Science Lecture Series

Advancing Turfgrass Science at UC Riverside: The Development of Coachella Bermudagrass

joanny — Wed, 18 Feb 2026 01:47:28 +0000

Advancing Turfgrass Science at UC Riverside: The Development of Coachella Bermudagrass joanny Tue, 02/17/2026 - 17:47 More College News February 17, 2026

For more than a decade, UC Riverside has been advancing turfgrass research through a revitalized breeding program focused on performance, resilience, and environmental efficiency. One of its most significant outcomes is Coachella Bermudagrass — a new cultivar developed through collaborative research led by UCR Professor and Turfgrass Specialist, James H. Baird, and UCR Professor and Geneticist, Adam Lukaszewski.

Designed for golf courses, athletic fields, and managed landscapes, Coachella Bermudagrass reflects years of field evaluation and genetic selection aimed at improving seasonal color retention, drought tolerance, and overall turf performance in California’s diverse climates.

Revitalizing a Historic Research Program

UCR has a long history of turfgrass research, including foundational work by breeder Vic Youngner, whose bermudagrass and zoysiagrass cultivars remain in use today. After a period of inactivity, Baird and Lukaszewski reestablished the turfgrass breeding program in 2012, integrating plant genetics with applied turfgrass management.

Their early breeding crosses produced Coachella Bermudagrass, now installed at two Southern California golf courses, The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe and Big Canyon Country Club in Newport Beach.

Baird will discuss the program’s research and development process as part of the CNAS Science Lecture Series at the UCR Palm Desert Center on March 3, 2026.

Performance-Driven Breeding

A central objective in developing Coachella Bermudagrass was improving winter color retention while exploiting strong drought tolerance. Researchers evaluated how bermudagrass responds to varying temperature patterns across coastal, inland, and elevated regions.

“The goal was to extend seasonal greenness while improving the stress tolerance bermudagrass is known for,” Baird explains.

The resulting cultivar demonstrates stable color retention under cooler conditions and strong adaptation to high temperatures and limited water availability.

Researchers also selected for darker blue-green pigmentation and structural traits that support uniform playing surfaces.

Coachella Bermudagrass and a related experimental cultivar currently under evaluation share these genetic characteristics.

Field Research and Expansion

UCR’s turfgrass research program continues to expand in scope and scale. The university now maintains the state’s only dedicated turfgrass research station, where multidisciplinary teams evaluate breeding lines under real-world environmental conditions.

“UC Riverside is now the only research station in California with a dedicated turfgrass focus,” says Peggy Mauk, director of agricultural operations and subtropical horticulture Cooperative Extension specialist at UCR. “The program has grown substantially in both scale and collaboration. It brings together plant breeders, pathologists, and applied scientists to address real-world challenges in turfgrass performance and management. UCR’s turfgrass research program is an incredible place with expertise in every area of science.”

Applied Research and Industry Collaboration

Much of Baird’s research is supported by the golf industry, which relies on turfgrass performance for both playability and resource management. Ongoing collaboration between researchers and industry professionals has focused on improving water efficiency and long-term turf sustainability.

Baird emphasizes that landscape water use depends heavily on irrigation practices as well as plant selection.

“Our work is centered on performance under responsible water management,” he says. “Advances in breeding and irrigation together create meaningful efficiency gains.”

A Career Dedicated to Turfgrass Science

Baird’s interest in turfgrass began early. Growing up in Pueblo, Colorado, he lived next to a municipal golf course, where exposure to course management sparked his interest in plant performance and landscape systems.

He earned his undergraduate degree in horticulture from Colorado State University, followed by a masters degree in agronomy and a doctoral degree in botany from Auburn University. After faculty positions at Oklahoma State and Michigan State, he spent eight years as an agronomist with the United States Golf Association before joining UC Riverside in 2008.

Today, he remains the UC system’s only turfgrass specialist.

Continuing Innovation

Demand for Coachella Bermudagrass continues to grow as additional field trials and installations demonstrate its performance across varied environments. Ongoing breeding work aims to further refine stress tolerance, seasonal color retention, and management efficiency.

For Baird and his colleagues, the program represents both scientific progress and long-term institutional commitment to applied agricultural research.

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CNAS Science Lecture Series 2026

About the Series
The UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) presents its annual Science Lecture Series, showcasing innovative research by CNAS faculty and scientists. The series engages students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members through discussions of scientific discoveries and their impact on local, national, and global challenges.

