AMHERST & PIONEER VALLEY

A memorable visit.

Overview

UMASS AMHERST

UMass Amherst, the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system is located in the scenic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, 90 miles from Boston and 175 miles from New York City.

Amherst consistently ranks in the top 10 college towns in North America by groups like U.S. News and World Report and MSN.com.

Pioneer Valley is the colloquial name for Massachusetts's portion of the Connecticut River Valley, filled with rolling hills, fertile farmland, forests, small towns, and the city of Springfield.

What makes Amherst shine?

Here are some of the highlights assembled by UMass Amherst University Relations:

UMass Amherst

A major research university in a historic New England town. With more than 27,000 students, the commonwealth’s flagship institution offers top-rate undergraduate and graduate programs, top-notch faculty, and competitive NCAA Division I athletics, including an FBS football program beginning in 2012.

Five College Consortium

UMass Amherst students may take courses at nearby Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, or Smith colleges. The diversity of students from the five local colleges makes energetic Amherst even livelier.

Great Transportation

UMass Transit Services provides free bus and van service to eight local communities and the Five Colleges. And all the buses have bike racks.

Vibrant social and cultural environment

Stroll Amherst’s flourishing downtown with galleries, boutiques, antique shops, and bookstores. The area has 10 museums as well as art, craft, and food fairs. Amherst is chock-full of coffeeshops, clubs, and pubs featuring jazz, rock, and dance music, literary readings, and more. UMass Amherst hosts Broadway shows, dance troupes, and world music.

Fun, affordable restaurants

Amherst has dozens. In the mood for authentic Chinese, Mexican, Vietnamese, Thai, or African food? Affordable pub fare? How about a slice of spinach Portobello pesto pizza? Meet friends for popovers. Or sample something different, like a basil tea roll.

Beautiful natural setting

The picturesque Amherst area is laced with hiking trails, swimming holes, and bike trails to explore. Check out the fall foliage from Mt. Sugarloaf, pick your own strawberries at one of the fertile valley’s many farms, or cruise down the Connecticut River.

Amherst on Wikipedia

Amherst is a town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United Statesin the Connecticut River valley.

As of the 2010 census, the population was 37,819, making it the largest community in Hampshire County (although the county seat is Northampton).

The town is home to Amherst College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, three of the Five Colleges.

Amherst consistently ranks as one of the most progressively liberal regions of the United States, due in large part to five colleges within the area.

The Amherst-Northampton region is known as the Happy Valley due to the art and music communities, progressive ideas, prestigious colleges, and large student population.

Unlike some other towns of the same name,[4]the name of the town is pronounced without the h ("AM-erst"),[5] giving rise to the local saying, "only the 'h' is silent", in reference both to the pronunciation and to the town's politically active populace.

More Info on Wikipedia >

Sunday Field Trip

LIMITED NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS - Only 9 slots available as of 20 Feb.

If already registered: login again, choose "View or Change Your Existing Registration" and add the field trip.

Please join us for our optional pre-Workshop Sunday field trip:
"Deglacial History and Environments of the Pioneer Valley"

9 AM to 4 PM. Led by Julie Brigham-Grette et al.
$25 (includes transportation, guidebook, coffee and box lunch). You can pay when registering (or later).

The field trip will start at 9 AM from the lobby of the UMass Hotel and return there by 4 PM. Box lunches and coffee for breaks will be provided. Travel will be in 10 passenger vans. Footwear will depend on the weather but the trip involves only very light walking.

Central Massachusetts, 13-14 ka yrs BP.

The Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts is rich with unconsolidated deposits and landforms documenting the deglacial history and Holocene evolution of the Connecticut Valley.

This one-day field trip will examine the late Pleistocene drainage history of Glacial Lake Hitchcock and its associated ice contact deposits. We will examine evidence that the lake drained as a series of basins over a few thousand years, associated with the early downcutting of the Connecticut River through the ancient lake floor. Stops will examine glacial, glaciofluvial and lacustrine deposits and the dune fields associated with lake drainage about the time of the Younger Dryas.

The varve chronology of Glacial Lake Hitchcock was developed by Ernest Andrevs (1922) and has been confirmed by modern work by Jack Ridge et al (Tufts) and Janet and Byron Stone (USGS). And El Nino-like signal was found in the varves (Rittenour et al 1990, Science) suggesting an active Southern Oscillation when the Laurentide Ice Sheet still dominated North America.