Bayer Environmental Science recently announced it will fund a graduate research assistant to study fairy ring on turfgrass at North Carolina State University (NCSU). The researcher, a Ph.D. student in turf pathology, will study with Lane Tredway, Ph.D., assistant professor and extension specialist in the Department of Plant Pathology at NCSU.
“Fairy ring has become an increasingly more common and damaging disease on golf course turf in recent years,” said David Spak, Ph.D., fungicide product development manager for Bayer. “Proper identification is often difficult and control measures are sometimes inconsistent.”
Lee Miller, recently hired for the three-year research assistantship, will study identification, biology and control of the more than 60 different fungi that cause fairy ring. Most recently, Miller was an IPM specialist with the Chicago District Golf Association. The goals of the project are to characterize the distribution of species that cause fairy rings, develop methods for rapid identification and determine which fungicides are most effective for each species.
“We’re excited about this assistantship and look forward to reviewing results of the program,” added Spak. “This type of research partnering to help golf course superintendents better maintain turfgrass will be increasingly more of a focus at Bayer in the future.”
The fairy ring program is one of several collaborative efforts between Bayer and NCSU. Other programs include the development of techniques to assess and monitor plant health and an assistantship to study billbug biology and control in turf.
