Meet the USGA Green Section Interns

I am currently pursuing a master’s degree at Iowa State University. I grew up on a small cattle farm just north of Topeka, Kansas, and fell in love with the game of golf early on. The combination of these two passions led me to Kansas State where I earned a bachelor’s in turf management. Outside of school and research, I continue to play golf and am involved in my church community. It is exciting to spend my second summer interning with the USGA Green Section.

My journey in the turf industry began early, at age 16. I enrolled at Oregon State University in the fall of 2021 and haven’t looked back since. I have a fervent passion for the game of golf, course construction and turf management. My first internship was with a golf course construction company performing a full renovation and grow-in at Osprey Meadows Golf Course at Tamarack Resort in Idaho. Getting the opportunity to work with the USGA Green Section is an honor. The USGA is committed to excellence and gaining this valuable experience will allow me to better myself in the turf industry.

I recently graduated from Virginia Tech's Landscape Design and Turfgrass Management Program and will pursue a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness next fall. I'm from Hot Springs, Virginia, and grew up enjoying outdoor activities like golf, hunting and fishing. Golf has been a passion since childhood and I've worked in all facets of the golf industry, from the pro shop to agronomy, including internships and part-time roles at various clubs.

I completed my undergraduate degree in agroecology at N.C. State University, where I was introduced to the turfgrass industry through my work at Dr. Jim Kerns' turfgrass pathology lab. It was there that my love for turfgrass was ignited, and I've never looked back. I'm currently pursuing a master's degree at Virginia Tech under Dr. David McCall, with a focus on turfgrass pathology and precision turfgrass management. My passion lies in helping industry practitioners adopt and apply the latest technological advancements in turfgrass management.

My current research focuses on controlling turfgrass pests through the use of data science. I am not the traditional turf student as I graduated in May 2023 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Arkansas. I worked in an office the summer before my senior year of college as a business intelligence intern, but I found myself unenthusiastic about that career. By some stroke of luck, I enrolled in Dr. Mike Richardson’s introduction to turf class my senior year. As a student in his class, he was excited to hear that I loved statistics and had golf course experience. He introduced me to Dr. Wendell Hutchens who was equally excited to accept me as his graduate student. Dr. Hutchens developed a project that highlights the intersection of my passion for both data and turf by implementing drone technology, geographic information system software, and site-specific real-time spraying of weeds.

I am a second-year Ph.D. student specializing in agronomy and crop science within Dr. Kevin Kenworthy's warm-season turf breeding program at the University of Florida. Originally from India, I earned my bachelor's degree in agriculture and a master's in plant breeding and genetics. I began doctoral studies in biological sciences at South Dakota State University in 2022, focusing on gene editing in major crops like rice, corn, wheat and barley. Driven by a passion for applied research, I transferred to Florida in 2023. Although new to turfgrass science, under Dr. Kenworthy's mentorship I quickly grasped its significance in environmental and agricultural contexts across the U.S. My current work is on advancing turf trait improvements in low-maintenance species like bahiagrass, concentrating on enhancing herbicide tolerance through conventional breeding and innovative gene-editing techniques.

I am currently completing my master’s degree in the Department of Horticulture at Kansas State University. My research is investigating various aspects of zoysiagrass sod production and cultivar evaluation. I am also working on a USGA-funded project looking at thatch accumulation among various genotypes of zoysiagrass. Before joining Kansas State in the spring of 2023, I received a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from Osun State University in Nigeria, graduating in the top 1%. In Nigeria, I was involved in various community services including being a facilitator for One African Child and the Waste Museum. Since arriving at Kansas State, I’ve served as a representative or volunteer with university and community groups. As a member of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, I visit with U.S. senators and representatives in Washington D.C. to lobby for bills that favor farmers and citizens regarding agriculture and climate change. I was also named the Larry Powell Award winner for 2023 by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). I’m an advocate for diversity, equity and inclusion and work to build capacity in key areas through learning and on-the-job experience. In July, I will be interning at the 2024 U.S. Adaptive Open championship in Kansas and at USGA Golf House Pinehurst, where I hope to learn more about golf and the Green Section.

I am a third-year student in the Turfgrass Management and Agricultural Education Program at Colorado State University. I grew up in the golf industry with a father who was a golf course superintendent and exposed me to the maintenance portion of golf very early on. I started working on courses in high school and realized I wanted to pursue turfgrass management as a career. I now have six seasons of maintenance experience and most recently completed my internship at Exmoor Country Club in Highland Park, Illinois. My current goals are to complete a master’s and doctorate in turfgrass science and pursue teaching and research at the university level.

I’m a Ph.D. student studying turfgrass weed science under Dr. Jim Brosnan at the University of Tennessee. Plant science has been a passion of mine since a young age working on my family’s farm in northeast Tennessee. Lessons learned from those experiences allow me to appreciate the innovative ways turfgrass managers solve their everyday problems. One of those problems, herbicide resistance, is what my academic career has revolved around. My master's was on developing a bioassay detecting indaziflam resistance and my dissertation has focused on exploring ways experimental herbicides can give turf managers another tool to combat resistant weeds. I'm excited about the opportunity this internship provides, specifically seeing firsthand the problems superintendents are facing in weed management that will guide my future research.

I am currently a Golf Course Turfgrass Managment Program student at Penn State University, specializing in golf course maintenance. With internships spanning the U.S., Spain and the United Arab Emirates, I have gained extensive hands-on experience in tournament preparations, course renovations and irrigation system management. Proficient in software design and multilingual in English, Spanish and Italian, I am an active member of the GCSAA and a keen participant in international leadership programs. I am eager to leverage my skills and enthusiasm for turfgrass management in a dynamic professional setting with the USGA Green Section.

I am currently a graduate student at Clemson University pursuing a master's degree focusing on the management of soilborne pathogens of hybrid bermudagrass. I am originally from Dallas, and grew up loving the outdoors, especially playing golf and fishing. My lifelong passion for the game of golf and interest in analytical sciences drove me to pursue a degree in turfgrass science and golf course management. I earned a bachelor's degree in plant and environmental science from Clemson in May of 2023. With my career, I hope to develop and incorporate new cultural practices to improve golf course playing conditions and environmental sustainability. This summer’s internship experience with the USGA will help me achieve those goals.