Boston Flora

Tag: UMass Amherst

  • Tuesday, December 8, 7:30 pm – Role of Floral Traits in Mediating Disease Transmission

    The next meeting of the Cambridge Entomological Club will be held on Tuesday, December 8 at 7:30 PM in in room 101 of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge. Lynn S. Adler, Professor of Biology at University of Massachusetts, Amherst,  will present a talk entitled Role of Floral Traits in Mediating Disease Transmission.

    All are welcome to join us at 5:45 at the West Side Lounge for an informal pre-meeting dinner. Please note the change in location from past dinners!

    Lynn’s work addresses how floral traits can affect bee pathogen loads and disease transmission. Although many researchers now study bee pathogens due to concerns about pollinator decline, we still know remarkably little about the role of plants in mediating bee diseases. In this talk she will demonstrate how nectar chemistry and pollen can affect bee gut pathogen loads, how transmission varies across plant species and consequences of plant variation for colony-level bee disease loads. The meeting is free and open to the public.  Image from www.nationofchange.org.

  • Friday, August 14 – Sunday, August 16 – NOFA Summer Conference

    The Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Summer Conference takes place August 14-16, 2015 at UMass Amherst in Massachusetts.  This year’s main conference features 144 individual sessions with 27 different topic areas. Workshops address organic farming, gardening, land care, draft animals, homesteading, sustainability, nutrition, food politics, activism, and more. The theme for this year’s Conference is “Healing the Climate, Healing Ourselves: Regeneration through Microbiology”.

    This year, among the five pre-conference intensives will be an all-day seminar on Friday, August 14, given by Natasha Campbell-McBride, on the healing potential of food for overcoming chronic illness. She will also give the first keynote on Friday night.

    Our second keynoter, Ronnie Cummins will speak Saturday night on “Reversing Global Warming & Rural Poverty through Regenerative Organics”.

    Each year, we offer educational and fun workshops designed for kids and teens where children bond with others throughout the Northeast while parents attend workshops and the plenaries.

    This is an event for the whole family: Music, dance, films, games, animal rides, and meet-ups. Modest registration, inexpensive dorm rooms, camping and delicious, wholesome organic meals.  For complete details, visit http://nofasummerconference.org/index.php.

  • Friday, March 27, 12:20 pm – 1:10 pm – Red Foxes in the Arid Steppes of Mongolia: Ecology of a Declining Carnivore and Impacts of Landscape Change

    The University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Natural Sciences announces the Department of Environmental Conservation Spring 2015 Seminar Series, to be held Fridays from 12:20 – 1:10 in Holdsworth Hall Room 105.  On Friday, March 27 hear James Murdoch of University of Vermont discuss Red Foxes in the Arid Steppes of Mongolia: Ecology of a Declining Carnivore and Impacts of Landscape Change.  For more information contact Brett Butler at bbutler@eco.umass.edu.

  • Friday, March 13, 12:20 pm – 1:10 pm – Conservation Hydropower

    The University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Natural Sciences announces the Department of Environmental Conservation Spring 2015 Seminar Series, to be held Fridays from 12:20 – 1:10 in Holdsworth Hall Room 105. On Friday, March 13, Joerg Hartmann will discuss Conservation Hydropower. For more information contact Brett Butler at bbutler@eco.umass.edu.

  • Friday, August 8 – Sunday, August 10, 9:00 am – 5:30 pm – Northeast Organic Farming Association Summer Conference

    The Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA) Summer Conference takes place August 8-10, 2014 at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA.

    Friday, August 8: Pre-conferences on Changing Dirt into Soil; Tools for Resilient Urban Ecosystems; Healing Autoimmunity with Naturopathic Medicine; and Stocking the Home Apothecary with Locally Abundant Herbs.

    Saturday & Sunday, August 9-10: 150+ adult workshops on organic farming, gardening, land care, draft animals, homesteading, sustainability, nutrition, food politics, activism, and more.

    We also offer educational and fun workshops designed for kids and teens where children bond with others throughout the Northeast while parents attend workshops and the plenary.

    This is an event for the whole family: Music, dance, films, games, animal rides, and meet-ups. Modest registration, inexpensive dorm rooms, camping and delicious, wholesome organic meals.  Cost ranges from $45 – $150.  Visit www.nofasummerconference.org/index.php for complete details.