Featured Lecture
Innovating Turfgrass for a Water-Smart Future
Presented by James H. Baird, Ph.D.
Professor and Turfgrass Specialist, UC Riverside

In regions experiencing population growth, rising temperatures, and increasing pressure on water resources, turfgrass is often targeted for removal from the landscape. Dr. Baird will discuss the functional, aesthetic, and environmental roles of turfgrass, along with practical strategies for improving water efficiency in managed landscapes.

He will also highlight UC Riverside’s Turfgrass Breeding & Genetics Program and its progress in developing turfgrasses with enhanced drought resistance, including the new Coachella Bermudagrass.

Event Details
Date: Tuesday, March 3, 2026
Reception: 5:00–6:00 p.m.
Lecture: 6:00–7:00 p.m.

Location:
UC Riverside Palm Desert Center
75080 Frank Sinatra Drive
Palm Desert, CA 92211
Parking is complimentary.

What You’ll Learn

The science behind Coachella Bermudagrass
How turfgrass research supports water conservation
Strategies for managing resilient landscapes with less water
Emerging innovations in turfgrass breeding and genetics
Education and career opportunities in turfgrass science

Who Should Attend

This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome, including:

Community members and homeowners
Landscape and turf professionals
Industry partners
Students (middle school through university)
UCR faculty and staff
Light refreshments will be served.

Registration

For more information or to register, visit sciencelectureseries.ucr.edu

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When particles collide: Professor Miguel Arratia talks physics and the Electron Ion Collider

owenw — Wed, 19 Feb 2025 22:22:31 +0000

When particles collide: Professor Miguel Arratia talks physics and the Electron Ion Collider owenw Wed, 02/19/2025 - 14:22 More College News February 24, 2025

Miguel Arratia, Assistant Professor of Physics at the UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS), conceives and designs detectors for experiments for the Electron Ion Collider (EIC) in Upton, NY, which was developed to uncover the mysteries that bind the atomic nucleus together. The U.S. Department of Energy Nuclear Science Advisory Committee has named the construction of the EIC one of its top priorities in nuclear physics in the U.S.

In addition to his team of five undergraduate students, four graduate students and two post-doctoral fellows, Professor Arratia also works with thousands of people all over the world. “What I do in my work is highly collaborative…it’s a network, and in a sense, we are all working as a big team,” he says. “We want to have a big group working on this…it’s really a necessity. The projects are so huge in scope and span decades, so you can’t just have a handful of institutes running them.”

Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that the EIC would be built over the next decade at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton at an estimated cost of $1.6-2.6 billion. The EIC will figure prominently in Professor Arratia’s lecture Quantum Tomography: Mapping the inner world of the atomic nucleus with a new type of particle collider, which he will deliver on March 4th as part of CNAS’ Science Lecture Series.

Miguel Arratia

“I will discuss our efforts to map the structure of the atomic nucleus through quantum tomography, which is akin to taking a 3D scan measured from different angles,” he says. “The EIC is a big achievement for nuclear physics in the U.S. and the world, and will open up new ways to peer into the structure of the atomic nucleus like we have never done before.”

According to Professor Arratia, timing is everything. “When I joined UCR, it was a very special time in the chronology of the project,” he says. “It was during the design phase of the first experiments when I came to UCR, around 2020. It was a happy coincidence, the pandemic notwithstanding.”

Before landing at UCR, Professor Arratia, who grew up in Chile and got his undergraduate degree at Valparaiso, earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, and was a post-doctoral fellow at UC Berkeley. But for all his academic citations – including an Early Career Research Program Award from the U.S. Department of Energy in 2024 – a career in science was never a sure thing for him, at least not early on.

“I did not know any scientists, either in my family or anywhere else,” Professor Arratia says. “My father is a first-generation student, and the only one of his 11 siblings to attend college. Being a scientist was completely outside the realm of possibilities I considered until I was about 20 years old and in college, where I fell in love with physics.

“Because of this,” he continues, “I am very sympathetic with UCR’s first-generation students. I try to help them in any way I can, and make it a priority for my research group to support and engage undergraduate students in our projects.”

The $875,000 Early Career Research Award will be distributed in increments over five years, and will contribute to understanding how quarks and gluons form the atomic nucleus. Professor Arratia was one of 91 early career scientists from across the country to win funding last year.

For Professor Arratia, the turning point came from his interest in mathematics, an all-consuming passion back in Chile.

“I didn’t know about physics or astronomy until very late,” he says. “I was studying engineering and was supposed to be an engineer…that was the closest practical thing to related to math. But when I was in college, I learned about physics, astronomy and mathematics, and how they all get together.”

