By: Anoushka Concepcion, Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension Connecticut has an extensive agricultural industry that extends far beyond land. Hidden under its coast, lies more than 70,000 acres where one of the best protein sources is produced – shellfish (clams, oysters, mussels, and scallops). The shellfish aquaculture industry is over 150 years old and […]
Climate-Smart Resources
Advancing Adaptation and Resilience in a Changing Climate
Controlling Oriental Bittersweet
By Donna Ellis, Senior Extension Educator Connecticut’s fields, forests, suburban backyards, and urban parks are under threat, imperiled by non-native plants from the faraway continents of Europe and Asia or in some cases from other regions of the U.S. Invasive plants are a problem because they establish easily and grow aggressively, disperse over wide areas, […]
Mulch Volcanoes: A Growing Problem
This is a re-post from October 9, 2013. As the weather gets warmer, the problem is resurfacing. UConn Extension has noticed a growing problem in Connecticut landscapes – tree volcanoes. A tree volcano occurs when mulch is piled around the base of the tree and climbs up the trunk. The shape of the mulch resembles a […]
Tick Testing
Warmer weather months in Connecticut are the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. There are beautiful trails to hike, parks to visit with your children or dogs, and there is the simple joy of lying in the lush, green grass. Of course, with the warm weather also comes with the New England […]
NEMO Program to Help Communities Navigate the New Stormwater Permit
By Dave Dickson CLEAR’s venerable, award-winning NEMO (Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials) Program is embarking on a five-year program to assist Connecticut communities in complying with the state’s revised “General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater from Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems,” or the MS4 permit. Stormwater runoff is a major source of flooding, […]
Drought in Connecticut? Who Knew?
By Mike Dietz Connecticut is not the first place that would likely come to mind if I asked you to come up with a part of the country that experiences drought; the desert southwest and California might typically be first on the list. However, southern New England has received less than normal amounts of precipitation […]
Oak Wilt: A Threat to Our Oak Trees
Oak wilt is an important disease to be on the lookout for in New England. This is especially true for Connecticut because it has been confirmed in three locations in our neighbor to the west and south, New York. The disease is important because it kills trees in the most susceptible red oak group (northern […]
Low Impact Development in Connecticut
Connecticut towns are increasingly recognizing the impact of stormwater runoff on water quality. Low impact development (LID), also called green stormwater infrastructure, is a major strategy to address these issues. The Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials (NEMO) program at the Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR) has been working with towns on these […]
Water Solutions
Irrigation and plant pathogens, or infectious organisms, in water are recurring themes for Rosa Raudales, an Assistant Professor of Horticulture and Greenhouse Extension Specialist. Rosa’s first job was on a plantain irrigation project in Honduras. As an undergraduate, her thesis focused on pathogens in hydroponic systems, where plants are grown in a soilless system. Rosa […]
Telling Stories With Maps
Most people like to look at maps. How many times have you looked at a map just to figure out where you’re going, and then become distracted by towns, rivers and mountains off to the side? And in this day and age, maps—including satellite imagery—are all around us, on our phones and in our cars. […]
Wind Firm Forests
Driving down a Connecticut road with a canopy of green overhead delights Connecticut residents. But when a storm strikes, those same trees frustrate residents by blocking roads and causing power outages. Connecticut is the fourth most densely populated state in the union, and with 75% of the land covered by trees, power outages frequently occur. […]
Auerfarm: Growing Opportunities
The 120-acre 4-H Education Center at Auerfarm is a private, non-profit education center located in Bloomfield. Over 15,000 students and family members participate in year-round 4-H curriculum-based school science programs, animal clubs, and Junior Master Gardening projects annually. Hartford entrepreneur and retailer Beatrice Fox Auerbach and her husband purchased the farm in 1925. Beatrice took […]
Where DOES That Waste Go?