  • Friday, April 4, 4:00 pm – Forty Years of Evolution on the Galapagos

    A special free talk has been underwritten by Sinauer Associates, Inc at UMASS-Amherst. The talk is Forty Years of Evolution on the Galapagos by Rosemary and Peter Grant, Dept. of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University. The talk will be April 4th, 2014 starting at 4:00 pm in the Isenberg School of Management room 137 (see UMASS-Amherst home page for map). (Refreshments served at 3:45pm). Seating on first come basis (and this room only seats about 200).

    http://www.princeton.edu/main/images/news/2009/06/IMG_5923-web.jpg

  • Thursday, March 27, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Spring Care of Trees and Shrubs

    The key to healthy trees and shrubs is proactive monitoring. Hartney Greymont tree professional Scott McPhee will take you through their checklist of spring chores at this Massachusetts Horticultural Society lecture on Thursday, March 27, beginning at 7 pm at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley. Learn to look for the signs of pests and disease and learn the appropriate time for tree care. What should you look for when doing a spring tree inspection? What should you use to fertilize your trees and shrubs and when should you do it? When should you prune? When is it too late to save a tree? When is the best time to plant new trees and shrubs? Scott will answer these and many more questions you have about the care of your landscape as well letting you know when it’s time to call a professional to do the job.

    Scott McPhee has a BS in Urban Forestry and Arboriculture from UMass Amherst, is a Mass Certified Arborist and ISA certified arborist. Scott also has 30 years experience working with people and their plants as a pruning instructor for the home gardener and the industry professional alike.

    Hartney Greymont, a tree, turf and landscape specialist company and a division of Davey Tree, is passionate about the services it provides and is committed to exceeding customers’ expectations.

    Lecture Fee $10 Mass Hort members; $15 non-members.  Register at www.masshort.org or call 617- 933 – 4973.

    http://www.hartney.com/media/203257/mcphee_scott_275x344.jpg

  • Friday, February 7, 6:45 pm – The Role of Seed Banks in Plant Conservation

    The February lecture sponsored by the New England Botanical Club will take place Friday, February 7, beginning at 6:45 at Harvard University in the Haller Lecture Hall (Room 102), Geological Museum, 24 Oxford Street (door to the right of the Harvard Museum of Natural History entrance,) and will feature Dr. Tristram Seidler, Herbarium Curator at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, speaking on The Role of Seed Banks in Plant Conservation. Dr. Seidler was a post doctoral fellow at Imperial College, England, and his work has been sponsored by the Food and Health Foundation, the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and the William F. Milton Fund. For more information visit www.rhodora.org.

    http://www.newfs.org/images/grow/Tristram%20Seidler%20seed%20collection_Debra%20Strick.JPG/image_preview

  • Wednesday, December 11, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Evolution in a Toxic World

    With pesticides in produce, mercury in fish, and flame retardants permeating our homes, the world has become a toxic place. But as Emily Monosson demonstrates in her groundbreaking book, Evolution in a Toxic World, it has always been toxic. When oxygen first developed in Earth’s atmosphere, it threatened the very existence of life: now we literally can’t live without it. According to Monosson, understanding life’s evolutionary response to environmental poisons and how rapidly or slowly life adapted to such threats can teach us a great deal about today’s and tomorrow’s most dangerous contaminants. Emily Monosson, PhD, is Environmental Toxicologist and Adjunct Professor at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.   She will speak on Wednesday, December 11, from 7 – 8 in the Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, and the fee is free for members of the Arboretum, $10 for nonmembers.  Students: call 617.384.5277 to register  free.  To sign up, visit http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?DayPlanner=1260&DayPlannerDate=12/11/2013&utm_source=November-December+2013+Lectures+and+Classes&utm_campaign=Fall+2013+Classes&utm_medium=email.

    http://bookwanderer.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/evo.jpg

  • Friday, December 6, 6:45 pm – Conifer Swamps of Central and Western Massachusetts

    Glenn Motzkin, botanist/ecologist, will address the New England Botanical Club on Friday, December 6, beginning at 6:45 at Harvard University, in the Haller Lecture Hall (Room 102), Geological Museum, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge.  The door is to the right of the Harvard Museum of Natural History entrance.

    Glenn Motzkin is a plant ecologist interested in patterns of species distribution, vegetation dynamics, disturbance history, and the application of historical ecology to conservation in New England. Glenn has studied a wide range of natural communities, with particular interests in the history and dynamics of uncommon communities that support rare species and are priorities for conservation. Glenn is currently an independent ecological consultant, having previously worked as Plant Ecologist at Harvard Forest in Petersham, MA. Glenn serves as a member of the Advisory Committee for the Massachusetts Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.

    He received his BA in American Civilization, Brown University (1982)  and an MS in Forest Ecology at University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1990).

    http://www.nhdfl.org/uploads/NHB%20photos/AWC_009.jpg