With our spring two-day school IPM trainings just around the corner, I thought this would be a good time to introduce our Extension Turfgrass Specialists.  Dr. Becky Grubbs-Bowling and Dr. Chrissie Segars can’t wait to meet you at our second day of trainings this spring and later in October.

Meet the Scientist: Rebecca Grubbs-Bowling
By Bianca Calderon

Becky is a Texas native and she can’t wait to share her knowledge with you.

From Lubbock to Athens, and now College Station, Dr. Rebecca Grubbs-Bowling, Texas A&M University assistant professor and Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service turfgrass specialist in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, helps Texans better understand their turfgrass.

Grubbs-Bowling began her educational journey at Texas Tech University where she gained both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in horticulture. She later received her doctorate in crop and soil sciences at the University of Georgia (UGA) where she researched environmental turfgrass science including precision turfgrass management and improved resource-use efficiency.

Her UGA research also had a social component in which she worked directly with homeowners to better understand the priorities that drove their lawn care decisions.

Since starting at Texas A&M last April, Grubbs-Bowling has worked on various projects that provide research-based education and outreach for homeowners as well as professional turfgrass managers and producers.

AgriLife Extension education and outreach projects include the program “Healthy Lawns and Healthy Waters,” geared particularly toward homeowners and AggieTurf which is more for the professional and school market.

The program provides educational workshops and outreach tools needed for homeowners to use the best management practices for residential landscapes. It focuses on protecting water quality by reducing runoff through rainwater capture and providing information on ecologically appropriate quantities and timing of inputs to residential lawns in the watersheds.

Grubbs-Bowling also coordinates the Texas A&M Turfgrass Ecology and Management Short Course, a professional development tool for turfgrass managers throughout the state. She said the four-

Brown spots in turf can be hard to diagnose. This dynamic duo can help you out.

day short course allows an in-depth understanding of turfgrass systems, with the course’s main goal being to improve resource-use efficiency.

Resource-use efficiency is research or outreach designed to improve how efficiently resources are being used in management, Grubbs-Bowling said. It can refer to any resource inputs: water, nutrients, fossil fuels and more.

“Our objective is to empower turfgrass managers to make confident, well-informed decisions through a combination of applied and theoretical knowledge,” she said. “There’s a desire on our end as turfgrass researchers throughout the country to not only improve the management practices that are being done but also improve the quality of the grasses as a whole so that fewer inputs can go into them.”

With the turf industry contributing about $6 billion annually to Texas’ economy, Grubbs-Bowling said everyone is involved in some way or another with turfgrass, whether it is a homeowner or golf course superintendent.

She said it is important to communicate to landscapers, home builders and communities that the key to a more water-conscious landscape is to focus on growing a healthy, vigorous root system. Deep, well-developed turfgrass roots are known to offer a number of water-related benefits including improved water infiltration and stress response. With a healthy root system, turfgrass will often be able to better withstand drought or flooding.

“No matter how small your little piece of Texas is, you have the power to have an impact on our resources and environment,” she said.

New turfgrass specialist educates on sustainable management, safety
By Gabe Saldana

The newest state turfgrass specialist for the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service aims to inspire sustainable management of safe sports fields and other turfgrass applications.

Chrissie hails from SC, but she is a southerner and enjoys the outdoors.

Dr. Chrissie Segars’ office is at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Dallas.

Her focus is coaching field managers on a system of approaches where primary goals are user safety and healthy turfgrass. Segars’ extension outreach efforts cover aeration, fertilization, irrigation, variety selection, pests, weeds and a wide array of other practices.

“It’s so important to educate about how all these disciplines work together to cultivate safe playing surfaces and healthy fields,” she said.

Focus on safety

Segars cited several field characteristics that determine safety, which are affected by proper management. They include surface hardness and foot traction among others.

The South Carolina native, in addition to her outreach initiatives, aims to find solutions that support better sports fields across the socioeconomic spectrum. As such, Segars will conduct research at the nexus of best management practices for turfgrass health and field safety.

“My research in Dallas will give me a great opportunity to take the science right to the public and to industry,” she said. “I’m excited to see how this work can improve the field.”

Segars holds a bachelor’s degree from Clemson University and masters’ degrees in kinesiology and horticulture from Louisiana State and Oklahoma State universities, respectively. She earned her doctorate in crop science from Oklahoma State.

Segars joins Dr. Becky Grubbs as AgriLife Extension’s second turfgrass specialist for Texas.

“I’m excited to begin working with all the people involved in the turfgrass industry across the state,” Segars said. “I want to make a strong impact in Texas, keeping turfgrass sustainable, starting with Dallas-Fort Worth.”

Check out our School IPM and IPM Experience House training schedule on our Conference Service Website https://agriliferegister.tamu.edu/