Michael Barnes
UMN Turfgrass Team in the media - December 2025 Hole Notes
Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work!
New research publication: Identifying challenges in establishing pollinator lawns among current and potential owners
Many homeowners love the idea of a pollinator lawn but our recent study finds that the cost of site prep and worries about soil readiness remain the biggest hurdles in adoption and establishment.
University of Minnesota Turfgrass team in the media
Our research on annual emissions from turfgrass maintenance in Los Angeles County was highlighted in Golf Course Magazine's Cutting Edge: Greenhouse gas emissions, wetting agents.
University of Minnesota Turfgrass team in the media - 8/29/25
Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work! Read the Star Tribune article A school and its neighborhood couldn’t agree on an artificial turf field. The solution produced a rarity. featuring Michael Barnes.
New research publication from our team - 7/21/25
Learn more about our research! A new, open access article by Valerie Rountree, Michael Barnes, Martin S. Hoecker-Martinez, and Nathan W. Strout has been published in Cities and the Environment. The authors calculated the total annual greenhouse gas emissions in carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emitted from maintaining turfgrass across Los Angeles County.
Rountree, V., Barnes, M., Hoecker-Martinez, M. S., and Strout, N. W. (2025). Annual GHG emissions in CO2e from turfgrass maintenance in Los Angeles County. Cities and the Environment, 18(2). 10.15365/cate.2025.180201.
Lawns as living systems: Connecting people, nature, and technology
By Michael Barnes
Lawns are everywhere in our yards, parks, and sports fields but they’re more than just green spaces. They are part of a complex system that connects people, nature, and technology. Managing them well requires balancing environmental concerns, evolving technology, and social expectations.
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.
Turfgrass Science team at the 2024 ASA-CSSA-SSSA Annual Meetings
University of Minnesota Turfgrass team in the media – 8/21/24
Check out our team’s latest efforts in educating the public about our work. See the August 2024 Edition of MGCSA's Hole Notes for What do we recreational athletes want? Weed-free sports turf! by Michael Barnes!