Departmental Head of Turfgrass Biology | |
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Dr. Andy Newell has in excess of 25 years research and project management experience. Within this the last 19 years have specifically been involved with Turfgrass Research. At the present time, Andy heads the Division of Turfgrass Biology and Environment at the STRI. In this division, he has responsibility for the turfgrass evaluation programme, plant pathology, pesticide evaluation and ecology research. Before joining the STRI, Andy was a Research Fellow at the University of Leeds. In this role, he led a small team investigating the effects of the environment and nitrogen fertility on the growth, development and yield of winter barley. Prior to this Andy completed his Ph.D. at the University of Southampton and the Glasshouse Crops Research Institute. His thesis examined the effects of low light levels on the partition of carbohydrates in the glasshouse tomato. |
Relevant ExperienceAndy has much hands-on research experience. He developed and put into practice a range of techniques for testing grasses for different amenity uses (from golf greens to roadside verges). Currently, in excess of 400 different grasses are being evaluated for a range of different sports and amenity uses at the STRI. He has also conducted numerous and varied research projects within the sports turf area. This has included commercial/contract research for seed companies, turf producers, the Consumers Association, governing bodies of sport, chemical and manufacturing companies. Andy also has long-term consultancy and research relationships with the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. This has ranged from selecting improved grasses for tennis to advising on the effect of stadium environments on grass health and durability. Andy has research and consultancy expertise in the effects of stadia environments on grass growth, health and durability. As part of this, he has developed techniques for assessing how different stadia affect light levels reaching the playing surface. He has applied these techniques to examine the effects of redevelopment in existing stadia and likely problems in planned stadia. He has also developed procedures to assess the benefits and costs of using supplementary lighting in different stadium environments. Andy has also contributed to a number of major stadium development projects (Wembley, Wimbledon, Twickenham and Lansdowne Road). PublicationsDr. Newell has written numerous technical research papers for scientific journals, chapters for books and magazine type articles. Specific to sports turf he has published in excess of 30 papers in refereed Scientific Journals. He has also been responsible for producing the annually published Turfgrass Seed booklet for the last 18 years. This booklet is widely used by greenkeepers, groundsmen and other turf professionals. In the last year 15,000 copies of this booklet were distributed. | |
