Turfgrass Science
Division (C-5)

Crop Science Society of America

Vol. 4 No. 4 November, 2000

Update on C-5 Activities

It has been my pleasure to serve the C-5 division this year as chairman. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for all of you who served on committees, agreed to preside over conference sessions, prepared reports for the business meeting, and served the division as officers or in other capacities. Without your service, C-5, like all divisions of the society, could not function. Thanks you very much.

Because one of the first items for consideration during the business meetings is to approve the minutes from the 1999 C-5 business meeting in Salt Lake City, I'm including them in this newsletter for your review. Please take a few moments to review these minutes prepared by Mike Goatley. Please note any additions or corrections and bring them to the C-5 business meeting to be held on Wednesday, November 8, at 4:00 p.m. Here are last year's minutes.

The Div. C-5 business meeting was called to order at 5:30 p.m., 2 Nov., 1999 by chair Leah Brilman with 109 in attendance. The minutes of the 1998 meeting appeared in Crop Science; they were approved as reported by secretary Mike Goatley.

ASA Board Report

Terry Riordan reported that ASA was financially sound, but that a review of the investment strategy of ASA funds was to be conducted to see if further improvements could be made. Declining membership is a concern. A new division, A-8 - Agronomic Advising, has been formed. The Agronomic Science Foundation continues to solicit donations to support its activities. John Cisar becomes the ASA Board Representative for a 3-yr term beginning in 2000.

CSSA Board Report

Chair Leah Brilman reports that budget problems and membership decline continue to be concerns for the Crop Science Society (CSS). The CSS is beginning a 3 yr membership initiative to reverse declining membership trends. The CSSA Executive Committee is recommending a new fee structure for manuscript handling charges to offset fund deficits. Chair Brilman solicited nominees for C-5 chair-elect and volunteers for CSS committees. There is a new form for special publications with strict guidelines that must be followed. Div. C-6 has changed its name to Forage and Grazing Lands. C-5 members were encouraged to contact Karl Blasener, Scientific Policy Director for CSSA, when he could be of service. A proposal from CSS editorial committee to go to a 4-color cover was presented. Bob Carrow made a motion to accept the proposal and the motion was seconded by Bob Shearman. The motion was passed. C-5 members were also questioned if the division was in favor of instituting a registration system for mapping populations. Terry Riordan made a motion in favor of the question and the motion was seconded by Ron Duncan. The motion passed.  

Historian Report

Jim Beard listed the following C-5 members as recipients of national honors: Don White, Dick Schmidt, George Snyder, A.J. Powell, Jr., Bob Shearman, Paul Rieke, Vic Gibeault, and Jim Watson. Regional honors were received by: Tom Fermanian, Ali Harivandi, and Jim Watson. The retirement of Paul Rieke was recognized and C-5 members expressed their appreciation for his many years of service to the division. A total of 159 papers were presented in 1999 with an almost equal split of posters and oral presentations. The following companies were recognized for significant anniversaries: Scotts, 80th year; Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, 70th year; New Zealand Sports Turf Institute, 50th year; the O.J. Noer Research Foundation, 40th year.  

International Turfgrass Society (ITS) Report

Pam Charbonneau, president of ITS, confirmed that the 9th International Turfgrass Research Conference was being held July 15-21, 2001 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bob Carrow reported that the editorial system for papers submitted for the conference would mimic guidelines for CSSA publications and would be peer reviewed. The research journals will be available at the conference. The first call for title/summary forms is has been made in October, 1999, with a 12 May, 2000 deadline for title/summary forms scheduled. The deadline for the first draft of manuscripts for the journal is 1 July 2000. Pre-conference tours are scheduled for Quebec City and Montreal. Post-conference tours are scheduled for Calgary and Vancouver. Interested C-5 members were encouraged to seek further information at the ITS web-site www.gnv.ifas.ufl.edu/~itsweb/.

Turf Tour Report

Paul Johnson reported that the turf tour to Kennecott Copper Mine, Wingpointe Golf Course, and Brigham Young University was a sell-out. He recognized the efforts of Phil Allen in helping with arrangements.  

Graduate Student Paper Contest

Immediate past chair George Snyder reported that 34 students participated in the contest in 1999, 18 in the oral session and 16 in the poster session. For the first time the student presentations were all grouped together on the same day and the consensus was that this improved the contest. The winners of the oral presentation session were: 3rd place, K.W. Frank; 2nd place, J.A. Honig; 1st place, S.A Bonos. The winners of the poster presentation session were: a tie for 3rd place, L.P. Tredway and X. Liu; 2nd place, J.W. Jiang; 1st place, K.W. Frank.  

