Digging into Turfgrass: My Young Scholars Research Experience

Hello again

It’s been a very busy few weeks. I spent most of May and June participating in the Young Scholars Program, a college-level research initiative hosted by the University of Georgia. The program gives high school students the chance to dive into real research across UGA’s campuses. I was based at the Griffin campus, working under the mentorship of Dr. Jesperson in the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences.

My research focused on turfgrass plant physiology, specifically how ethylene, a plant hormone, affects turfgrass greenness during flooding stress. This is a growing issue in Georgia, where frequent storms (not necessarily bigger ones, just more of them) are putting increased pressure on the turf used in places like parks and stadiums. When turfgrass floods repeatedly, it turns yellow, which isn’t great if you’re trying to maintain a professional football field.


So, I spent my summer trying to understand why turf yellows under flood stress and how to stop it.


The Science Behind It

Yellowing in turfgrass is closely tied to ethylene, a natural plant hormone that accelerates senescence, or aging. You might remember from one of my earlier blog posts that in our nonprofit work, we looked at bacteria that reduced ethylene levels, which helped crops handle stress better. That same concept applies here.


In biology this year, we also learned about signaling pathways, and how signals (like ethylene) can be blocked using something called a competitive inhibitor. One well-known ethylene blocker is 1-MCP, which is actually used to preserve fruit during shipping. I thought, why not apply this same concept to turfgrass?


The Experiment

We got to work. I had about 40 turfgrass plugs for my study. Unfortunately, I didn’t have as much time as I would’ve liked, and not all the plugs started with the same level of greenness, which became a challenge later on. Still, I pushed ahead.


After applying different concentrations of 1-MCP and flooding the samples, I took weekly photographs to track changes in greenness over three weeks.


What I found was surprising: while all the final greenness levels ended up looking fairly similar, the change in greenness, the delta, varied a lot. Our low-dose group actually had the smallest change, almost identical to the unflooded control group. That suggests that even a small amount of 1-MCP may help mitigate the yellowing caused by flood-induced ethylene.


That said, because of the uneven starting points in greenness, I can’t say for sure how strong the correlation is. If I had more time, I’d definitely make sure all the plugs started at the same baseline.


Reflections on the Experience

For anyone considering the Young Scholars Program, I can’t recommend it enough. Being in a lab every day for nearly six weeks was eye-opening. I worked with grad students, PhD candidates, and my mentor professor. I learned so much about not just research, but the day-to-day reality of lab work.


It’s not always glamorous. There’s a lot of repetition and small technical tasks that aren’t flashy. But I actually liked that. I’m still very interested in this kind of work, and this experience helped confirm that for me.


Last year, I did some lab work in India, but this summer was my first chance to work in a U.S. lab, which is where I hope to continue in the future. I got to use new machines, practice refined techniques, and really get a feel for working in this field.


What’s Next

I’ve got a lot more to share in the next few weeks, including updates on my nonprofit and my just-finished Eagle Scout project (which involved a community garden and composting infrastructure). I promise the recent silence hasn’t been because I’ve been slacking. I’ve just been busy learning and building. Can’t wait to show you what I’ve been up to.


Thanks for reading!

-Jatin

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