Turfgrass Outreach Specialist
hockemeyer@wisc.edu

Department of Plant Pathology
285 Russell Labs
1630 Linden Drive
Madison, WI 53706

About

The Turfgrass Diagnostic Lab is one of few diagnostic labs in the country dedicated solely to turfgrass and we receive samples from across the continental United States.  Each year we process an average of 200 samples, which require visual and microscopic examination and possibly additional testing to confirm adverse environmental factors or the presence of a particular pathogen.

As the manager of the Turfgrass Diagnostic Lab one of my responsibilities is the prompt and accurate diagnosis of all submitted turfgrass samples.  Diagnoses range from pathogen infections to herbicide injury to abiotic stresses causing the turf to decline.  As well as diagnosing the problem I will provide a description of the issue to the submitter as well as recommendations for rectification of the issue either by phone, email, or a formal letter.

In addition, I supervise the maintenance, application of fungicides, and evaluation work for the UW Turfgrass Fungicide Testing Program (https://tdl.wisc.edu/research/).  We provide end of year reports and photos to our industry cooperators and to the public.  I also assist Dr. Koch and Bruce Schweiger in the instruction of the Pesticide Applicator Training Program Category 3.0 (Turf & Ornamental) for the State of Wisconsin.

Previous Experience

• Turfgrass Outreach Specialist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Research Fellow at the University of Minnesota
• Research Assistant at Purdue University
• General Assistant with Syngenta Crop Protection
• Summer Intern with The Ford Plantation Golf Club
• Summer Intern with Chevy Chase Club

Education

• M.S. (Turfgrass Pathology); Purdue University, 2014
• B.S. (Turfgrass Science); Purdue University, 2011