Eric Watkins
New research publication from our team - 6/2/25
Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Eric Watkins, Dominic P. Petrella, Trygve Aamlid, Dominic C. Christensen, Sigridur Dalmannsdottir, Andrew P. Hollman, and Gary Deters has been published in Crop Science. The authors tested five different turfgrasses for their ability to survive under ice.
Center for Transportation Studies Research Partnership Award
A project led by Eric Watkins with collaborators from the Minnesota Department of Transportation and several other universities recently received the Robert C. Johns Research Partnership Award from the Center for Transportation Studies. Read more about the project, Research Partnership Award honors roadside turfgrass improvements, in the Catalyst newsletter.
University of Minnesota Turfgrass team in the media – 4/22/25
Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work! See the April 2025 edition of MGCSA's Hole Notes for Hacking away at winterkill by Eric Watkins and Bryan Runck.
University of Minnesota Turfgrass team in the media – 2/21/25
Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work! See the latest edition of Green Section Record for Selecting grasses for golf courses in cold climates by Karin J. Hesselsøe, Anne F. Borchert, Trygve S. Aamlid, Tatsiana Espevig, Michelle DaCosta, Eric Watkins, Andrew Hollman, and Pia Heltoft.
New research publication from our team - 1/9/25
Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Michael Barnes, Joshua Friell, Bryan Runck, Douglas Soldat, Eric Watkins, and Chengyan Yue has been published in Crop Science. The authors propose the adoption of a new framework – social–ecological–technological systems (SETS) – for turfgrass to improve research collaboration.
University of Minnesota Turfgrass team in the media – 1/3/25
Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work! See the December 2024 Edition of MGCSA's Hole Notes for Waiting and Preparing by Eric Watkins.
New research publication from our team - 12/16/24
Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Florence Sessoms, Dominic Petrella, Gary Deters, Jillian Turberville and Eric Watkins has been published in Crop Science. Their study examined turfgrass mixtures and how the mixtures performed after short drought and recovery periods.
Breuillin-Sessoms, F., Petrella, D., Deters, G., Turberville, J., & Watkins, E. (2025). Response of cool-season turfgrass monocultures and two-way mixtures to sequential acute drought periods. Crop Science, 65, e21385. doi.org/10.1002/csc2.21385
Turfgrass Science team at the 2024 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meetings
New research publication from our team - 9/10/24
Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Garett Heineck, Nancy Ehlke, and Eric Watkins has been published in Geosciences & Environment. Their study found that perennial ryegrass grown for turfgrass or seed in the Upper US Midwest will likely not face many tradeoffs when breeding for both aesthetics and seed yield.