Turfgrasses are widely utilized for recreational, functional, and aesthetic purposes in modern societies. Turfgrass management is the study of how grasses respond to the various practices employed to achieve a suitable level of turfgrass quality and performance. Many of the challenges associated with growing turfgrasses occur when the grasses are used as playing surfaces. The increase in participation in sports that require grassed surfaces, such as golf and soccer, has sparked a demand for information on how to manage grasses under high levels of use. Turfgrasses represent a unique agricultural commodity, one that is not grown for yield but for quality and performance; a commodity found most commonly in urban and suburban areas and less commonly in rural areas. Research topics in turfgrass management are extremely varied. At the University of Illinois, research areas include, but are not limited to, topics such as weed and disease management, fate of pesticides and nutrients applied to turf, computer applications in turfgrass management, crop physiology of turfgrasses, and turfgrass breeding and genetics.

Faculty

B. E. Branham Turfgrass physiology and management; pesticide and nutrient fate, weed management, turfgrass management

T. W. Fermanian Knowledge based modeling, inductive learning, turfgrass weed management & plant growth regulation

T. B. Voigt Turf Cultivar Evaluations, native and exotic ornamental grasses

H.T. Wilkinson Pathology, biological control, soil-borne fungi, and sports turf

A. M. Hamblin Conventional and DNA-marker assisted breeding for disease resistance and other traits in turfgrass

Opportunities for Graduate Study

Students may pursue either the M.S. or Ph.D. degree in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences in the area of soils and environmental quality. Any of the faculty members listed above may serve as an advisor. The graduate program is flexible and can be planned to match the interests and goals of each student. Students may choose from a large number of graduate courses in NRES and related departments, including soil science, crop physiology, botany, statistics, microbiology, plant pathology, plant breeding and genetics. Assistantships are available to qualified students and outstanding students may compete for fellowships from the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences and the Graduate College.

Facilities

Facilities for applied and disciplinary research at the University of Illinois are outstanding. A 40 acre research center, the Landscape Horticulture Research Center, is located on the University of Illinois campus. Excellent greenhouse, growth chambers, and laboratory facilities are available in Turner Hall, where the turfgrass group is located. An abundance of instrumentation is available throughout the department for organic and inorganic chemical analysis.

Cooperating Faculty

Randy Kane, Adjunct faculty member, Dept. NRES and Chicago District Golf Association

P. L. Nixon, Turfgrass entomologist, Dept. NRES

Robert Wolf, Dept. Of Agricultural Engineering, Pesticide Application Systems

How to Apply

Interested students should apply to:
The Graduate Coordinator
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois
W-503 Turner Hall
1102 S. Goodwin Ave.
Urbana, IL 61801

Students should contact any of the faculty listed above for further information about their current programs. Faculty e-mail addresses are listed at http://www.aces.uiuc.edu/~nres/.