By Sam Bauer
As scientists and researchers we constantly strive to publish our work in peer-reviewed journals and there are many reasons for this. The element of peer-review is a validation of the quality of the research conducted and the results that are presented. In university settings, we often gauge the success of a researcher by the number of scientific articles that they have listed on a curriculum vitae. These publications add to the scholarship of a discipline and are often used as new intellectual building blocks for specific areas within the discipline.
The problem: peer-review publications and scientific articles can often be mind-numbing to read…..yes even to us researchers……and the results are often difficult to apply in a practical setting. With practicality in mind we have started this new series on Making Sense of the Science. In each edition, a member of our turfgrass science group (or students from turfgrass management class) will choose a scientific article and provide their summary and interpretation of the article. We feel this will be a great way to bridge the gap between research and the real world, ultimately allowing new scientific knowledge to used by those that need it the most.
We hope you enjoy this new series. Below is the first post by Ph.D. candidate Josh Friell.