SPRINGFIELD — Local lawyers at Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin P.C., were among those at the firm selected to the 2016 Massachusetts Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Lists.
Shareholder Gary S. Fentin, of Conway, concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial and real estate finance and development, industrial revenue bonds, affordable housing, estate planning, business law and business foreclosures and workouts. Fentin was selected to the Super Lawyers list in the field of government finance, and has been consistently selected by Super Lawyers for more than a decade.
Shareholder Carol Cioe Klyman, of Westhampton, concentrates her practice in the areas of elder law, estate planning and administration, special needs trust planning, estate settlement, guardianships and trust and estates litigation. She has been recognized by Super Lawyers for 12 years in a row, as a super lawyer from 2007 to 2016, and a rising star from 2005 to 2006. Klyman was selected to the Super Lawyers list in the field of elder law. Additionally, Attorney Klyman has been selected to the Super Lawyers Massachusetts Top 50 Women list.
Shareholder David K. Webber, of Amherst, practices in the areas of business transactions, estate and succession planning, taxation, and nonprofits. He is chair of the Amherst Planning Board, and an advisor for the University of Massachusetts Student Legal Services Office. He is a member of the Hampden County Bar Association and Real Estate Section; the Massachusetts Bar Association; Real Estate Bar Association of Massachusetts, and the Estate Planning Counsel of Hampden County. Webber was selected to the Rising Stars list in the field of closely held business.
AMHERST — University of Massachusetts Amherst plant geneticist Sam Hazen, whose research has led to higher biomass yield in grasses, recently received a grant to demonstrate that his new technology can be translated to grow trees that produce more wood than conventional trees.
The National Science Foundation awarded Hazen a three-year, $713,000 grant to study gene regulation of cell wall growth in the model grass species brachypodium.
Hazen, an associate professor of biology, has partnered with a local biotechnology startup in Amherst, Genoverde Biosciences Inc. to test the commercial viability of technology developed in his lab. He is also chief scientific officer for Genoverde.
The company recently received a one-year, $225,000 grant from NSF’s Small Business Innovation Research program to evaluate the use of its “gene trait approach” to bioengineering loblolly pine for high wood density by modifying secondary cell wall gene regulation.
Loblolly pine tree farms in the United States are expected to play a large role in meeting increased global demand for wood in coming years and this technology has the potential to help meet that need.
If successful, this bioengineering project would provide more wood material per tree and per acre with no added cost to production processing. That is, no increased use of land, water or fertilizers, the researchers say. As an added benefit, bioengineered trees would help to protect the environment by sequestering more atmospheric carbon dioxide to mitigate global climate change.
AMHERST — Tricia R. Serio, professor and head of the department of molecular and cellular biology at the University of Arizona, has been named dean of the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as of August 2017.
Serio’s research interests combine genetic, cell biological, biochemical and quantitative imaging techniques and mathematical modeling to understand and reverse potentially pathogenic processes. She studies their links with many human maladies, particularly age-related neurodegenerative diseases, and how these processes can be reversed.
As a public communicator of science, over the past year Serio has authored opinion pieces for the Huffington Post, Chronicle of Higher Education, U.S. News and World Report, Nature, The Hill, Medium and the Arizona Daily Star, about such topics as the unintended consequences of seeking tenure, mentorship, work-life balance, increasing college graduation rates, subtle sexism in science, the role of basic research in finding cures for human diseases and her son’s experience in a charter school.
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Technical Community College has promoted of Barb Chalfonte of Florence to serve in the newly created role of vice president of institutional effectiveness. The creation of the new position elevates institutional effectiveness and underscores the importance of seeking to enhance the college’s processes and promote student success, STCC President Dr. John B. Cook said. With Chalfonte at the helm, IE will become its own division and have a broader reach.
Chalfonte, who came to STCC in 2010, had served as dean of institutional effectiveness and senior research analyst. In her new role, Chalfonte will report directly to Cook and serve as part of his Cabinet.
Created in 2012, Institutional Effectiveness helps sustain and improve the teaching and learning environment through ongoing data and research-based planning, assessment, and improvement processes.
Chalfonte earned a doctorate from Princeton University in cognitive psychology and a bachelor of arts from Williams College in psychology. She is an adjunct faculty member in the Psychology Department at Westfield State University.
After receiving her Ph.D., she taught in the Psychology Department at Mount Holyoke College and worked as a researcher at the National Priorities Project in Northampton before joining STCC.
AMHERST — Nefertiti Walker, assistant professor of sport management, has been appointed director of diversity and inclusion at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Walker will work closely with Melvin Rodriquez, assistant dean of undergraduate students, and others to continue existing efforts to recruit and retain undergraduates from underrepresented and marginalized populations. She will also work with associate dean Lisa Masteralexis on recruitment and retention of faculty and staff.
Walker has been a member of the faculty in the Mark H. McCormack Department of Sport Management since 2011.