Hilary Sandler
Director, UMass Cranberry Station and Extension Professor | University of Massachusetts Amherst
East Wareham, MA, UNITED STATES
Hilary Sandler is an expert in crop protection and sustainability of cranberry growing.
Expertise (5)
Cranberry Growers
Crop and Weed Ecology
Vine Establishment
Pest Management in Field Crops
Fertilizer Management
Biography
Hilary Sandler directs the UMass Cranberry Station. Located in East Wareham, the Cranberry Station, a part of the UMass Amherst Campus, is an outreach and research center charged with maintaining and enhancing the economic viability of the Massachusetts Cranberry Industry through research and outreach and serving the public welfare by supporting economic development and the protection of the environment.
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Education (3)
University of Massachusetts-Amherst: Ph.D., Plant and Soil Sciences
University of Delaware: M.S., Plant Science
University of Pennsylvania: B.A., Biology/Environmental Studies
Links (3)
Select Media Coverage (5)
Climate change responsible for delayed Cape Cod cranberry harvests, says researcher
WCAI radio
2023-10-17
Hilary Sandler, director of the UMass Cranberry Station, comments on the late harvest of cranberries on Cape Cod, caused by warmer temperatures in September fueled by climate change. She says cool nighttime temperatures help cranberries gain their red color. “We’ve been waiting for color and that’s always balanced with the longer the fruit are on the vines, the more rot you are going to get, so it’s always a very anxious time,” Sandler says.
UMass Cranberry Station opens $8 million expansion
Wareham Week online
2023-04-23
“This building is going to be a game changer for us,” said Cranberry Station Director Hilary Sandler. “It’s going to allow us to hire and attract great scientists to come and tackle some of the issues and challenges for the Cranberry Station. It’s invigorated everyone... from the growers to the people who work here.”
Cranberry Research Station will be growing: Ground broken for nearly $8 million expansion
Wareham Week online
2021-10-25
“The physical buildings are really important, but it’s really the people who make this place what it’s been so that people have been excited and willing to invest in it,” said Hilary Sandler, the director of the station. “I’ve got a great staff: They’re not only excellent scientists, or good communicators, or good farm workers, they’re so dedicated. They’re so welcoming to the growers.”
Cranberry Station connects scientists, farmers
Wareham Week online
2020-09-30
“It’s really momentous. It’s going to be a game-changer for us and for the industry,” said Director of the Cranberry Station Hilary Sandler. “We are thrilled.”
Growers say aid to cranberry station will help industry adapt
Cape Cod Times online
2020-08-27
Today, 13,000 acres of cranberry bogs are under cultivation with a crop value of nearly $65 million. The industry supported nearly 7,000 jobs and $1.4 billion in sales, support businesses and processing in 2012, according to Hilary Sandler, director of the University of Massachusetts Cranberry Station in Wareham, citing a 2014 report.
Select Publications (5)
Exploring the influence of weeds on cranberry yield and quality
Weed Technology2022 The influence of weeds on cranberry yield and quality is not well known and cannot be extrapolated from other cropping systems given the unique nature of both cranberry production and the weed species spectrum. The work presented here addresses this need with four common weed species across multiple production seasons and systems in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, USA: Carolina redroot, earth loosestrife, bristly dewberry, and polytrichum moss.
Cranberry Response to Sulfentrazone Rate, Timing, and Application Volume
Weed Technology2021 The recent registration of sulfentrazone, a selective, soil-applied, PRE herbicide labeled for control of various weeds in cranberry, expanded the number of modes of action that could be used in the crop. A 2018 preliminary study in Massachusetts showed that high rates of sulfentrazone applied at the cabbage head stage reduced the number of flowering uprights (vertical stems) without impacting the final yield. To clarify the use patterns needed to promote crop safety when using sulfentrazone, six studies were conducted in New Jersey and Massachusetts in 2019 and 2020.
Seasonal Nonstructural Carbohydrate Patterns in Dewberry ( Rubus spp.) Roots
Weed Science2021 Applying control measures when carbohydrate levels are low can decrease the likelihood of plant survival, but little is known about the carbohydrate cycles of dewberry ( Rubus spp.), a problematic weed group on cranberry farms. Weedy Rubus plants were collected from areas adjacent to production beds on commercial cranberry farms in Massachusetts, two locations per year for two years. For each site and year, four entire plants were collected at five phenological stages: budbreak, full leaf expansion, flowering, fruit maturity, and after onset of dormancy. Root sections were analyzed for total nonstructural carbohydrate (TNC; starch, sucrose, fructose, and glucose).
Seasonal Nonstructural Carbohydrate Patterns in Dewberry ( Rubus spp.) Roots
Weed Science2021 Applying control measures when carbohydrate levels are low can decrease the likelihood of plant survival, but little is known about the carbohydrate cycles of dewberry ( Rubus spp.), a problematic weed group on cranberry farms. Weedy Rubus plants were collected from areas adjacent to production beds on commercial cranberry farms in Massachusetts, two locations per year for two years. For each site and year, four entire plants were collected at five phenological stages: budbreak, full leaf expansion, flowering, fruit maturity, and after onset of dormancy. Root sections were analyzed for total nonstructural carbohydrate (TNC; starch, sucrose, fructose, and glucose).
Colletotrichum Species Isolated from Massachusetts Cranberries Differ in Response to the Fungicide Azoxystrobin
Plant Health Progress2020 Fruit rot is the most prevalent disease of cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon). Colletotrichum species (C. acutatum and C. gloeosporioides) have been identified as cranberry fruit rot pathogens. Resistance to azoxystrobin by Colletotrichum has been documented in other fruit crops. Azoxystrobin, a quinone-outside inhibitor fungicide, was approved for use in cranberry in 2003, and a single application delivers between 78 and 202 ppm under typical chemigation conditions. Twenty-nine isolates were collected from diseased fruit in commercial Massachusetts cranberry farms.