By Karen K. Filchak, Extension Educator, Family and Community Development, Residential Water Quality, UConn Extension If you are a property owner with a septic system, it is important to know some basics about the care and management of this waste treatment system. You can be best prepared to maintain it and prevent problems down the […]
An Opportunity to Explore Outside the Box with UConn Extension
By Tom Martella UConn Extension Summer Intern Often times students at my age find themselves concerned that the subject matter they have been studying for the past two, three, or even four years is not what they see themselves doing for the rest of their lives. Numerous questions begin to arise: Is it too late […]
Citizen Science & the CT Woodland Owner
Written by Nancy Marek Scott Matties was checking his mailbox one late winter afternoon when he saw three shadowy figures cut across Ridge Road heading for his property. The shadows did not move like dogs. Domestic cats are not that big, he thought. He dashed to the back of his house and froze: three young […]
UConn Climate Corps
UConn Extension’s Chet Arnold, Juliana Barrett and Bruce Hyde are part of a team that received funding from the University as part of the Academic Plan Proposal Awards. Other team members include: Mark Boyer (Geography), Maria Chrysochoou (Civil and Environmental Engineering), Sylvain DeGuise (Pathobiology), and John Volin (Natural Resources and the Environment). This project will […]
Telling Stories with Maps
Emily Wilson wrote a blog post for Map@Syst on the story maps being created by UConn Extension: CLEAR’s Extension faculty have long used maps to educate land use decision makers and the public about Connecticut’s landscape and natural resources. The Connecticut’s Changing Landscape (CCL) research project has been the foundation of the education. CCL is […]
Got Holes in Your Trees?
By Joan Allen, Assistant Extension Educator It’s not generally good news if you discover holes in the bark of your trees. Common causes of holes in trees include wood boring insects and birds. In the case of insects, it is usually the larval stage that feeds within the tree while the adults feed on leaves […]
Poop Happens
By Diane Wright Hirsch, UConn Extension Educator Farm animals poop. Why should that matter to me…a frequent farm visitor? We all poop. Dogs poop, cats poop, cows and even goats poop. It is a natural process that rids our bodies of indigestible food and waste products. Unfortunately, it is also a way to carry pathogens […]
Did You Know: Drones at Work
Mapping Great Gull Island with an Unmanned Aircraft Assistant Extension Educator Joel Stocker spends a lot of his work and personal time documenting changes to the shoreline. In 2010 he contacted Helen Hays, asking if he could capture photographs over Great Gull Island with his homemade drone. She agreed. While on the island, Helen told […]
Did You Know: Climate Adaptation
One Size Fits All Won’t Work When the subject of climate change comes up, the first thing that comes to mind for many people is the impact of sea level rise on coastal communities. While the impacts of Tropical Storm Irene and Superstorm Sandy grab the headlines, with dramatic pictures of flooding, collapsed houses and […]
Spirit & Sense of Place in Relation to the Naugatuck River Greenway
Posted on September 25, 2015 on Extension Community & Economic Development By John McDonald, Extension Intern The Romans advanced the concept of the genius loci, or protective spirit dwelling in a certain place. The same idea, minus the superstitious trappings of polytheism, is today reflected in the notions of spirit and sense of place. Spirit of place […]
This is Nuts: Abundant Acorns
By Tom Worthley, Associate Extension Professor, Forestry, UConn Extension Wow, there were tons of acorns this past fall…literally tons. At least it seemed so, in my yard alone! There really were lots of acorns in many areas, and this phenomenon does occur every now and then, why is that? Why the great abundance of acorns […]
Casey’s Clean Air Week
As part of an outreach and education effort, the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), along with UConn Extension’s Healthy Environments for Children Initiative, has developed a children’s book on air quality, titled Casey’s Clean Air Week (flipbook, pdf). The purpose of this book is to teach young children (approximately 4 to 7 years old) about […]
The Role of Greenways and Multi-Use Trails in Connecticut
Posted on September 20, 2015 on Extension Community & Economic Development By John McDonald, Extension Intern The concept of a network of trails in the state of Connecticut dates back to 1929, when the Connecticut Forest and Park Association established the blue-blazed hiking trail system (CFPA, 2006). In many cases, these trails follow steep ridge lines in […]
Cross Pollination Adventure for Hartford County 4-H
By Stacey Stearns Hartford County 4-H members will have the unique opportunity to participate in a Cross Pollination Adventure this summer. They will partner with a Costa Rican outdoor education center as part of a Cooperative International Learning Experience. UConn Extension has partnered with CIRENAS (Centro de Investigación de Recursos Naturales y Sociales) in Costa […]
