Undergraduate Certificate in Turfgrass Management, Basic

Faculty

Jeff Borger, assistant teaching professor of turfgrass weed management, has been with Penn State for more than 25 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 Penn State World Campus four-year and two-year turfgrass programs.

Dr. Michael Fidanza is a professor of plant and soil sciences at Penn State Berks. His research and teaching focus is turfgrass ecology, the translational evaluation and exploration of plant health products (fungicides, herbicides, and plant growth regulators), soil surfactants, seed technology, bio stimulants, turfgrass physiology, and cultural practices in turfgrass ecosystems, and the biology and ecology of fairy ring disease in turf. He is the director of Penn State's Center for the Agricultural Sciences and a Sustainable Environment, and he is a Fellow in the American Society of Agronomy.

Brad Jakubowski is an instructor of golf course irrigation and drainage, landscape irrigation and water management, and turfgrass management. He is experienced in water management, irrigation management, turfgrass management and soil. As a Ph.D. candidate, he is studying impact attenuation on natural and synthetic athletic turfgrass fields.

Dr. Peter Landschoot's primary job responsibility involves turfgrass extension and outreach in Pennsylvania. His research interests include disease and weed management, soil improvement, turfgrass variety evaluation, and soil fertility. Dr. Landschoot teaches Case Studies in Turfgrass Management in the resident and the World Campus programs at Penn State.

Dr. Benjamin McGraw's main teaching foci at Penn State are general turfgrass management (TURF 235, 496a) and entomology courses (ENT 317, 952a). His research program focuses on understanding the biology and ecology of turfgrass insect populations to improve current management practices and develop novel, more sustainable management and monitoring programs. 

Dr. Andrew McNitt is the director of Penn State's Center for Sports Surface Research (ssrc.psu.edu), where he conducts research relating to athletic field surface characterization and golf green construction and maintenance. Currently the technical adviser to the NFL Groundskeepers Organization, he oversees the NFL field certification and serves on several committees at the League level.

Dr. Max Schlossberg's comprehensive instructional approach supports effective management of turfgrass in every hemisphere. His primary research focuses on developing fertilizer programs to optimize resilience, playability, and nutrient use efficiency of turfgrass systems. His laboratory team has recently identified cultural methods for rapid soil pH optimization of turfgrass root zones, enhanced efficiency mechanisms of N fertilizers, factor controlling soil water repellency development, and topographic dependence of soils fertility.

Dr. Wakar Uddin teaches resident and online courses tailored to fit the specific needs of the students in their profession. The classes provide insights to biology of pathogens, epidemiology, and integrated management practices. The graduate course provides insights to research publications relevant to their professional career. In research, development of innovative approaches to disease management through integration of host defense response elicitors, population biology, and detection and quantification of inoculum are devised as important components of sustainable disease management strategies.