Workshops & Events

• An overview of building an IPM strategy at the University of Illinois and the execution through real-world agronomic decisions.

• This will talk about the newer technologies in the synthetic turf and natural grass paints that affect our industry.

• Q&A with head groundskeepers from the Big Ten Conference

• Dan was the Director of Grounds for the Baltimore Orioles Spring Training facilities in Sarasota Florida for 14 years, worked as a field lines/logo painter for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, University of South Florida, and college football bowl games at Raymond James Stadium for 5 seasons.  He also worked as a Consultant for the Atlanta Braves during the building of their Spring Training facilities.  He started his career in Minor League Baseball with the Peoria Chiefs as intern/assistant to Noel Brusius and as Head Groundskeeper of the Clinton Lumberkings for 1 season.

• Brian has nearly 25 years of experience in the turfgrass industry and has been with the Purdue University Athletic Dept. since 2005.  He and his team oversee the management of all outdoor varsity athletic fields and the surrounding athletic campus grounds.  Brian is a Certified Sports Field Manager and holds a Master’s degree in Agronomy, a B.S. in Landscape Architecture, and an Associate degree in Turf Science, all from Purdue University.  He is a past president of INSFMA, former board member of the MRTF and annually serves on national SFMA committees.

• James has been in the industry sports turf wise for 30 years in various roles. His present role is Sports Turf Product Manager at Pioneer Athletics. Previous to that he was the Assistant Sports Turf Manager at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. He worked in sports turf construction as well as minor league baseball before that.

BIG Ten Sports Turf Panel