News Archives - Department of Environmental Conservation

2022-23 Environmental Conservation Awards and Scholarships Announced

May 22, 2023May 23, 2023 by Kelly Capponcelli Comment Closed

We congratulate our students for all of their hard work this year! These students represent the three different programs offered within Environmental Conservation: Natural Resources Conservation, Environmental Sciences, Building and Construction Technology. We're fortunate to have a chance to shine a light on outstanding student achievements and provide student scholarship. Below is the complete list of award and scholarship winners. We are immensely proud of you all! Forest Ecology & Conservation: Outstanding Senior Award Maeve Noone-Price and Ethan Aubuchon Fisheries Ecology & Conservation: Outstanding Senior Award Jillian Taylor and Marin Allen Wildlife Ecology & Conservation: Outstanding Senior Award Amelia Anslow Water Resources: Outstanding Senior Award Callista Macpherson Arboriculture & Urban Forestry: Outstanding Senior Award Morgan Parent Environmental Conservation: Outstanding Senior Award Brahm Van Antwerp and Taylor Lo Environmental Science: Outstanding Senior in Natural Systems Brahm Van Antwerp and Ruichen Wang Environmental Science: Outstanding Senior in Society & Environment Zoe Murphy and Caitlyn Egan Environmental Science: Outstanding Senior in Environmental Quality Owen Porterfield Environmental Science: Outstanding Senior Transfer Student Hanwen Chen and Zachary Shein Environmental Science: Leadership & Engagement Award Cameron Chin, Julia...

New Research Links Changes in Land Use to Water Quality and Quantity

May 16, 2023 by Kelly Capponcelli Comment Closed

Future scenarios for eastern Massachusetts include 69% increase in runoff May 12, 2023 Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst recently published a study in the journal PLOS Water that focuses on the Sudbury-Assabet and Concord watershed in eastern Massachusetts, and which links hydrological changes, including floods, drought and runoff, to changing patterns of land use. “We all live in a watershed” says Timothy Randhir, professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst and the paper’s senior author. “We’re constantly modifying our landscape, turning what were once forests into roads, parking lots and backyards. We’re changing the landscape from one that was once hydrologically resilient to one that pushes water downstream.” But it can be hard to see the complex links between changes in land use and changes in the hydrological cycle. For instance, much of Massachusetts is now subject to the paradoxical situation in which summer drought follows spring flooding. Surely if there’s enough extra water to flood the streets in towns throughout the state then shouldn’t there...

UMass iCons: Women in Power

May 12, 2023 by . ECO . Comment Closed

The iCons program takes a unique approach to STEM education, preparing leaders and innovators for tthe sustainable energy field The Integrated Concentration in STEM (iCons) Program uproots expectations about what undergraduate students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and business are capable of achieving. iCons brings the real world into the classroom with two goals in mind: preparing undergraduates for success after graduation and equipping them to change the world for the better. To do this, iCons asks students to tackle problems that have defied solution by even the world's foremost experts. "To most students, pinning one's grade on solving a grand challenge would be terrifying," points out Scott Auerbach, chemistry professor and Mahoney Family sponsored executive director of the iCons program. iCons' methodology is designed to convert this learning environment from terrifying to fun through a unique blend of team-based learning, student-driven learning, and reflective learning. In their solution-focused model, iCons encourages students to explore (with a moral compass) societal needs for practical applications of new technologies...

CNS Graduate Students Travel to Washington to Advocate for Science

May 12, 2023 by . ECO . Comment Closed

Sarah Deckel and Katrina Zarrella Smith communicate research to policy makers Graduate students Raymond Caraher, Sarah Deckel, Timothy Nsubuga and Katrina Zarrella Smith attended the Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering (CASE) workshop March 26-29 in Washington D.C. Hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), this workshop introduced students to the federal policy-making process and strategies to effectively communicate research to policy makers. On the final day, participants from UMass Amherst and Boston University tested their skills in meetings with congressional staff from the offices of Sens. Ed Markey, Susan Collins and Elizabeth Warren, and staff from the offices of Reps. Jake Auchincloss and Jim McGovern. For Nsubuga, civil and environmental engineering, the CASE workshop deepened his thinking about the intersection of environmental and water resources engineering and policy. “My biggest takeaway is that science does not lead to one clear policy but that opinions based on science can help create a set of viable policies,” he says, adding that the...

Charlie Schweik, Environmental Conservation, Appointed IT Program Director

April 11, 2023 by . ECO . Comment Closed

Professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation and School of Public Policy at UMass Amherst, has been appointed director of the UMass Amherst Information Technology Program Charles (Charlie) Schweik, professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation and School of Public Policy at UMass Amherst, has been appointed director of the UMass Amherst Information Technology Program. The appointment became effective as of Feb. 1, 2023. Schweik holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and was a programmer at IBM for approximately seven years. After that, he earned a master's in public administration, specializing in public management and public information technology. He then worked for a Washington D.C. consulting firm designing and maintaining databases in support of the U.S. Department of Energy’s environmental remediation program. After roughly two years there, he went back to graduate school for a Ph.D. in public policy at Indiana University. Schweik joined UMass approximately 25 years ago and was a member of the UMass IT Task Force that founded the UMass Information...