Dale grew up on a crop and livestock farm near Scotia, Nebraska. He has worked in a variety of interesting jobs including aerial applicator, crop consultant, ranch hand in western Montana, combine crew traveling from Oklahoma to North Dakota, a wildlife refuge, and even pizza deliverer at “the original” Valentino’s restaurant, among others.

His academic trails have included attendance in universities at Kearney and Lincoln, Nebraska, Moscow, Idaho, and Manhattan (Kansas State). “I always liked the university setting and loved to learn. My main interests were plants and the weather. Perhaps those subjects are an odd combination but as it turns out there is a field of study that involves both. Micrometeorology is the study of the physical environment immediately surrounding plants and crops, which is where they interact with weather. This turned out to be a natural field of study for me.” It was when Dale served as a research technician at a K-State agricultural research station in Tribune, Kansas that he realized he enjoyed plant research enough to move to Manhattan and pursue a Ph.D.

Since 2001, Dale has been applying his research skills in micrometeorology to turfgrass, which endures considerable stress under the continental climate of Kansas. He enjoys advising and teaching graduate and undergraduate students in turfgrass science, interacting with the turfgrass industry, and the thrill of discovery when conducting research. His main goals are to assist the turfgrass industry, via basic and applied research, in areas of the industry’s greatest challenges. This includes water conservation, turfgrass environmental stress, and exchanges of greenhouse gases between turfgrass and the atmosphere.

Check out my personal blog at: Finding Meaning and Purpose at the University