NTEP Report

Kevin Morris reported that a new website was now available at www.ntep.org. An initiative is now underway to get a full-time turfgrass scientist for USDA and he called for C-5 members to be ready to support this process. NTEP is conducting five statistical analyses projects for cultivar evaluation data. NTEP plans to have ratings workshops at various locations around the country in 2000. A Kentucky bluegrass variety trial is scheduled for fall 2000. Custom data analysis is now available for a fee.

Standing Committee Reports

Al Turgeon, chair of the education committee, detailed the development of internet resources of particular interest to C-5 membership. He asked C-5 to explore the concept of ownership of these resources and asked that the group consider an administrative process to continue this effort in future years. He solicited C-5 members interested in becoming involved in these efforts to contact him at aturgeon@psu.edu.  

Special Symposia  

Pete Landschoot reported that five presentations were made at the symposium on Monday evening, 1 Nov., with over 100 in attendance. His committee is currently taking suggestions for 2000 symposia, with a joint session with S-3 on microbiology being a strong possibility.

Awards and Professional Advancement

Chair Leah Brilman called for an improvement in C-5 nominations for CSSA awards. She solicited one nomination from every C-5 member for 2000.  

Contemporary Issues

Jeff Nus requested program development ideas from the audience. One idea deemed worthy of further consideration is for C-5 to increase its focus on international issues, including a determination of the global value of turf and recruitment of global members.  

Extension Committee

David Kopec reported that this is now a standing committee that will have a symposium for extension-based C-5 membership every Sunday night at future meetings. However, he encouraged all C-5 members interested to attend. The 1999 meeting was highly successful with over 50 people in attendance at the Sunday evening, 31 Oct. meeting.  

Ad hoc committees

Tom Fermanian reported that the website for C-5 has been running now for approximately 18 months with several applications, including membership search engines.. Since its inception on 25 June, 1998, over 19,000 successful hits have been logged.

Keith Karnok reported that a total of 25 topics for C-5 slide sets were scheduled to be developed, but only two have completed within the past 18 months. He encouraged members that made commitments to work on slide sets, but find they no longer have the time to complete their assignments, contact him so that new members to work on the projects can be identified. The 3rd edition of the Turf Management Information Directory has recently been completed and will be going to press soon. Sales are somewhat lagging and he encouraged all C-5 members to purchase this directory and promote it at their educational functions. He reiterated that a portion of each sale is returned to C-5.

Old business

None.

New business

Hannah Combest of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America requested C-5 members input on GCSAAs Professional Development Initiative (PDI) for golf course superintendents. She encouraged C-5 members to support the concept of this initiative and assured membership that GCSAA agrees that the scientific basis of this curriculum needs to be included and enhanced. She solicited C-5 educators to offer comments and suggestions in the development of this initiative.  

Bob Carrow discussed the concept of a premier web site for C-5. His motion requested that the C-5 Turfgrass Science Division of CSSA establish a AC-5 Editorial Review Committee to peer review the text of proposed APremier Web-Site Information Packages. This committee could be appointed by the C-5 Executive Committee and be for a 3 year trial period; after which the C-5 membership would vote on continuation or termination. Thus it is an ad hoc committee at this time. The motion for acceptance was made by Bob Carrow and seconded by Bob Shearman. The motion passed unanimously.

Chair Leah Brilman thanked C-5 membership for their support during the past year and encouraged that members become even more involved in C-5 and CSSA activities in the future. The gavel was passed to incoming chair, Jeff Nus, who recognized Leah for her efforts on behalf of C-5. Chair Nus urged C-5 members to participate in other division sessions as well, particularly sessions where C-5 members are also participating. He called for committee reports within 30 days of the 1999 meeting for the development of the C-5 newsletter. The meeting ended at 6:50 p.m. following a motion for adjournment by Leah Brilman and a second by Richard Hull.  

      Mike Goatley

      Secretary, C-5

2000 C-5 Meeting Schedule

Sunday, November 5

      6:25 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Session 1. Extension Roundtable--Cooperating Across Borders. Room 208 A, Second Floor, Convention Center. Page 69 in program. (John Stier, presiding)

 Monday, November 6

8:25 - 11:15 a.m. Session 2. Graduate Student Oral Paper Contest I.

      Room 208A, Second Floor, Convention Center. Page 90 in program. (Roch Gaussoin, presiding)

      8:25 - 10:45 a.m. Session 3. Growth Regulators and Chemical Application, room 208B, Second Floor, Convention Center. Page 91 in program. (Dave Kopec, presiding)

      8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Session 4. Poster Session: Management. Authors present 8:30 - 11:30 a.m., Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 1, First Floor, Poster numbers 403-614. Pages 119-120 in program. Also posters number 616, 619, and 621 from joint poster session involving breeding, genetics, and cytogenetics. Page 85 in program.

