Research
Rutgers’ turfgrass scientists advance the world’s environment through research, leadership, and education
A great deal of care and research goes into the green grass growing beneath our feet. And a great deal of that care and research comes out of the internationally recognized Center for Turfgrass Science at Rutgers.
The center – part of the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station – is the university's largest royalty producer, bringing in $4 million annually to the university from licensing agreements with seed companies, according to Bruce Clarke, vice chair of the Department of Plant Biology and Pathology and director of the center.
“There is a lot more to grass than just what you see,” Clarke said. “We license the products we develop to seed companies that manufacture and market the grasses, and release turfgrass species used throughout the country and the world.”
Rutgers’ location in New Jersey makes it an ideal place to study cool-season grass. “It’s a transition area – cold in the winter and hot in the summer,” Clarke said. “You can develop, test, and grow a huge range of cold-season grasses.”
Turfgrass researchers travel the world to collect sources of wild grasses that are used to develop turf for playing fields, such as Yankee Stadium. Cognizant of Earth’s limited resources, they are continually working to develop new varieties of lawn grasses that require minimal amounts of water, fertilizer, and pesticides.
“If you go into a Home Depot or a Lowe’s and you buy the higher end turfgrass, you’re probably buying a product that was developed at Rutgers,” said William Meyer, a professor of turfgrass breeding and associate director of the center.
But along with product development, teaching also is central to the center’s mission. In collaboration with the Department of Plant Biology and Pathology, it offers undergraduate and graduate programs as well as continuing education training for professionals. “The center has a long history of training some of the top graduate students in the country, many of whom have gone on to very successful careers as faculty at other institutions and leaders in private industry,” Clarke said.
“The research and development in the turfgrass sciences ties in beautifully with the teaching we do,” Meyer said. “Since many of the center faculty work everyday outside during the growing season, we have a very hands-on approach to teaching.” And the center recently implemented new undergraduate options in turfgrass science and expanded its support of the undergraduate teaching program in plant science. “We are intensifying our recruiting efforts in high schools throughout the Northeast,” Clarke said.
Three research field stations are key to the center’s success in developing turfgrass varieties, which include Kentucky bluegrass, perennial ryegrass, tall fescue, fine fescue, and bentgrass. The stations are farms for growing grass in different soil and climate conditions. For example, the plant science farm in Adelphia (Monmouth County) supports research and extension programs advancing fine and athletic field turf. The center itself, however, is on the George H. Cook Campus. Of the 25 faculty associated with the center, approximately 10 focus their work on grasses exclusively.
“It’s a locomotive of a program, with 55,000 individual plots on the research farms of every kind of grass,” Meyer said. “We have at least 15 varieties of fescue, a turfgrass species, under development.”
Rutgers’ foray into turfgrass development began with the efforts of C. Reed Funk, now a professor emeritus at the center, during the early 1960s, and has grown tremendously. Today, an international reach and a deep environmental concern are two of the defining aspects of the center. Faculty have traveled the world – China, Uzbekistan, South America, Europe – to collect wild grasses that have particular characteristics, such as drought or insect tolerance. They bring these samples back to Rutgers and incorporate them into their elite breeding stock.
“We have the top people in the country in every area of turfgrass development,” Meyer added. “It’s a very collaborative program in which everyone brings special expertise together to develop these unique varieties.”
Students of turfgrass are as devoted as their teachers. The student-run Turfgrass Club usually has between 20 and 25 members, including both graduate and undergraduate students.
“At our annual ‘Citrus Sale’ fundraiser, we sell baskets of oranges to send students to the annual Turf Bowl, held in conjunction with the International Golf Course Management show,” said Richard Hurley, an instructor in turfgrass management who serves as co-adviser for the club. “This year’s show in Orlando had 25,000 attendees.”
At the Turf Bowl, more than 90 student teams represented approximately 60 colleges and universities. Four-person teams compete on a variety of turf-related tests. Along with the Citrus Sale, the club holds internal competitions to see which Rutgers students will attend the bowl.
“We sent eight students to the bowl this year,” Hurley said. “We placed 19th out of 90 teams in 2008, and the year before we finished ninth.”
Along with the competition, students meet leaders in various segments of the turfgrass industry – from golf course superintendents to irrigation contractors – which allows for career networking.
“My students never have problems getting jobs when they graduate,” Hurley said.