Welcome New Virginia Tech Faculty Member, Dr. Daniel Sandor

The Virginia Tech Turf Team is excited to announce the addition of Daniel Sandor, Ph.D. to the Turfgrass Science faculty. Dr. Sandor will be an integral part of the team and his duties will include teaching, mentoring undergraduate research projects, conducting pedagogical research, mentoring students, and participating in professional service. Dr. Sandor will also take a lead role in enhancing curricula, developing an outstanding turf teaching program, and expanding visibility of the School’s Turfgrass Management concentration. He will do this in collaboration with associated turf and plant science faculty, staff, and students in teaching, research and other scholarly endeavors.

“My teaching philosophy is centered on students being focused and driven toward earning their degree and not simply getting a passing grade,” says Dr. Sandor. “Taking advantage of opportunities for myself and for VT turf students to both learn and grow, in the classroom, in the field, and at professional and industry conferences and events will enable all groups to become more aware of and qualified in current turfgrass practices and research findings and expose them to dynamic, unique, and practical learning opportunities outside of traditional classroom settings.”

Dr. Sandor received his B.S. in Agriculture with a concentration in Turfgrass Management from Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green and went on to complete his M.S. in Agriculture with a concentration in Plant Science at WKU as well. He earned his Ph.D. in Plant Science at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Dr. Sandor served as a graduate research assistant and a graduate teaching assistant during his post-graduate studies. Most recently he worked as a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Minnesota in Rochester.

The VTC is excited to welcome Dr. Sandor to the Virginia turfgrass community!

As a researcher, Dr. Sandor is most interested in investigating and improving upon Best Management Practices (BMPs) for lawns, and turfgrass in general, in urban/suburban environments and learning more about public beliefs, preferences, and behaviors/norms regarding turfgrass lawns. These include, but are not limited to, selection & utilization of improved turfgrass varieties and cultivars (e.g., drought-, heat-, disease-resistant), the implementation of smart irrigation tools and technologies, combined use of cultural & chemical BMPs for weed control, and refining current turfgrass beliefs, behaviors, and preferences toward lawns in the public environment.

Virginia Turfgrass Council members can be on the lookout for Dr. Sandor’s extension and outreach-education efforts which are centered upon irrigation and water conservation practices for lawns and cover topics including turfgrass selection and establishment, mowing, fertility, cultivation, and other cultural practices and BMPs. “I am a strong, passionate advocate of turfgrasses and lawns in the urban environment. I am devoted to sharing the multitude of environmental, functional, aesthetic, and recreational benefits they provide,” he says. “In addition to a multitude of talks with the general public, my outreach-education programming efforts have been shared with audiences ranging from small handfuls of municipal officials, water utility managers, city and state administrators and officials, to large crowds of turf, landscape, and irrigation professionals/contractors.”

Dr. Sandor is originally from Chesterville, OH and has been interested in turfgrass from an early age — he was mowing lawns and doing outdoor work in high school. He has always had an interest in the education profession as well. He is a sports fan — college football and basketball, NBA, tennis, and golf, specifically. In his free time, he enjoys reading non-fiction (memoirs/biographies, consumer/social behavior) and spending time outdoors, hiking, canoeing, photography.