CTRF Announces 2020 Project Funding

 June 17, 2020

For immediate release:

The Canadian Turfgrass Research Foundation (CTRF) is pleased to announce 2020 turf research project funding as follows:

Understanding and predicting pesticide use on golf courses using deep machine learning, Dr. Guillaume Gregoire, Université Laval

Total Project cost:                      $59,225
Term:                                          2 years
Total CATR Funding Request:   $59,225
Year 1 grant:                              $28,175 
Year 2 grant:                              $31,150
Funding provided by:                 Quebec Turfgrass Research Foundation ($40,000) & CTRF ($19,225)

This project aims to use data from the Quebec Pesticides Management Code in order to identify key practices resulting in pesticide use reduction on golf courses and to predict pesticide use evolution under different climate change scenarios.  To do so, Dr. Guillaume and his team will develop a deep machine learning algorithm to analyse the data on golf course pesticide use collected by the Quebec Ministry of environment since 2006 in order to assess pesticide use evolution and its associated risks over the years.  A subset of golf courses with different pesticide use profiles will be randomly selected for a further analysis including interviews with superintendents in order to refine the model.  Finally, the model will be used in combination with open-source weather data to predict pesticide use evolution on golf courses for the future.

________________________________________

Compendium of Turfgrass Diseases, 4th Edition, Tredway, Clarke, Tomaso-Peterson, and Kerns - $1000 sponsorship

The Compendium of Turfgrass Diseases is a valuable resource for many in the turfgrass industry, including turfgrass managers, researchers, diagnosticians, educators, and students.  Originally written by R.W. Smiley and published in 1983, the first three editions have sold a total of 48,000 copies. The 3rd edition was published in 2005 and has sold more than 8,500 copies in 50 states and 55 countries.

We would like to thank all turf researchers who applied for 2020 funding; submissions were all very high quality and we’re pleased that the turf management industry is so well-supported.  

The 2021 turf research funding call for proposals is planned for late summer 2020.

About the CTRF
The Canadian Turfgrass Research Foundation is a federation of organizations from across Canada committed to supporting scientific research of amenity turf management that benefits end users of our communities’ recreational infrastructure and that enhances our urban environments.

Contact:
Jerry Rousseau, Executive Secretary – executive.secretary@turfresearchcanada.ca 
Website: www.turfresearchCanada.ca