UMass Students Stress Resilience in Combating Climate Change

UMass Students Stress Resilience in Combating Climate Change

by Roxann Cormier Comment Closed
Courtesy: WWLP  AMHERST, Mass. (WWLP) - Hope and resilience were the themes of Wednesday's Earth Day Celebration at the UMass School of Earth and Sustainability in Amherst. Students told 22News that the stakes are high, but they're working to find ways to cope with climate change. "What happens to our food if climate change comes about," graduate student Rachel Berggren said. "So that's what we're going to do to bring people together, using art as a tool for communication." In keeping with the theme of the day, the keynote speaker stressed the need to be hopeful. The head of the School of Earth and Sustainability, Dr. Curt Griffin, told 22News that he's confident concerned young people will eventually find ways to protect our planet from pollution. "Oftentimes, we worry about the future," Dr. Griffin said. "But with this group of students, their enthusiasm, their knowledge, I feel we're in very good hands." Advocates for change believe everyone can do their part to protect the place where we live. Individual action can...
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Marine Protected Reserves Do More Than Restore Fish

by Alexander Schreyer Comment Closed
In a new analysis of the effectiveness of marine protected areas worldwide, University of Massachusetts Amherst marine ecologist Brian Cheng and colleagues report that reserves not only replenish target fish populations, they also restore ecological functioning. However, not all reserves performed equally well. Ecological functioning is a measure of the activities that maintain life, Cheng points out. In this case, it involves rates of predation and herbivory, or when animals eat other animals or plants, he adds. Without these activities, these ocean habitats would be radically different, providing fewer benefits to society. Analyzing field experiments from across the globe, he and collaborators at the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Florida say their findings reveal that marine reserves increase predation rates by protecting predators that were once heavily fished by humans, allowing their numbers to thrive. Their study appears online in the current issue of Ecology, the flagship journal of the Ecological Society of America. "We are trying to rebuild many, many communities like this...
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Sustainability Grad Student Wins Fellowship From Environmental Defense Fund

Sustainability Grad Student Wins Fellowship From Environmental Defense Fund

by Roxann Cormier Comment Closed
Courtesy: News & Media Relations March 13, 2019 Chaitrali Ketkale, a graduate student in sustainability science, has won a summer fellowship from the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), one of the world’s largest environmental advocacy groups. The EDF program trains and places fellows, chosen from 1,000 graduate-student applicants from leading universities. Ketkale will work in the New York office of Cushman & Wakefield, a global, multibillion-dollar commercial real estate firm. She will focus on the company’s corporate social responsibility strategy, including carbon disclosure methods and reporting, and will help activate software to better track, manage, analyze and report energy consumption and patterns. “I want to go into corporate sustainability, and this fellowship is one of the best in my field,” says Ketkale, who was supported by her advisor, Darci Maresca, assistant director of the School of Earth and Sustainability, and Alison Bates, the graduate program director. Ketkale says she’s inspired to work in environmental conservation after seeing her hometown, Bangalore, India, grow increasingly polluted and suffer...
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Brian Cheng and Colleagues Find Marine Protected Reserves Do More Than Restore Fish

Brian Cheng and Colleagues Find Marine Protected Reserves Do More Than Restore Fish

by Roxann Cormier Comment Closed
Courtesy of UMass News & Media Relations  UMass Amherst, Smithsonian, Florida research reports wider ecological benefits April 1, 2019 Contact: Brian Cheng 413/545-2454   AMHERST, Mass. – In a new analysis of the effectiveness of marine protected areas worldwide, University of Massachusetts Amherst marine ecologist Brian Cheng and colleagues report that reserves not only replenish target fish populations, they also restore ecological functioning. However, not all reserves performed equally well. Ecological functioning is a measure of the activities that maintain life, Cheng points out. In this case, it involves rates of predation and herbivory, or when animals eat other animals or plants, he adds. Without these activities, these ocean habitats would be radically different, providing fewer benefits to society. Analyzing field experiments from across the globe, he and collaborators at the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Florida say their findings reveal that marine reserves increase predation rates by protecting predators that were once heavily fished by humans, allowing their numbers to thrive. Their study appears online in the...
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BCT Summer and Fall Continuing Education Courses and Events at Mount Ida Campus in Newton Announced

BCT Summer and Fall Continuing Education Courses and Events at Mount Ida Campus in Newton Announced

by Alexander SchreyerNo Comments
BCT is again offering continuing education courses and professional-focused events at UMass Amherst's new Mount Ida Campus in Newton, MA. Extend your knowledge and expand your professional horizon with BCT’s continuing education courses. Join us for convenient after-work in-person courses or learn online at your own pace. Continuing Education Courses and Academic Programs Our upcoming courses (at Mount Ida, online, or in Amherst) are: Sustainable Building and LEED Certification (Summer 2019) Online| BCT 414 (undergraduate) Instructor: Ho-Sung Kim | 3 credits | Course details | Register Sustainable Building and LEED Certification (Summer 2019) Online| ECO 697DL (graduate) Instructor: Ho-Sung Kim | 3 credits | Course details | Register Introduction to Building Energy Modeling (Fall 2019) Mount Ida Campus | BCT 597BE Instructor: Peter Levy | 3 credits | In-Person | Course details | Register Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering, and the Construction Process (Fall 2019) Mount Ida Campus | BCT 597N Instructor: Steve O’Neill, Esq. | 3 credits | Hybrid (In-Person + Online) | Course details | Register Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering, and the Construction Process (Fall 2019) Amherst Campus | BCT 597N Instructor: Steve O’Neill, Esq. | 3 credits | Hybrid (In-Person + Online) | Course...
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