Volume 7 • Number 2 • Summer 2009

The goal of UMass Extension’s work on ecosystem management, protection and restoration—featured in this issue of In Common—is to protect and manage land while minimizing the negative impacts of development. This subject is one of Extension’s seven issue areas, one in which we focus on creating networks of community leaders to work with landowners to ensure that accurate information informs their decisions.

Our role in this area—as with much of what we do—is to provide a productive linkage between the public and the academic resources of UMass Amherst. In Fiscal Year 2008, we logged nearly 200,000 direct public contacts about ecosystems, and spent nearly $1.5 million on work in this area. More than 5,200 of those contacts involved supporting teachers and students to address these topics.

In this issue, you can read about research into nudging a system back into balance following the invasion of an alien insect. See how Extension specialists, a plant researcher, and a nursery professional collaborated to stop the spread of invasive plants. Find out about how information technology is helping to keep our transportation system from impeding the movement of aquatic species.  Finally, join 4-H members as they learn a deep approach to observation of the natural world.

— Nancy Garrabrants, Director