      8:25 - 11:45 a.m. Joint Session. Symposium: Seed Production Issues in a Transgenic Crop Environment. Room 208 CD, Second Floor, Convention Center. Page 89-90 in program. (D.L. Dornbos, presiding)

      1:50 p.m. - 4:55 p.m. CSSA Plenary Session-Bioengineered Foods: Prospects and Outlook. Hyatt Regency, Nicollet Ballroom ABC, Lobby level. Page 116 in program. (David A. Sleper, presiding)

      2:00-5:00 p.m. Computer Software Scene. Crop, Soil and Turfgrass Management Tools. Exhibit Hall 1, First Floor, Convention Center. Software demonstrations. Page 109 in program. (Gerrit Hoogenboom, presiding)

      7:00 p.m. - 8:55 p.m. Joint Session. Symposium-Publishing in Crop Science. Hyatt Regency Hotel, Greenway Ballroom, Second Floor. Page 141 in program. (Ronny Duncan, presiding)       

Tuesday, November 7

      7:55 a.m. - 11:00 Session 5. Symposium: Turfgrass Soil Microbiology. Room 102EF, First Floor, Convention Center. Page 161 in program. (Gwen Stahnke, presiding)

      7:55 a.m. - 11:10 a.m. Joint Session. Symposium--Prospects for Genetic Resources: Stewardship or Neglect? Room 102D, First Floor, Convention Center. Page 164 in program. (Stephen Smith, presiding)

      1:30 - 5:30 p.m., CSSA Renaissance Initiative: Planning the Future of CSSA. Hyatt Regency,. Greenway Ballroom ABIJ, Second Floor. Page 195 in program. (Steve Fales, presiding; Allen Knapp, facilitating)

      6:55 - 8:30 p.m., Session 6. Symposium:Turfgrass Research Funding-Perspectives and Trends. Room 101 DE, First Floor, Convention Center. Page 214 in program. (Frank Rossi, presiding)

Wednesday, November 8

      8:10 - 11:15 a.m., Session 7. Graduate Student Oral Paper Contest: II. Room 102EF, First Floor, Convention Center. Pages 231-232 in program. (Gwen Stahnke, presiding)

      8:25 - 11:15 a.m., Session 8. Culture and Technology. Room 101A, First Floor, Convention Center. Pages 232-233 in program. (Dave Chalmers, presiding)

      1:25 - 2:30 p.m., Session 9. Root Zones and Fertility. Room 102EF, First Floor, Convention Center. Page 267 in program. (Ali Harivandi, presiding)

      8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Session 10. Poser Session: Culture, Physiology, and Breeding. Exhibit Hall I, First Floor, Convention Center. Pages 268-269 in program. (Authors present 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.)  

      4:00 - 7:30 p.m., Session 11. C-5 Business Meeting and Turf Social. Room 102 EF, First Floor, Convention Center. Page 270 in program. (Jeff Nus, presiding)

Thursday, November 9

      7:55 - 9:15 a.m., Session 12. Physiology and Stress Resistance. Room 102EF, First Floor, Convention Center. Page 314 in program. (Robert Green, presiding)

      10:25 - 11:30 a.m., Session 13. Education Programs and Statistical Analyses. Room 102D, First Floor, Convention Center. Page 315 in program. (Kevin Morris, presiding)

      12:55 - 2:30 p.m., Session 14. Biotechnology, Genetics, and Germplasm Evaluation. Room 102 D, First Floor, Convention Center. Page 343 in program. (Leah Brilman, presiding)

You'll notice in this year's program, that both Monday and Tuesday afternoons have very few division sessions. That's because CSSA President Sleper insisted that Monday afternoon have the entire society's focus on Plenary Session regarding Bioengineered foods. Tuesday afternoon was also "reserved" for the CSSA Renaissance Initiative.  

The result of the divisional planning restrictions, is that Thursday has three C-5 division sessions. Please plan to attend these sessions and round out your week of C-5 activities.

By the way:

Ph.D. Assistantship available. University of Georgia. Low irradiance/tree shade tolerance mechanisms (physiological/morphological) of Paspalum vaginatum and selected turfgrasses. Research would assist the turfgrass breeding/genetics/stress physiology program by screening/evaluating ecotypes for low irradiance (low light intensity) tolerance; determination of physiological and morphological characteristics (mechanisms) responsible for low irradiance adaptation; and preliminary tree shade tolerance of selected species and ecotypes. M.S. from Crop Science, Horticulture, or related fields. Experience in photosynthesis/light relationships, especially dealing with grasses is highly desirable. . Dr. R. R. Duncan and R. N. Carrow, Crop and Soil Science Dept., Univ. of Georgia, Griffin/Athens. Fax 770-229-3215. Rduncan@gaes.griffin.peachnet.edu <mailto:Rduncan@gaes.griffin.peachnet.edu>