Brian Aynardi: Rooted in Turfgrass Excellence

Name: Brian Aynardi

Preferred Pronouns: He/His

Hometown & Current Town: Wyomissing, PA/Middletown, PA

Graduation Year: BS 2007

Major & Minor: BS Turfgrass Science, Minor in Plant Pathology

Additional Degree: Ph.D. 2016 Plant Pathology

Current Professional Title: Regional Director Research Scientist

Name of Employer: PBI-Gordon Corp.

Brief Description of Your Role: When I started at PBI-Gordon in 2016, I was the Northeast Research and Development Scientist. The primary responsibilities of that position were to evaluate new compounds or new active ingredients for use in the turf and ornamental industry. I gathered efficacy and safety data around turfgrass to aid in developing label recommendations for the products that eventually find their way to the end-user. We work with products used in the golf course industry and the professional lawn and landscape industry. We also have product lines in farm home hardware stores, and we make a lot of products for the consumer market sold in big box stores.

In November 2024, I started as Regional Director Research Scientist. My role now is to oversee our growing Field Development and Commercial Rep team of technical scientists, which covers most of the country. We're a wing of the R&D group but are more customer-facing. We work internally with Sales and Marketing to help them understand product attributes, what sets a product apart from the competition, safety, timing and application methods, etc. From an external customer-facing standpoint, it's also working with distribution partners to educate them and end-users through technical presentations.

Why did you choose Penn State?

It might have been because my mom worked for Penn State Berks, but I basically filled out one college application. I didn't know what I wanted to do but as a little kid I really enjoyed pushing a lawnmower and had my own mowing business. I knew I wanted to go to college and Penn State but wasn't sure beyond that.

My mom ended up sharing an office with Dr. Mike Fidanza who is a professor in horticulture and turfgrass. It seemed really cool to me. I worked on a golf course in high school and I thought that might be a good path to take.

Turns out Penn State has the premier program in turfgrass science so it all fit together.

What inspired you to pursue your degree?

I really wanted to be a golf course superintendent. With Penn State having the premier program in turfgrass science, I thought that would work out. I was going to get my four-year degree and go work at a golf course.

What clubs, organizations, or leadership roles were you involved in?

As an undergraduate, I wasn't as involved as I could have been. I had a lot of fun. I did work on the Beaver Stadium Grounds Crew and worked on all the athletic fields at University Park.

During the summers, I worked on golf courses but soon realized I wasn’t sure pursuing a career in the golf course industry was the route I wanted to take.  People don't realize how difficult it is to be a golf course superintendent. There's a lot more to growing grass than simply mowing grass. Superintendents deal with a lot of things from water and nutrient management to pest control, and more, but probably the biggest challenge is the membership. If you're at a high-end golf course, you're dealing with clientele with a lot of money and who expect a lot out of the club. It is a rigorous career. You work every weekend for a good chunk of the year.

My third summer of undergrad, I worked with Dr. Fidanza doing research. That changed my trajectory a bit and got me really interested in doing research in the turf world.

What is a favorite Penn State memory?

My first year on the grounds crew at the stadium, they had some issues with the field after a prolonged rain event. There were chunks of turf coming up on the field during the games. In between timeouts, we were running out on the field to fix the sod. For me, it was really cool to be on the field. We ended up resodding the field a few weeks later.

What inspired you to pursue a doctorate and what was the focus of your thesis?

When I finished my undergrad, I was going to go do a master's degree at Connecticut. However, I wasn't sure if that was really what I wanted to do. The economy had crashed so I couldn't find a job and ended up working at UPS. My coworkers there encouraged me to go do something with my degree.

When I was finishing my undergrad, one of my professors asked if I wanted to do a Ph.D. at Penn State. I said no because people had told me to go to a different university for grad school. So after working at UPS, I contacted that professor and ended up coming back to Penn State.

You don't realize the value of a college degree until you're in a job where that degree isn't needed. You realize you have something that's a lot more than a piece of paper and that can really change your life in a positive way, both economically and in personal fulfillment.

What did you focus your thesis on?

