PACE Turf - Turfgrass Information Center

Directors, founders, and scientists

Micah Woods, Ph.D. is the director of PACE Turf as well as the founder and chief scientist of the Asian Turfgrass Center (ATC). Since graduating from Oregon State University in 1998, Micah has been traveling extensively, collecting data, and advising turfgrass managers across Asia, Australia, North America, and Europe. From 2001 to 2005, he was in New York to study with Frank Rossi at Cornell University. The broad scope of his research on grasses around the world led to his collaboration with PACE Turf to create the MLSN guidelines which are applicable to turf in all climate zones, or as he says, “any grass, anywhere.”

You can read more about Micah’s unique take on tending turfgrass in his book, A Short Grammar of Greenkeeping, as well as on his ATC website. If you have the pleasure of hearing Micah speak at a conference, you may notice that he frequently dons a bow tie and sports some unusual hairstyles. A devoted Dickens fan, Micah has read all of his novels, from Barnaby Rudge to A Tale of Two Cities. Micah is inspired as much by clever turns of phrase and stunning mountaintop views as he is by solving problems, creating graphs, and discovering unexpected statistics.

Wendy Gelernter, Ph.D. and Larry J. Stowell, Ph.D. are PACE Turf’s founders and currently serve as visiting research directors.  Their complimentary backgrounds in entomology, plant pathology, agronomy and crop science, combined with their interest in translating turfgrass research into practical management solutions were the basis of their work at PACE Turf.  In addition to being business partners, Wendy and Larry have been married since 1986, and live in San Diego, California.

Wendy Gelernter is an entomologist who received her B.S. from Cornell University 1976 and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Riverside in 1984.  Before joining PACE in 1995, Wendy was the Director of Commercial Development for the agricultural biotechnology company Mycogen Corporation, where she worked for 11 years.  Wendy is the author of numerous scientific publications and has served in leadership positions for several professional organizations including the Society for Invertebrate Pathology, the Entomological Society of America, and the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists.  She is a past President of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology and serves on the editorial board of the scientific publication, Biocontrol Science and Technology.

Larry J. Stowell founded PACE Consulting in 1986 and the PACE Turfgrass Research Institute in 1993. The research and consulting businesses were blended together and renmaed PACE Turf in 2008.  He is a plant pathologist, certified professional agronomist, licensed pest control advisor and qualified applicator who received his training at the University of Arizona, where he obtained his B.S. and Ph.D., and at the University of California, Davis, where he conducted post-doctoral research until 1982.  Before founding PACE, Larry was the Director of Mycoherbicide Development at the agricultural biotechnology company, Mycogen Corporation.  He is the author of numerous scientific publications and two patents, and has served in leadership positions for several professional organizations including the American Phytopathological Society, American Society of Agronomy, National Alliance of Independent Crop Consultants and the Association of Applied IPM Ecologists. He served on the Editorial Board of Applied Turfgrass Science.

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