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Impressive Awards for K-State Turfgrass Science Graduate Students

Posted on by Jack Fry

Three turfgrass science graduate students attended the American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) meeting in San Antonio, TX from November 10 to 13, 2024.  Their focus of attendance was within the group CSSA (division C5, Turfgrass Science).   All of those graduate students received awards, which is quite impressive.  Details of the awards for each are shown below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Olayemi Ojeokun (above), who will graduate with a Master’s degree in December, 2024 in Horticulture and Natural Resources (HNR), received a first place award for a “Turfgrass Ecology” poster competition. Her poster presentation title was “Comparison of Root Development of Zoysiagrass Cultivars and Genotypes for Drought Avoidance Traits.”  Olayemi also received a Bridge Scholar Award.  Dr. Jack Fry is Olayemi’s M.S. advisor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Emmanuel Nwachukwu (above),  who is pursuing a M.S. degree in HNR, received a 2nd place award for the poster competition of “Turfgrass Water Conservation.”  The title of his poster was “Germination and Establishment Speed Differences of Kentucky Bluegrass Cultivars.” Emmanuel was also awarded the Chris Stiegler Turfgrass Science Graduate Student Travel Award and the Encompass Fellow Program Award.  Dr. Ross Braun is Emmanuel’s advisor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parul Mandal (above), Ph.D. student in HNR, was one of the recipients of the Gerald O. Mott Meritorious Graduate Student Award.  Photo above is with her advisor, Dr. Ross Braun.

Fry Receives GCSAA Outstanding Contribution Award

Posted on by Jack Fry
Jack Fry, long time K-State faculty member, has been honored with Golf Course Superintendents Association of America’s (GCSAA) Outstanding Contribution Award. From GCSAA’s post:  “A fixture in turfgrass education, the scientist and researcher has influenced the expertise and career paths of many in the golf industry.”  Read more from GCSAA by clicking here.

Congratulations to Mingying Xiang for earning national turfgrass science award

Posted on by kennelly

KSU PhD student Mingying Xiang is one of this year’s recipients of the prestigious Chris Stiegler Travel Award. She will formally receive the award next week at the annual meeting of the Crop Science Society of America/American Society of Agronomy/Soil Science Society of America.

Congratulations Mingying! She is recognized for her academic achievements in the classroom, research accomplishments, and leadership activities.

Mingying’s research is focused on evaluating zoysiagrass breeding lines for cold hardiness, quality, and resistance to the disease large patch along with studying the potential for tall fescue-zoysiagrass blends to reduce the disease brown patch while maintaining overall summer quality.

 

 

Congrats to PhD student Ross Braun for national awards

Posted on by kennelly

Here at K-State we love working with all our students. It is particularly gratifying and exciting when they are recognized for their achievements beyond the university.

PhD student Ross Braun recently earned not just one, but two awards at the national conference of the Crop Science Society of America C5 (turfgrass) division.

He earned first prize in one of the oral presentation categories and third prize in a poster category. Way to go Ross!

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KSU Turfgrass Graduate Student, Ross Braun, Receives Awards

Posted on by jahoyle

Ross Braun, Ph.D. student in Turfgrass Science has been selected as a recipient of the 2015 Chris Stiegler Turfgrass Science Student Travel Award.  His application was one of the top 6 out mainly highly qualified applicants. The award check for $1,000 will be presented to him during the Division C-5 Turfgrass Science Business Meeting, which is on Wednesday, November 18, 10:00 am in Room 101DE in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

picture for Stiegler award post

Ross Braun, Ph.D. student in Turfgrass Science won second place among 190 entries in the Agronomy, Crop, Soil Science Society of America Annual Meeting Photo Contest. His photo, along with 11 others, will be part of the photo contest display at the November 15-18 Annual Meeting (https://www.acsmeetings.org/) near Society Center in the Exhibit Hall in Minneapolis, MN. The winners and honorable mentions will be part of a looping PowerPoint during Exhibit Hall hours. It will also be on the three Societies’ web sites at the end of this year.

photo contest

Reeves and Alderman Place 2nd & 3rd in KSU Research Forum!

Posted on by jahoyle

(By Jared Hoyle; KSU Turfgrass Research and Extension)

ImageWe would like to congratulate KSU Turfgrass Graduate Students, Jake Reeves and Evan Alderman for placing 2nd and 3rd in the K-State Graduate Research Forum Competition.  Jake Reeves placed 2nd in the Agriculture Poster Session and Evan Alderman placed 3rd in the Agriculture Oral Session.

Yesterday KSU Turfgrass Graduate Students, Ross Braun, Jake Reeves and Evan Alderman participate in the the 2015 K-State Research Forum.  Sponsored by The Graduate Student Council, KSU Graduate School, Offices of the President and Provost and Sigma Xi, the K-State Research Forum allows all graduate students across the university to compete in oral and poster presentation competitions about research they are conducting during their graduate career. The titles listed below represented the turfgrass graduate students that participated in the forum.

ENHANCING WINTER AESTHETICS OF ZOYSIAGRASS WITH COLORANTS     Ross Braun, Jack Fry, Megan Kennelly, Dale Bremer, and Jason Griffin

BERMUDAGRASS CONTROL WITH GLYPHOSATE, FLUAZIFOP, AND MESOTRIONE FOR SPRING RENOVATION                                                            Jacob A. Reeves, Jared A. Hoyle, and Cole S. Thompson

INFLUENCE OF NITROGEN FERTILIZER SOURCE AND RATE ON BUFFALOGRASS DIVOT RECOVERY                                                                                        Evan J. Alderman, Jared A. Hoyle, Jack D. Fry, and Steve J. Keeley

Job well done to all the participants in the K-State Graduate Research Forum!

This year we will honor Jim Heinze as the Alumni Fellow for Agriculture

Posted on by jahoyle

cm1947_jim_heinze_03This year we will honor Jim Heinze as the Alumni Fellow for Agriculture.  The goal of the Alumni Fellows program is to create opportunities for successful alumni to interact with our students.

Jim Heinze is the Director of Sales, North America for the Commercial Division of The Toro Company. He serves on the management team contributing to business strategies for revenue growth, new products, and market development. He directs a team of sales professionals delivering innovative product solutions and exceptional customer service through the industries’ leading distribution channel.

 Upon graduating from K-State, Heinze managed a landscape business and Toro distributor in the K.C. area. An accomplished sales professional and industry contributor, Heinze served on the Heart of America GCSA and the Kansas Turfgrass Foundation board.  He joined Toro in 1993, achieved positions of increasing responsibility, promotion to Director of Commercial Sales in 1999, and responsibility for North America in 2012.

 Heinze is from Lincoln, Kansas, earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Horticulture in 1977 and Certified Sales Executive certification in 2007. He is a contributing member to the K-State College of Agriculture Dean’s Advisory Council.  Heinze and his wife D. Lynn (Wiedenmann) Heinze ’77 have three children and reside in Apple Valley, Mn.

Congratulations Jim and “Thank You!” for everything you have done to give back to the KSU Turfgrass Program!