My thesis was on the biology and molecular detection of a pathogen that's probably the biggest issue across the board in turf, which is dollar spot. I looked at pathogen biology and molecular detection methods. The pathogen name has since changed, and it's now recognized as many different species under a new genus. I did some of the early work there looking at different species that you find on cool-season grasses versus warm-season grasses. It was interesting work. I also ran my advisor's fungicide program in the summer.

Plant Pathology is typically more molecular-based, which was a brand new thing for me. Dr. Maria Jimenez-Gasco gets a lot of credit for helping me along the way with learning that aspect of things.

Overall, I had a great graduate experience. I did a lot of field work directly related to the golf course industry and with chemical manufacturers, but then also did a dissertation that was molecular-based.

How has your Penn State education influenced your career?

I would put it into a couple different buckets.

First would be personal relationships. There's many people, particularly in the golf and professional lawn care industries that went to Penn State for turf, and I see them at trade shows and conferences. I run into people I went to school with all the time, some of whom went on to work at very big clubs and others who are in positions like me with competitor companies. We all go to the same cities for the same events, and we get to hang out. I also met a lot of people who were superintendents. Mark Kuhns, who has been very involved with the Ag Alumni Society, was a superintendent at one of the premier clubs in the U.S. and he’s a dear friend. He did a lot to help me out.

When I was in grad school, I often TA'd proctoring exams or helping with labs. Those two-year and four-year students are now superintendents at golf clubs and I get to interact with them now too.

In grad school, and this is where things were different from undergrad, I got involved with student governance with the Graduate Professional Student Association. I was able to grow beyond my graduate work. That experience helped me a lot with speaking, interacting with people, and learning to conduct myself with people at a really high level. These are skills you don’t learn in a lab but are beneficial in the corporate world.

What are one or two of your proudest accomplishments in which your Penn State education played a role?

My education gave me opportunities to meet people. The company I work for now, I got to interact with them as a graduate student. When a job was available, I was at the top of the list. It's provided my wife and I not only with economic security, but it's also a job that I love doing. My parents are proud of me and they feel like I've gone and done something good.

Overall, I'm proud that I have used my education to have a better life for my wife and myself and to find a job that I really love. People hate when I say this, but there are very seldom times when I wake up and don't want to work that day. I have a lot of pride that I've been able to be successful in this field.

Another would be walking across the stage at graduation with my Ph.D. I may not be the brightest or smartest kid in every class, but I'll probably outwork most. Had I not had a lot of support from my advisors, including Dr. Wakar Uddin and Dr. Maria del Mar Jimenez Gasco, members of my committee, and other faculty, I wouldn’t be here today. They believed in me and helped me achieve my dream.

What collegiate advice or professional development tip would you give to a current student?

You don't know where life's going to take you. You don't know the decisions you're going to make or what you're going to want to do. That's ok as long as you're in the right ballpark. If you know you want to do turf, that doesn't mean you have to work in lawn care or as a golf course superintendent. Having a turf degree as an undergraduate gives you an advantage if you go into corporate roles, especially in sales and marketing. Many people in those roles don't have the background and technical knowledge that you'll have. Or if you're interested in research, you can go the path I did. There are a lot of avenues that an undergraduate degree in Turfgrass Science will open for you.

I also want to encourage people to say hi if they see me. Work on your people skills. Join a club, join student government, do anything that improves your people skills. Keep introducing yourself. Attend events with people in careers you want to pursue. Tell us what you're interested in. When we're looking to hire for a role and find the next talent, we remember the people with those people skills.

Why are you proud to be a Penn State Ag Sciences alum?

In the agricultural world and in particular the turfgrass world, Penn State's the best. We might be on a research tour in Florida or Texas, and you talk to the superintendent and you realize you both went to Penn State. You have an immediate connection. It's a commonality that builds a layer of trust. You have things you can reminisce about. There’s a level of automatic credibility that is there and that’s something I am proud to be a part of.

I'm also proud that I learned from the top researchers in their field. In turf, I got to interact with faculty that are incredibly well known like Ben McGraw, John Kaminski, Pete Landschoot, Andy McNitt, and Al Turgeon. I had them all as my professors and got to know them. They are all leaders in their field.