Beth Guertal
Beth Guertal, a professor in Auburn University’s Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences, has been voted president-elect of the Crop Science Society of America, or CSSA, and will advance to the role of president at the organization’s 2018 meetings in Baltimore, Maryland.
Guertal, a 25-year member of the professional society, conducts research and teaches in the area of turfgrass soil fertility, specializing in the proper fertilization and management of grasses for sports fields, golf courses and home lawns. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in soils and turfgrass management and in 2010 was awarded Auburn’s prestigious Gerald and Emily Leischuck Endowed Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Widely recognized as an expert in turfgrass soil fertility and environmental science, Guertal regularly speaks to golf course superintendents and sports field managers around the world. She has taught invited turfgrass short courses or given invited presentations in 23 states as well as in Canada, Cuba, China, Argentina, Vietnam, Philippines, Mexico, Germany, England and Norway.
Guertal serves as editor-in-chief of all publications for the American Society of Agronomy and is the first woman to hold the position in the society’s 150-year history. She has been awarded fellow status not only in that society but also in both the CSSA and the Soil Science Society of Agronomy and has received two Fulbright fellowships, one to sub-Saharan Africa and the other to Uruguay.
The Wisconsin-based Crop Science Society of America, founded in 1955, is an international scientific society with 5,000-plus members who advance the discipline of crop science by acquiring and disseminating information about crop breeding and genetics; crop physiology; crop ecology, management, and quality; seed physiology, production, and technology; turfgrass science; forage and grazing lands; genomics, molecular genetics, and biotechnology; and biomedical and enhanced plants.
