Tiffany Lee | Research and Economic Development
Roch Gaussoin is one of four University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty members newly named as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society. Fellows are selected by their peers for scientifically or socially distinguished achievements that advance science or its application.
Since 1991, Gaussoin has been helping people in Nebraska and beyond understand how plant physiology concepts can help them take better care of their grass.
Gaussoin is an expert science communicator, having delivered more than 350 presentations and 100 publications to the turfgrass and golf course industry during his career. He’s a key contributor to “Backyard Farmer,” an educational TV program produced by NET and Nebraska Extension.
“I never underestimate the capacity of anyone I talk to, whether it’s a custodian taking care of the high school football field or a veteran golf course superintendent,” said Gaussoin, professor of agronomy and horticulture. “You have to deliver the information in a way they can understand and apply — or else you, the scientist, failed.”
He’s also reached the highest levels of administration and professional service. From 2011 to 2017, he led Nebraska’s Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, the university’s largest department. He hired 21 faculty members, launching the unit to a top-three ranking for departmental funding and expenditures between 2014 and 2016, including a first-place rank in 2015.
Gaussoin was elected president of the Crop Science Society of America in 2015 and appointed to the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education and Economics Advisory Board by the U.S. secretary of agriculture in 2016.
He’s published 105 refereed papers, patented four buffalograss cultivars and developed a groundbreaking approach to improving the agronomic quality of golf greens. The strategy initially ran contrary to decades of practice but is widely used today to reduce labor and fossil fuel consumption.
Gaussoin said he’s proud to represent an applied discipline such as turfgrass science in the AAAS fellowship.
“Recognitions like the prestigious AAAS Fellow are significant and the icing on the cake when you set your sights on doing fun stuff, delivering good science and helping people,” Gaussoin said. “I sincerely appreciate the family, friends, students and colleagues who made it happen.”
AAS has been electing fellows since 1874. This year’s cohort will be formally announced in the Nov. 27 issue of the journal Science, to be followed by a virtual induction ceremony on Feb. 13. Nebraska’s honorees are among 489 members who were elected fellows this year.
See Nebraska Today for the full story, including all of Nebraska's new AAAS fellows.
