ASA-CSSA Award Winners

By Suz Trusty

TPI’s 2020 Weed, Insect, and Disease Control for Turfgrass Producers won the “Excellence in Extension” Award from the American Society of Agronomy – Crop Science Society of America (ASA-CSSA) at the 2020 Virtual Awards presentation. This distinguished international association represents scientists and industry stakeholders worldwide and chose the new TPI Guide as the winning publication in the long publication category.

This first edition contains over 110 pages of information on herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides registered for use in turfgrass production in over 30 countries. The book was authored by turfgrass faculty members at four universities and colleges in the United States and Canada, and includes information relevant for use in Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United States. This Guide is the first such publication developed specifically for sod production and has been distributed to more than 900 sod producers. Feedback from these producers has been overwhelmingly positive, reflecting the excellence of the publication by those for whom it was developed. Congratulations to all involved for this acknowledgement of excellent work.

This book is FREE to TPI members, so if you are not a current member please renew or join today to get your copy!

Weed, Insect, and Disease Control

FOR TURFGRASS PRODUCERS

FIRST EDITION And more good news, Turf News contributor Dr. Cale Bigelow received the Crop Science Society of America Teaching Award during the ASA-CSSA virtual conference. This award focuses Dr. Cale Bigelow and wife Ashley on traits that characterize excellence in resident classroom teaching of crop science at the undergraduate and graduate level. The nominees for this award are evaluated in the following categories: 1. Classroom skills as evidenced by peer and student evaluations 2. Innovative or unique approaches to encourage learning by students 3. Performance by graduates in areas related to the teaching activities of the nominee 4. Student-teacher interactions as evidenced by student and peer evaluations and by motivation and maturation of students 5. Recognition of accomplishments as a classroom teacher evidenced by department, college, university, or other professional groups awards In less formal terms, this Award recognizes those professors that make a lasting impact in the industry and especially with their students. These are the professors that teach so effectively a student’s spark of interest is fanned to a flame of passion for the profession. They are the teachers that hold their students accountable, challenge them to strive for excellence, chide them when they don’t put in the work needed to succeed, and encourage them to do their best. These are the professors that become mentors to their students. These are the teachers that make a difference in the lives of their students that is reflected in the contributions those students make within the industry far into the future. Congratulations on this well-deserved recognition, Cale!

Suz Trusty is co-editor of Turf News.