Professor Arratia says that he became “hooked” on physics when a professor showed him the beauty inherent in physics.

“Physics in high school is very simplified and not really beautiful, but once you get into more advanced mathematics, you can actually see the beauty of physics,” he says. “I remember that vividly…it was a math class that allowed me to see the special relativity – Einstein’s theory -- from a mathematical point of view. After that, there was no turning back.”

For all the forward-thinking and collaborative building-block mentality that Professor Arratia espouses, he says that every so often he can’t help but go back to a book that made a strong impression on him as an undergraduate back in Chile.

“In Letters to a Young Scientist, evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson gives advice that has stuck with me throughout the years,” Professor Arratia says. “In the book, Wilson analogizes that in war, soldiers were told that they should march to the sound of the guns. But in science, Wilson says it’s the complete opposite…try to do things that no one else is doing and get away from the sound and noise.”

“I try to follow that and it’s not always easy,” he continues. “But I think Wilson is right on with that statement. That’s when progress is made – when you’re thinking outside the box and not following the crowd along well-worn avenues.”

The Arratia Lab

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Department of Physics & Astronomy

Miguel Arratia

CNAS unveils Science Lecture Series 2025 dates

owenw — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 16:00:00 +0000

CNAS unveils Science Lecture Series 2025 dates owenw Tue, 01/07/2025 - 08:00 More College News January 27, 2025

The UC Riverside College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences (CNAS) is pleased to announce the dates of the 2025 Science Lecture Series, with faculty presentations taking place on February 5, March 4, April 12 and May 3.

Since its inception, CNAS scientists have shared their knowledge and research with students, alumni, faculty, staff and community members. Each Science Lecture Series topic tackles some of the most pressing issues faced by local, national, and global communities.

The 2025 Science Lecture Series will be hosted both on UC Riverside's campus and the UCR Palm Desert Center. Established in 2005, the UCR Palm Desert Center serves as a base for UC Riverside research programs, public service and outreach efforts in local schools. UCR Palm Desert also provides a robust schedule of public education offerings for the Coachella Valley community, and played host to the 2024 Science Lecture Series.

"We are thankful to be able to bring the Science Lecture Series back to the Coachella Valley," said Peter Atkinson, CNAS Dean. "Our audience will consist of UCR faculty, students and staff, as well as community members and prospective UCR students from the Coachella Valley."

"For more than a decade, the UCR Palm Desert Center has organized hundreds of lectures, conversations, art shows, movie screenings and other life-enhancing programs all while teaching others and conducting renowned research," said Agam Patel, Executive Director. "We curate more than 60 free public lectures in numerous academic fields, bringing together our community with the extraordinary intellectual wealth of UC Riverside's faculty to explore, discuss, and deepen our understanding of the world around us."

Previous faculty presentations focused on climate change, sustainable agricultural systems, and how gravitational waves are used to understand the universe. The 2025 lectures will introduce audiences to a wide variety of topics and challenges currently being investigated by CNAS faculty members.

"Guests can look forward to an exciting lineup of topics and speakers, varying from geology, physics, organismal biology and nematology for the 2025 Science Lecture Series," said Kodi Carter, CNAS Events Manager.

The 2025 lecture series kicks off on February 5 with a lecture by Mary L. Droser, Distinguished Professor of Geology in the UC Riverside Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, entitled Animals, Sediments, Slime, Muck and Goo: The Record of Earth's Early Animals and their Environments with Implications for Discovering Life Elsewhere.

Professor Droser will discuss what is known and unknown about the rise of animals on Earth, including the unfolding of early life on the planet and the surprising complexity of Earth's early ecosystems.

Professor Droser earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Rochester and her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. A paleobiologist and paleoecologist who specializes in the advent of complex life on earth, Professor Droser has worked on four continents studying the fossil record of early animals, and has received research funding from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and National Geographic.

Much of Professor Droser's field work takes place in South Australia, which holds the best record for the advent of animals. Professor Droser was worked with the South Australian government to establish a new national park based on these fossils, and is currently pursuing a World Heritage bid for the site. Professor Droser is a recipient of the 2022 National Academy Walcott Medal, the 2022 SEPM Moore Medal, and the 2024 Paleontological Society Medal.

Beginning with Professor Droser's presentation, lectures will be offered once per month through May 2025. Miguel Arratia, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics & Astronomy, will also present at UCR Palm Desert on March 4. The Science Lecture Series will then shift to UC Riverside's campus on April 12 for a lecture by Lucy E. Delaney, Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Evolution, Ecology & Organismal Biology. Adler Dillman, Professor of Parasitology and Chair of the Department of Nematology, will also present at UC Riverside on May 3.

