Penn State's turfgrass management is widely regarded as the foremost program of its kind in the world. What sets us apart from others? Penn State expertise. The World Campus turfgrass management certificate is developed and taught by faculty from the plant science, entomology, and plant pathology departments in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Our distinguished faculty members are experts in their respective disciplines and are computer-savvy instructors. They understand the unique demands of delivering academic content through the World Wide Web and other information technologies, and they are intimately involved in the teaching process.
A. J. Turgeon, Ph.D.
A. J. Turgeon is emeritus professor of turfgrass management and retired director of World Campus turfgrass programs. His specific research interests encompass turfgrass morphogenesis, edaphology and management systems.
Additionally, Dr. Turgeon is interested in the development and assessment of computer-based instructional learning resources for use in resident and distance educational programs. He continues to teach online courses in the turfgrass management programs offered through the Penn State World Campus.
Jeff Borger
Mr. Borger, instructor of turfgrass weed management, has been with Penn State for more than twenty years. He oversees a turfgrass field research program that encompasses the evaluations of grassy and broadleaf weed control, and plant growth regulators. He teaches numerous courses in both the resident and World Campus four-year and two-year turfgrass programs.
Danny Kline
Mr. Kline develops management techniques for the golf industry through research in insect tolerable control on turfgrass and Christmas tree pests; integrated pest management programs for Christmas trees and turfgrass, efficacy studies conducted to evaluate conventional, biorational, and experimental formulations to suppress turfgrass insects; and the annual bluegrass weevil.
Andrew McNitt, Ph.D.
Andrew McNitt is a professor of soil science/turfgrass and the director of academic programs for turfgrass science. Dr. McNitt is the director of the Center for Sports Surface Research. He has been with Penn State for more than twenty-five years. His research focuses on golf green and athletic field construction and maintenance. Dr. McNitt has developed a number of innovative methods to obtain sports turf playing–surface quality and has evaluated how various construction and maintenance practices affect the safety and playability of a turf surface. He has also served as a consultant on numerous golf course construction and renovation projects, and athletic fields construction and renovation, at all levels of play — from high school through professional sports complexes.
Maxim Schlossberg, Ph.D.
Dr. Schlossberg, assistant professor of turfgrass nutrition, completed his undergraduate and graduate work in the southern United States. Having researched nutrition of both cool and warm season turfgrasses, his comprehensive instructional approach prepares students for careers anywhere in the world that demand exists for turfgrass managers. Dr. Schlossberg is currently developing fertilizer programs to optimize Penn A4 creeping bentgrass quality and nutrient uptake efficiency, as well as cultural methods to rapidly neutralize exchangeable acidity in turfgrass systems afflicted by acid-soil complex.
Richard Stehouwer, Ph.D.
Dr. Richard Stehouwer is a professor of environmental soil science. His extension program in environmental soil science serves a broad clientele including agriculture, industry, local municipalities, and state and federal regulatory agencies. Issues addressed in the program include soil-based recycling of agricultural, municipal and industrial and by-product materials, composting and compost utilization, mined land reclamation, brownfield restoration, and remediation of contaminated soils. His research program includes projects involving effects of long-term application of municipal sewage biosolids on the quality of agricultural soils and crops, and the effect of biosolids used in mine reclamation on acid mine drainage and nutrient discharge.
Wakar Uddin, Ph.D.
Dr. Uddin, assistant professor of plant pathology, is an expert in turfgrass diseases and control strategies. His research involves development of disease predictive models that help turfgrass managers in their timing of fungicide applications for maximum effectiveness. He also investigates the biology of pathogens that relate to virulence, and host-parasite interactions that identify the susceptibility of various turfgrass species to attack by pathogens.