UMass iCons: Women in Power

 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...
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CNS Graduate Students Travel to Washington to Advocate for Science

  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...
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Charlie Schweik, Environmental Conservation, Appointed IT Program Director

  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...
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Containing the Green Invasion: Bethany Bradley Researches Invasive Plant Species

  With an eye to climate change, Bethany Bradley’s Spatial Ecology Lab at UMass Amherst is doing actionable scientific research to mitigate the damaging effects of invasive plant species. As gardening enthusiasts flock to nurseries and garden centers this spring, they’re likely to find a wide assortment of plants that would look beautiful in their gardens—but frankly don’t belong there. That’s because around 70 percent of plants sold at traditional nurseries are introduced—meaning they’re not native to the region where they’re being sold. Furthermore, some subset of these non-native plants are invasive: likely to spread, become abundant, and damage local ecosystems, often with economic consequences. These harmful plants continue to be sold due to lack of knowledge around them as well as outdated, inconsistent, or absent regulation by states, according to Bethany Bradley, professor of biogeography and spatial ecology in UMass Amherst's Department of Environmental Conservation. Until recently, invasive species were documented in a hodge podge of locally managed lists, with little information shared across regions....
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New Research Finds Surprising Science Behind Bumblebee Superfood

Sunflower family’s spiny pollen vastly reduces prevalence of widespread parasite in bumblebees, increases production of queens It’s the spines. This is the conclusion of two new papers, led by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, showing that the spiny pollen from plants in the sunflower family (Asteraceae) both reduces infection of a common bee parasite by 81–94% and markedly increases the production of queen bumble bees. The research, appearing in Functional Ecology and Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, provides much-needed food for thought in one of the most vexing problems facing biologists and ecologists: how to reverse the great die-off of the world’s pollinators. Insect pollinators — those flying, buzzing, flitting bugs that help fertilize everything from blueberries to coffee — contribute upwards of $200 billion in annual ecosystem services worldwide. “We depend on them for diverse, healthy, nutritious diets,” says Laura Figueroa, incoming assistant professor of environmental conservation at UMass Amherst and lead author of the paper on pollen spines. Many...
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