Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/251509
WESTERN CANADA TURFGRASS ASSOCIATION 25 shad, drought, and wear stress for sports, golf course, and commercial and home lawn turf. His research also includes athletic field man- agement, including athletic field performance and safety, athlete-to-surface interactions, new cultivar and species evaluation for management and use, sustainable strategies for reduced inputs, and residential turf and sod production. Since arriving at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Sorochan has given over 75 invited presentations at regional, national and international professional meetings. STEPHEN TUCKER Stephen Tucker began his career in the golf industry at 15 years old playing com- petitive golf at Suwannee High School and in numerous US Open and Nike tour qualifiers. Following graduation, Stephen worked on golf course grounds crews in the local area before enrolling in Lake City Community College in 1998 where he graduated with two scholarships in Turf Equipment Management. Stephen started his first Equipment Manager's position at age 21 where over the years he continued to advance before reaching his current position managing the equipment operation at 36 holes and home of the PGA Tour's Byron Nelson Championship. During Stephen's career he has written and been fea- tured in articles for Golf Course Management Magazine, Golf Course Industry Magazine and the USGA's Green Section. In 2006, Stephen and a few of his colleagues around the world started the International Golf Course Equipment Manager's Association (IGCEMA) where he has served as President and is cur- rently Chief Executive Officer. Stephen has put on seminars at The Golf Industry Show and also in South Africa and Europe over the last eight years and currently serves on the Florida Gateway College advisory committee. Stephen has been married for 14 years and has two daughters (eight and five). In his spare time he likes to work on website development projects, build computers and play golf. TIM J. VANINI Tim Vanini, Ph.D., is a writer, speaker, turfgrass scientist and co-inventor of a US Patent (5,622,002) for topdressing crumb rubber to natural turfgrass systems. He has worked and consulted on golf courses, sports fields and lawns. Dr. Vanini studied Ornamental Horticulture at Cornell University (B.S.) and Turfgrass Science at Michigan state University (M.S. and Ph.D.). He has published in Crop Science, Applied Turfgrass Science, Agronomy Journal and American Society for Testing Materials as well as Sports Turf and Golf Course Superintendent. He has spoken at regional and national conferences and has taught turfgrass management at Niagara Country Community College. Dr. Vanini has worked on golf courses such as, Robert Trent Jones Golf Course at Cornell University (Cornell, NY), The Honors Course (Ooltewah, TN) and Fox Valley Golf Course (Buffalo, NY). In 1993 and 1994 he was intimately involved with construction and management of the portable turf field system implemented at the Pontiac Silverdome in Detroit, MI for the 1994 World Cup. At Nichols School, he provided expertise for sports field and landscape management for the campus as well as two sports field construction projects. His latest project was being the architect and project manager for the Buffalo Bills practice field at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Dr. Vanini serves on the STMA Conference Educational and International Committees, and served as past educational coordinator for the Sports Turf Managers of New York from 2010-2011. WCTA Conference Speakers Continued From Page 23