montague Reporter, describing his involvement to restore the Puritan tiger beetle to the Connecticut river. When asked why it matters whether scientists successfully reintroduce Puritan tiger beetles to the sandy shores of the Connecticut River, professor Rodger Gwiazdowski may answer philosophically. “It’s the humility that there’s a natural world that existed before us, and exists arounds us, and we have a responsibility to allow these things to persist,” Gwiazdowski told the Reporter. “Just because we don’t know what something does, doesn’t mean it’s not important.” The Puritan tiger beetle, or Cicindela puritana, is a federally-protected species found only in the Connecticut River and Chesapeake Bay. For reasons likely having to do with decades of human development along the river, the beetle is nearly extinct. Read the full story in the Montague Reporter....

Rick Harper wins Tree Canada Public Education Award The Tree Canada Public Education Award recognizes excellence in furthering the understanding of urban forestry issues and/or encouraging best practices in the urban forestry sector. This award is open to individuals, the media or organizations. Congratulations to our 2020 Public Education Award winners! Richard W. Harper, PhD, is an Extension Associate Professor of Urban & Community Forestry at the University of Massachusetts. Rick is a Past-President of the International Society of Arboriculture – New England Chapter, and is an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist. Based on formal research interview data with urban forestry stakeholders (Harper et al. 2017), Rick launched the Urban Forestry Today monthly noonhour webcast series in 2014, to provide free, openly-accessible CEU opportunities to arborists/urban foresters across Canada, the U.S., and globally, regarding research-based best practices. Through his supervision and instruction of urban forestry/arboriculture graduate and undergraduate students, he is also actively training arborists and arboriculture researchers for the next generation. Rick and his...

From: https://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/schweik-bushouse-and-partners-receive-34 Research Team Including UMass Amherst’s Charlie Schweik and Brenda Bushouse Receives $3.4 Million in NSF Grants to Study Open-Source Software Over 80% of businesses, including all major tech companies, rely on open source software, Schweik says A research team including Charlie Schweik and Brenda Bushouse of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been awarded $3.4 million in grants from the National Science Foundation’s Growing Convergence Research program for their project, “Jumpstarting Successful Open-Source Software Projects with Evidence-based Rules and Structures.” Schweik, professor of public policy and environmental conservation, and Bushouse, associate professor of political science and public policy, will work in collaboration with Vladimir Filkov and Seth Frey of the University of California Davis to discern the socio-technical structural and governance conditions under which internet-based open-source software (OSS) projects are most—and least—effective, and provide actionable knowledge to OSS developers and to the nonprofit organizations that support them. The NSF Growing Convergence Research program funds projects that address complex research problems, particularly ones focused on societal needs, by...

The recipient of the 2020 Flat Stewardship Award from the Bonefish and Tarpon Trust is Dr. Andy Danylchuk, Professor of Fish Conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a BTT Research Fellow. He also serves as Director of the Five College Coastal and Marine Sciences Program; an Ambassador for Patagonia, Thomas and Thomas, and Sight Line Provisions; and is also a National Fellow of the Explorers Club. Dr. Danylchuk has authored or co-authored more than 45 scientific publications focusing on flats species. They have included studies on catch and release, movement ecology and early observations of bonefish moving offshore to spawn. He is also the Principal Investigator on the BTT's tarpon telemetry project, which is studying the population connectivity movements and habitat uses of 200 acoustically-tagged tarpon. "We appreciate our partnership with Andy through his role as a collaborating scientist and Research Fellow," said Jim DcDuffie. "The Tarpon Acoustic Tagging Project is rewriting the book on what was previously known about...

The New England Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (NEC ISA) wrapped up its 53rd annual conference. For his seminal research contributions to the field of urban forestry, Dr. Joe Elkinton received the chapter’s award of merit: the ‘Dr. H.Dennis P. Ryan III’ Award. About the Award 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. The award is granted to a dedicated and active member of the Chapter who has made seminal contributions to arboriculture, either through work in the organization, research, education, field practice or promotion....