The Science Lecture Series is free and open to the public, but registration is required for each lecture. Light refreshments will be served, while supplies last.

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Are We Alone Lecture Series 2020 at the UCR Palm Desert Center

ilseu — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 16:20:32 +0000

Are We Alone Lecture Series 2020 at the UCR Palm Desert Center ilseu Wed, 01/22/2020 - 08:20 More College News UCR Palm Desert Center January 14, 2020

Are We Alone Lecture Series 2020:

The search for alien life will be among the discussion topics of a four-part lecture series at UC Riverside's Palm Desert campus featuring speakers from NASA and UCR's Alternative Earths Astrobiology Center.

Timothy Lyons, distinguished professor of biogeochemistry in UCR's Department of Earth Sciences and director of the Alternative Earths Astrobiology Center, and his colleagues will discuss the search for alien life in the context of three different planets in our own solar system. Plus you'll learn more about the spacecraft that have explored where nothing from Earth had flown before.

6pm, Jan. 21 - HOW TO FIND EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE LIKE US

Dr. Edward Schwieterman will describe research that is narrowing down the Habitable Zone for Complex Life and give the latest on the search for technosignatures.

6pm, Feb. 25 - CHASING LIFE'S FAR-FLUNG RAW MATERIALS

Dr. Scott Sandford will share stories from his meteorite-hunting expeditions in Antarctica, asteroid sample return missions, and astronomical and laboratory techniques used to identify molecules in space.

6pm, March 24 - TAKING A NEW LOOK AT THE MOON

Dr. Maryjo Brounce will describe her experiences thawing moon materials to do scientific analyses that no one from the Apollo era imagined possible. She will also outline NASA’s plan to put the first woman on the moon by 2024.

6pm, Apr. 21 - PROTECTING THE PLANET FROM IMPACTS

Dr. Kelly Fast will feature the George E. Brown, Jr. Near-Earth Object Survey Act, whose namesake was a leading advocate for science policy as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the Riverside region for more than 35 years. Help us celebrate George Brown’s legacy while exploring NASA’s work to identify and catalog near-Earth objects.

View the lecture series on the UCR Palm Desert Center website:

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See Videos from the 2018 Science Lecture Series

edraws — Thu, 13 Jun 2019 02:09:41 +0000

See Videos from the 2018 Science Lecture Series edraws Wed, 06/12/2019 - 19:09 More College News May 29, 2018 Riverside, Ca

The 2019 Science Lecture Series will take place Wednesday evenings in April from 6 - 7 pm at the UCR University Theatre (Humanities 400).

April 3: "Gravitational Waves: From Einstein to a New Science"

Nobel Prize winning physicist Dr. Barry Barish

April 10: "Between Battles: From Civil War to Combating Plant Diseases"

UCR Chair of Nematology Dr. Isgouhi Kaloshian

April 17: "It's About I: Invention, Innovation, and Inspiration"

Dean and chemist Dr. Kathryn Uhrich, UCR College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

April 24: "Metathesis: A Change-Your-Partner Dance of Carbon-Carbon Bonds"

Nobel Prize winning chemist Dr. Richard Schrock

Every great scientist has a story to tell. A distinguished chemist and dean, an eminent nematologist and chair, and two Nobel laureates from the fields of physics and chemistry discuss how they started as first-generation college students and went on to become leaders and change makers. Both the science and the stories behind the science will be explored.

All lectures are free and open to the public. T-shirt giveaways while supplies last. No charge for parking in Lot 6.

#FirstGenerationScience

Read abstracts and biographies of the speakers

Can't attend a lecture? The 2019 Science Lectures Series will be streamed live and recorded for viewing later.

Live Stream

Previous Lectures and Videos

Find a list of our previous lecture series.

Professional development credit for teachers

Teachers who are interested in receiving professional development credit for attending the lecture series must make arrangements in advance with University Extension.

Contact Annette Webb, by calling (951) 827-1653 or send an email to awebb@ucx.ucr.edu. To receive credit, teachers must attend all lectures in the series.

Sign up to receive email notices

If you are interested in receiving email notices about the Science Lecture Series as we determine future topics and dates, simply send us your email address. Please note that we will NEVER use your information for any other purpose unless given express permission.
Sign up now

Additional Information

Still looking for more information or have questions? Tell us your comments, questions, and concerns by calling (951) 827-5089, or email Carol Lerner.

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