News from the Media

Bethany Bradley, environmental conservation, is quoted in an article about the city of Anaheim, California using goats to eat invasive grasses and dried brush in an attempt at preventing wildfires. ( Nature World News, 1/10/20;  KUOW [NPR], 1/5/20; RFD TV [Nashville], 1/6/20 WGBH, 1/5/20)

Nicholas Brazee, Extension plant pathologist, worked with the town of Falmouth to assess the health of an American elm tree. The tree was found to be 64 percent internally decayed and will be removed. (The Falmouth Enterprise, 12/20/19)

Emily J. Fusco, environmental conservation, writes in The Conversation about her research on how nonnative invasive grasses are changing, and in some cases intensifying the dangers from wildfires. Fusco says research suggests there are eight species of grass that are increasing fires in different ecosystems across the country. (KESQ [Palm Springs] 12/6/19; Midland Daily News, The Register Citizen [Connecticut], The National Interest, The Conversation, 12/3/19) 

Andy Danylchuk, environmental conservation, is quoted in an article about proposed options to preserve the striped bass population in Massachusetts. Danylchuk says more research is needed on the issue of post-release death rates for fish caught and released by recreational anglers. (Vineyard Gazette, 11/27/29)

University of Massachusetts Amherst Distinguished Professor David Julian McClements was honored Monday in Hillerød, Denmark, with the 2019 Nils Foss Excellence Prize for his pioneering work in food design and nanotechnology.

The annual award was established to recognize a globally respected scientist for innovative research that leads to “remarkable improvements” in the quality, safety, nutrition and sustainability of food. (News Medical Life Sciences, 11/18/19; News Office release)

D. Julian McClements, Distinguished Professor in food science, comments that researchers have found new ways to improve food using nanoparticles. “There has been a revolution in the design of food-grade microparticle and nanoparticle delivery systems,” he says. (Chemical & Engineering News, 11/13/19)

Jennifer Van Wyk, post-doctoral research associate, biology, is lead author of an article reporting that some plants may trap pollen in their fuzzy leaves as a way of luring pollen-loving insects that then defend the plant against other predators. (Inside Science, 11/7/19)

Plummeting cranberry prices and the country's ongoing trade wars have America's cranberry industry eyeing a possible new savior: solar power. Some cranberry farmers in Massachusetts are proposing to build solar panels above the bogs they harvest each fall. ( Star Tribune, The Seattle Times, Herald-Whig [Illinois], 11/27/19) Wisconsin State Farmer 10/21/19;  The Washington Post; Chicago Tribune; WTOP; NECN; Reading Eagle [Penn.]; The Herald News [Fall River]; 10/30/19, Fox Business; Christian Science Monitor; Daily Hampshire Gazette; Portland Press Herald [Me.]; USA Today; 10/30/19)

John G. Gibbons, food science, says the discovery of how a fungus evolves into edible mold that is the key to making French cheeses such as Camenbert shows both how a favorite food item evolved and how fungus can be manipulated without genetic engineering. (New York Times 10/15/19; Yahoo! News 10/16/19)