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'Under A New Name'

A series of improvements to the UMass Joseph Troll Research Center began when the size of the research area was expanded from eight to eighteen acres, and has continued with the construction of a much-needed teaching, research and maintenance building. The most obvious change however, is in the name of the facility. Formerly the UMass Turf Research Facility, the station has recently been dedicated as the Joseph Troll Research Center. At a special UMass Alumni Breakfast, this honor was bestowed upon Dr. Joseph Troll, the longtime leader of the Turf Program at UMass. The facility received a new and improved sign during an unveiling ceremony at UMass Turf Research Field Day on June 23, 2004, and the new name became official.

The new facility at the Joseph Troll Turf Research Center.

With pledges in hand, and the fundraising target met, the University signed a construction contract with Garland Construction Company of Chicopee, MA. A few short weeks later the bulldozer arrived on site, and on January 6, 2005 Joe Troll and many of the UMass Turf Team members gathered to witness Dr. Troll pitch the first shovel into the ground.

The ribbon cutting ceremony for the new building at the UMass Joseph Troll Research Center was held on November 1, 2005. The celebration began with a barbeque in front of Stockbridge Hall on the Amherst campus, and the ribbon cutting took place later at the Center in South Deerfield. The ceremony was presided over by John V. Lombardi, Chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Cleve Willis, Dean of the College of Natural Resources and the Environment. The new building was fully-operational and accessible at UMass Turf Research Field Day on June 21, 2006.

In addition to the new building, the UMass Amherst Turf Program has recently hired for two new turf faculty positions. The turf faculty is revamping the internship program to ensure students get matched with the right turf industry experiences, and is considering ways to maximize use of the entire eighteen acre center.

For more information about this project, visit the Turf Building Campaign web site:

http://www.umass.edu/nre/alumni/turfgrass/index.html

UMass NTEP Trial Summary

The National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP) sponsors and coordinates variety evaluations for both cool-season and warm-season turfgrass species. Investigators from major universities and commercial seed companies collect data on a monthly basis. All NTEP (sites) investigators are required to collect “standard data” including monthly turfgrass quality, genetic color, leaf texture, winter and fall color retention, spring green-up, disease tolerance, seedling vigor, drought tolerance as well as other data. Additionally, some NTEP sites including the University of Massachusetts are contracted to perform ancillary tests in addition to standard data collection (see table below). The results are collected and summarized in NTEP reports, which in turn, are made available to the public by visiting the NTEP website at http://www.ntep.org .

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