SAES-422 Multistate Research Activity Accomplishments Report
Sections
Status: Approved
Basic Information
- Project No. and Title: SERA48 : Turf
- Period Covered: 10/01/2020 to 09/30/2021
- Date of Report: 11/27/2023
- Annual Meeting Dates: 07/22/2021 to 07/22/2021
Participants
Matt Bertucci (Vice-Chair) bertucci@uark.edu; Dale, Adam (Chair) (agdale@ufl.edu) - University of Florida Stewart, Barry (Secretary) (BaStewar@pss.msstate.edu) - Mississippi State University Wherley, Ben (b-wherley@tamu.edu) - Texas A&M University Charles Fontanier (Charles.fontanier@okstate.edu) - Oklahoma State University Mike Phillips (jmp0133@auburn.edu) - Auburn University David Jespersen (djesper@uga.edu) - University of Georgia Frank Hale (fhale1@utk.edu) - Tennessee Jason Kruse (jkk@ufl.edu) - Florida Dan Sandor (dsandor@vt.edu) Virginia Tech Marco Schiavon (marcoschiavon@ufl.edu) University of Florida Joseph Roberts (jar7@clemson.edu) - Clemson Sam Doak (sdoak@vt.edu) - Virginia Tech Billy Crow wtcr@ufl.edu - University of Florida Dennis Martin (dennis.martin@okstate.edu) - Oklahoma State University Baoxin Chang Texas A&M University Pawel Petelwicz (petelewicz.pawel@ufl.edu) - University of Florida Jimi Underwood Oklahoma State University Alejandro Del Pozo (adelpozo@vt.edu)
SERA 48 – IEG Business Meeting
July 22, 2021
Note: Hosted via Zoom
Participants:
- Adam Dale
- Bryan Unruh
- Frank Hale
- Jason Kruse
- Dan Sandor
- Marco Shiavon
- Ben Wherley
- Dennis Martin
- Charles Fontanier
- Billy Crow
- David Jespersen
- Sam Doake
- Joseph Roberts
- Barry Stewart
- Baoxin Chang
- Pawel Petelewicz
- Jimi Underwood
- Alejandro Del Pozo
- Mike Phillips
Call to Order: 10:05 AM (CST)
Vote to approve 2020 minutes
Motion passed
Old Business
Update from NTEP Policy Committee Report (Barry Stewart appointed for Charles Fontanier)
New Business
Discussion of Future Meetings (2022)
Due to international meeting in Copenhagen next year, no in-person meeting for this group is planned.
Hopefully back to normal meetings in 2023. Tentatively hosted with Virginia Tech.
Discussion of Officer Positions
Barry Stewart will serve as President for 22- 23, Dennis Martin nominated as Vice President and Chrissie Segars Nominated as Secretary for 22-23. Segars left group for industry job.
Discussion of the new SERA-48 Project and Membership
Note that the group is no longer SERA 25. Instead, it is SERA 48. Members must re-enroll in the NIMSS database.
Synopsis of State Reports to Date and Request from Remaining State Reps
Still awaiting state reports from several universities.
Social Science tie ins now important in grants
Sandor – Low Input Turf – promising area but funding hard to find
SCRI – Breeding – Influencers – What influences turf managers to change grass.
Sod Check-off Program $0.50 per pallet – Wherley
Could generate 3 million per year for turf research, some research $ for sports turf research.
What could improve this meeting
Publish Proceedings - More graduate participation
Meet with Other Groups
More subjects – shorter time per subject
Speaker from outside group – industry and others
Comments from Attendees
Unruh – 4 acre linear gradient site now complete
Pawel Petelewicz hired in May Weed Science – Main Campus Gainsville
Va Tech – Field Day Aug 31 Blacksburg, Alejandro Del Pozo new Turf Entomologist.
Chase Straw – Becky Grubbs to Dallas – Texas Water Resources. Seeking to fill Ext. Position in College Station. Ming Min Chian – West Texas A and M Drought and Technology.
International Meeting in Copenhagen Next Year – 2022.
Administrative Report
Mike Phillips: welcomes new members, encourages interactions among researchers and participation within our group.
Adjourn: 1:07 PM (CST)
Accomplishments
- Water Conservation and Drought Tolerance
- Nutrient Management
Dr. Fontanier is advising one undergraduate student (Ashton Franks) who is investigating effects of N and K rate on creeping bentgrass performance and disease severity.
- Pest Management
Dr. Walker advised a Ph.D. student (Felipe Caveros) who is investigating the gene expression of several host plants during infection and colonization by the causal agents of spring dead spot. He advised one undergraduate student(McKenzie Moles) who is helping with processing Turfgrass Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and nematode management trials. Dr. Walker also supervised a technician (Kelli Black) who also assists with spring dead spot research, disease diagnostics, and pesticide evaluations.
- Development of Improved Turfgrass Varieties for the Southern Region
Dr. Yanqi Wu advised one undergraduate student(Carly Godwin), a PhD student (Shuhao Yu) and a technician (Tilin Fang) who investigated common bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and African bermudagrass (C. transvaalensis) genomes through linkage analysis and quantitative trait loci detention of SNP markers generated from genotyping by sequencing (Yu, S., Fang, T., Dong, H., Yan, L.L., Martin, D.L., Moss, J.Q., Fontanier, F.H., and Wu, Y.Q. 2021; Godwin, C., Fang, T., and Wu, Y.Q. 2021). Dr. Wu advised one technician (Bradley Battershell) who performed field trials in the development of breeding populations. Dr. Fontanier advised on MS student (Shehbaz Singh) who investigated traffic tolerance of 96 bermudagrasses in the OSU breeding program. Dr. Fontanier also advised one MS student (Anmol Kajla) who investigated physiological mechanisms of shade resistance in warm-season turfgrasses with collaborating breeders from the region.
- Developing and Conduction Educational, Extension, and Outreach Programs Summarizing and Promoting Transfer of the previous 4 areas.
Dr. Fontanier coordinated a Turf Management Career Development Event for the Oklahoma State FFA with 16 students (4 teams) represented (April 2021).