First Place in Storytelling with Maps
Last week at the Esri International User Conference in San Diego, UConn Center for Land Use Education and Research’s Emily Wilson and Chet Arnold received the First Place Award in the Science/Technology/Education category of the Esri Storytelling with Maps Contest. There were over 400 submissions to the contest and only 5 first place winners. Over 16,000 […]
UConn Extension Interns Tie Research to Real Life
Each year, UConn students apply and compete for paid internship opportunities with UConn Extension, whose mission is to connect the power of UConn research to local issues by creating practical, science-based answers to complex problems. This summer, 13 students are tying research to real life in our UConn Extension offices across the state. Santiago Palaez […]
National Adaptation Forum
By Juliana Barrett Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn Extension In early May, over 700 people gathered in St Louis, MO for the second National Adaptation Forum (NAF). The purpose of the NAF is to promote and share climate adaptation research, issues, tools and strategies. Participants gathered from across the United States and Canada including federal, […]
Winter Survival of Insects – the Right Stuff
Photo and article by Pamm Cooper for UConn Extension During the cold New England winter months, we are blissfully ignorant of all the survival drama going on in the natural environment, at least as far as insects are concerned. Out of sight, out of mind, so to speak. While we have heated homes, running water […]
Plant Defenses Against Insects
By Pamm Cooper for UConn Extension Historically, insects have been the most important bane of the plant kingdom. The fatal attraction that exists between plants and insects has woven an intricate balance between good and evil, survival and devastation, and benefits versus harm. While insects play a significant role in pollination, and while over 90% […]
Master Gardener Volunteer Wins Award
Congratulations to Advanced Master Gardener Ken Sherrick named “Outstanding CFPA Volunteer” for his work on the Connecticut Forest and Park Association grounds and gardens in Rockfall, CT.
A Better Way of Farming
Vegetable Farmers Switch to Reduced Tillage/Deep Zone Tillage By Jude Boucher, UConn Extension Educator In 2006, after several 4 to 6-inch rainstorms, and having to contend with 4-foot deep erosion gullies in his sweet corn fields, Nelson Cecarelli of Cecarelli Farm decided he needed a better way to farm the rolling hills of Northford and […]
Make Your Landscape Sustainable
By Joan Allen – Assistant Extension Educator – UConn Home Garden Office A sustainable landscape incorporates a holistic approach of functionality, environmental stewardship, social responsibility and economic sensibility. These principles are tied together in the design and maintenance of a landscape in order to maintain and preserve natural ecological habitats. Your Landscape Impacts The Environment […]
UConn Extension Centennial Video
UConn Extension Ties Research to Real Life for citizens of Connecticut every day. Join us as we take a tour of some of our UConn Extension programs.
What Every CT Resident Needs to Understand About UConn Extension
I wish UConn Extension was not the best-kept secret in the state. It’s time everybody knew what a tremendous resource Extension is. Congress established the Cooperative Extension System as a national network in 1914 to tie university research to real life. UConn Extension programs have evolved over time, and as our state has changed, so […]
Using Water Wisely
By Faye Griffiths-Smith – Extension Educator Family Economics and Resource Management Did you know that the average person in the U.S. uses 100 gallons of water every day? Drinking, taking a shower, brushing your teeth, cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, gardening and lawn care — with its many uses, water is essential to our lives […]
The Basics of Composting
By Dawn Pettinelli – Extension Instructor Plant Science & Landscape Architecture Did you know that almost 25 percent of a typical household’s waste can be recycled right in the backyard? Recycling reduces the amount of solid waste being trucked and dumped into landfills, and the end product of this process, compost, is beneficial to the […]
CLEAR Keeping Track of Stormwater on UConn Campus
Although UConn is in the midst of a pastoral setting in the quiet corner of northeast Connecticut, we sometimes have problems like a big city. This is because the buildings, roads, parking lots and sidewalks that make up the core of campus do not allow water to pass through into the ground. Instead, rainfall is […]
Water Conservation Tips
Source: UConn Photo: Illinois Extension As we experience seasonally dry conditions, conserving water is important to maintain an environmentally sustainable water supply. You can help by conserving water voluntarily at home. Please consider the following: Taking shorter showers; Running dishwashers and clothes washing machines with full loads; Shutting off water while washing dishes, shaving, brushing […]