2020 VIRTUAL FIELD DAY

Welcome! Please start here:

For a bit of background on the program, please watch this introductory video:

After watching the introductory videos above, please feel free to watch as many of the presentations below summarizing different projects and different aspects of the breeding program. You can scroll through the full list of videos or you can jump to specific topics here:

St. Augustinegrass Breeding, Zoysiagrass Breeding, Centipedegrass Breeding, Disease Resistance, Insect Tolerance, Freezing Tolerance, Of Genes and Genomes, Of Drones and Drought, Warm-season turf SCRI project

Most of the videos are short (4-7 minutes) and are meant to give you just a quick summary of the project. For more detailed information, please contact us. Also, a link for comments is located at the bottom of the page.

Thanks for visiting us and we look forward to seeing you next year at our Tour of Breeding Plots!

St. Augustinegrass Breeding

Cultivar development program: Susana Milla-Lewis, Associate Professor

Zoysiagrass Breeding

Cultivar development program: Esdras Carbajal, Research Technician
Zoysias for golf course roughs: Esdras Carbajal, Research Technician
Zoysias for roadsides: Esdras Carbajal, Research Technician

Centipedegrass Breeding

Cultivar development program: Susana Milla-Lewis, Associate Professor

Disease Resistance

Genetics of large patch resistance in zoysiagrass: Kirtus Houting, Graduate Research Assistant (MS)
Screening St. Augustinegrass germplasm for large patch resistance: Rocio van der Laat, Research Technician

Insect Tolerance

Chinch bug tolerance assays: Rocio van der Laat, Research Technician
Cultivar mixes as an integrated pest management strategy: Rocio van der Laat, Research Technician

Freezing Tolerance

Breeding for freezing tolerance in zoysiagrass and St. Augustinegrass: Sydney Graham, Graduate Research Assistant (MS)

Of Genes and Genomes

Identifying DNA markers associated with abiotic and biotic stress tolerance: Xingwang Yu, Research Associate; Sydney Graham, Graduate Research Assistant (MS); Kirtus Houting, Graduate Research Assistant (MS)

Sequencing the St. Augustinegrass genome: Ashley Schoomaker, Graduate Research Assistant (PhD)

Of Drones and Drought

Using Unmanned Aerial Systems to study drought stress in St. Augustinegrass: Greta Rockstad, Graduate Research Assistant (MS)

Warm-season Turf Specialty Crops Research Initiative

Overview of our multi-institutional project to improve drought tolerance in warm-season turfgrasses: Susana Milla-Lewis, Associate Professor
High-throughput tools for evaluation of SCRI breeding nurseries and trials: Rob Austin, GIS Specialist
Multi-environment analysis of breeding trials: Beatriz Gouveia, Post-doctoral Research Associate

Leave your comments here!