The University has entered a partnership with the Sports Turf Research Institute, the worldwide leader in sport’s turf consultancy.
This partnership is beneficial to both parties, providing the School of Agriculture with enhanced research and internship opportunities while also allowing STRI to extend their development programs throughout North America.
STRI has been a sports turf research company for over 80 years and has provided consultancy on development of pitches used in the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championships and the Olympic Games.
“When it comes to impact in the world of sports turf, they definitely have the greatest worldwide,” Scott McElroy, professor in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences said.
McElroy, who got the ball rolling on the partnership by pitching the idea to STRI last year, said it was the team effort of everyone working in the turfgrass research program here at Auburn that convinced STRI to work with the school.
“It was my idea to move forward but it was the Auburn people, the Auburn team we have here including our staff and faculty members, people like Eric Klipis who manages the fields, people like Wendy Weimer over in kinesiology, all of their efforts that really sold the partnership,” McElroy said.
STRI is known worldwide for their work, but before the partnership with Auburn didn’t have a presence in North America.
While other universities such as Penn State and Georgia have larger turfgrass programs, McElroy said it is Auburn’s size that prompted the company to finally connect with the States.
“At those larger universities, STRI wouldn’t be filling a gap, filling a need," McElroy said. "Here at Auburn we do some great sports field research, but since we don’t have as much infrastructure as those other universities STRI has room to really enhance the research we are doing."
The enhancements to the College of Agriculture will include more than just research. McElroy said the improvements to instruction, internship opportunities and career options for students after they graduate.
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