Zac Reicher, Ph.D.
| Office: |
Room 2414 Lilly Hall of Life Sciences |
| Phone: |
765-494-9737 |
| FAX: |
765-496-6335 |
| Email: |
zreicher@purdue.edu |
Meet Dr. Reicher
Like a lot of turf management professionals, Zac Reicher got interested
in the science when he worked at a golf course at the age of 15. He
jokes that he decided to pursue a bachelor's degree at Iowa State
in turfgrass science when he realized he couldn’t make a living
as a golfer. He found that he enjoyed research and teaching, and went
on to earn his master's at Iowa State and his Ph.D. in the Agronomy
Department at Purdue. Now he passes on that passion as a professor,
where he says one of his greatest thrills is in seeing the light of
discovery in the eyes of his students.
Dr. Reicher is primarily conducting research in weed science of
fine turf, Research in fine turf, which is anything used for lawn
or recreation, tracks the pace of the rapidly changing environment
of turf management. In one of his research interests, Reicher is
studying the life cycle of Poa trivialis, a weed common
in golf courses throughout the Midwest. “You don’t know
how to cure a sick human if you don’t know how they grow,”
he says. “It’s the same with weed problems.”
Other projects include optimizing fairway renovation techniques,
understanding establishment and use of seeded zoysiagrass and bermudagrass,
and improving water quality of urban runoff by filtration through
the Kampen Golf Course. Much of his research is conducted north
of the Purdue West Lafayette campus at the William H. Daniel Turfgrass
Research and Diagnostic Center, which he helped create in 1997.
Extension is a big part of his job, and takes him on the road throughout
Indiana conducting educational programs for the state. He likes
this part of the job, too, because the golf course industry has
a very good relationship with Purdue, and he gets to spend time
working with people in the field who provide career positions or
internships for undergraduates.
When he’s not on the road, he likes to spend time with his
wife, Kim, a landscape architect assistant professor at Purdue.
The newlyweds spend their time flyfishing, camping, and working
on their new farm just west of campus. Dr. Reicher also likes to
build furniture and plays electric bass on Sundays at his church.
Curriculum Vitae
Courses
A senior level turfgrass science course in systems management as well
as an introductory freshman turf course.
Selected Publications
- Reicher, Z. J., D. V. Weisenberger, G. A. Hardebeck, and C.
S. Throssell. 2000. Turf safety to dithiopyr on newly-seeded Kentucky
bluegrass. Weed Technology 14:550-555.
- Reicher, Z. J., C. S. Throssell, and D. V. Weisenberger. 2000.
Date of seeding affects establishment of cool-season turfgrasses.
HortScience 35:1166-1169.
- Sigler, W. V., C. H. Nakatsu, Z. J. Reicher, and R. F. Turco.
2001. Fate of the biological control agent Pseudomonas aureofaciens
after application to turfgrass. Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
67(8):3542-3548.
- Reicher, Z. J., G. A. Hardebeck, F. A. Yelverton, N. E. Christians,
B. Bingaman, and J. Turner. 2002. Tolerance to quinclorac by seedling
creeping bentgrass. HortScience 37(1):210-213.
- Reicher, Z. J., and G. A. Hardebeck. 2002. Overseeding strategies
for converting golf course fairways to creeping bentgrass. HortScience
37(3):508-510.
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