Make Way for Turtles

Why did the turtle cross the road?

While it’s hard to know for sure, says Scott Jackson of Extension’s Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (NREC) Program, it could be because there wasn’t a properly sized and sited turtle tunnel beneath the road.

At any rate, if declining turtle populations are any indication, crossing the blacktop was probably not a great idea from the turtle’s perspective.

And just what is a properly sized and sited turtle tunnel? That’s the question that Jackson and a team headed by Paul Sievert of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit is trying to discover at an odd experimental installation at UMass Amherst’s Tillson Farm. The project is also calling on the resources and talents of Brad Compton of the UMass Amherst Natural Resources Conservation Department and graduate student David Paulsen.

UMass Extension and Massachusetts 4-H recently completed the report on the findings of the "Volunteer Survey of UMass Alumni and Retired Professional Staff" Download a pdf here.

UMass Extension's Diversity Working Group recnetly submitted its Civil Rights Timeline 2006-2010 to CSREES. This implementation plan provides the means for all programs staff to achieve the goals and objectives of our Civil Rights Plan.