Musser Foundation honors two with awards of excellence

The Musser International Turfgrass Foundation selected both Travis Russell and Dr. Devon Carroll as 2022 Award of Excellence recipients.

The award is given to outstanding Ph.D. candidates who, in the final phase of their graduate studies, demonstrated overall excellence throughout their doctoral program in turfgrass research. In rare years where top candidates are equally excellent, the foundation makes two awards.   

Russell received his B.S. in horticulture, landscape, and turf sciences at the University of Arkansas. He earned his M.S. from the University of Arkansas in horticulture, where his thesis research focused on determining precise light requirements for golf course turfgrasses in the transition zone. He is currently completing his Ph.D. at Penn State University in agronomy.

Russell’s dissertation, which he will defend in May, is “Biology, Etiology, and Control of Pythium Species Causing Pythium Patch Disease of Annual Bluegrass (Poa annua L.).” His research aims to characterize this emerging disease on annual bluegrass putting greens in the Northeast and provide turfgrass managers with the information to diagnose, prevent and control Pythium patch. Russell has also published other research papers during time at Penn State in turfgrass pathology, weed science, and cultural practices.

Russell will start as the technical services representative for the golf and lawn care industry for Bayer Environmental Sciences Canada in May.

“Through my career in industry, I hope to develop and provide solutions for agronomic challenges facing turfgrass managers,” Russell said. “I’m very thankful to my mentors during graduate school, Dr. Mike Richardson, Dr. Doug Karcher, and Dr. John Kaminski, who I have learned so much from and who prepared me for my career in turfgrass science.” 

Carroll received her B.S. in turfgrass science and M.S. degree in agronomy focused in turfgrass at Penn State. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in plant, soil, and environmental science concentrated in weed science from the University of Tennessee. While at UT, she concurrently earned a second master’s degree in agricultural leadership, education and communications focused on recruiting women to the turfgrass industry. Her dissertation was titled, “Poa annua: An annual species?” Her Ph.D. research sought to better understand the life cycle of the problematic species and inform plant management strategies. 

“Earning the Musser Award of Excellence has been a goal of mine for many years and seeing this goal come to fruition has been incredibly exciting,” Carroll said. “It is an honor of the highest degree to be recognized among the top turfgrass scientists in the world. I am fortunate to have had the support of my academic advisors and research institutions to achieve this recognition.”

Since graduating, Carroll has continued her research career as a development scientist contractor with Bayer Environmental Science. She plans to focus her future work on herbicide development and weed management solutions. She also plans to continue supporting women in turfgrass through outreach and education.

“The qualifications for applicants are very high for the doctoral candidates that apply for the Foundation’s Award of Excellence, so all the applicants are of the highest caliber,” Musser International Turfgrass Foundation president Frank Dobie said. “We strive to select the one candidate that we feel is the best of the best but sometimes we are lucky to have two.”  

The criteria for selecting award recipients include graduate work, academic record, dissertation, publications, leadership, and extracurricular activities. To date, awards have been granted to doctoral students from universities including Arizona, Auburn, Cornell, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Michigan State, Rutgers, Tennessee, and Texas A&M.