October 7, 2026
Faishal Khan and Ava Veith represented Penn State at a local career day event, introducing middle school students to turfgrass science, surface-testing equipment, and career opportunities.
September 30, 2026
Penn State graduate students Zineb Alouani and Ava Veith are featured in the Fall 2026 issue of The Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council Magazine. Their cover story, coauthored with Dr. Chase Straw and Dr. David Huff, highlights how Penn State's new sod strength tester supports turfgrass research.
August 10, 2026
The Penn State Center for Sports Surface Research is excited to welcome postdoctoral scholar Dr. Madan Sapkota and Ph.D. student Faishal Khan to the program this fall.
July 22, 2026
Three Penn State graduate students in the Center for Sports Surface Research gained hands-on experience during the 2026 FIFA World Cup through internships supporting playing surface preparation and maintenance at MetLife Stadium and FIFA's referees base camp in Miami.
June 12, 2026
Penn State hosted the Pennsylvania FFA Turfgrass Science Career Development Event, where high school students from across the state competed in turfgrass-related knowledge and skills assessments while exploring careers in the turfgrass industry.
May 30, 2026
Research conducted by Penn State Center for Sports Surface Research Director Dr. Chase Straw, Ph.D. student Ava Veith, and collaborators at Virginia Tech examining how variability within and between natural turfgrass and synthetic athletic fields influences athlete safety and performance was featured as the cover story in the Spring 2026 issue of The Pennsylvania Turfgrass Council Magazine.
May 30, 2026
High school students from the Brentsville Turf Toro Grounds Academy visited Penn State on May 20, 2026 to learn more about turfgrass science, sports field management, and career opportunities within the turfgrass industry.
April 5, 2023
In a word, yes, the type of soil on the baseball field greatly affects how players perform!
July 12, 2022
New research paper "Survival of Staphylococcus aureus applied to Poa pratensis L. and synthetic turf" recently published in June 2022 International Turfgrass Society Research Journal.
October 13, 2021
Graduate student Evan Mascitti takes a close look at what makes clay so unique
