Florence Sessoms

Researcher

She/her/hers

[email protected]

6077930245

362 Alderman Hall

1970 Folwell Ave
Alderman Hall
Saint Paul, MN 55108
United States

Google Scholar

Education

PhD, University of Fribourg (Switzerland), Natural Science 2009

Areas of Interest

Nutrient and water conservation, soil microbes

Biography

During my Ph.D. in Switzerland and postdoctoral position at the Boyce Thompson Institute (Cornell, USA), I have mainly worked on the understanding of the nutritional regulation allowing mycorrhizal establishment inside the root. As I moved forward in my scientific career, I decided to widen my interest to root pathogen interaction, in the department of Plant Pathology (University of Minnesota), and soil biological nitrification (Department of Soil, Water, and Climate - University of Minnesota).

Teaching

Guest Lecturer (2020) HORT 4041WI Turfgrass Management (University of Minnesota).
Guest Lecturer (2018-2019) HORT 4063 Turfgrass Science (University of Minnesota).
Guest Lecturer (2014-2015) on mycorrhizal symbiosis for the Molecular Plant-Microbe Interaction Course (University of Minnesota).
Guest Lecturer (2013) on mycorrhizal symbiosis for the Introduction to Fungal Biology Course (University of Minnesota).

Research

I am a Researcher in Turfgrass Science and I have developed various projects on heat stress performance of several turfgrass cultivars, on consumer-available seed mixtures performance under acute drought, and weed suppression ability of certain types of fine fescue. I have also started different projects such as a screen for better turfgrass establishment under foliar shade, testing the potential biological nitrification inhibition in turfgrass, and assess several mycorrhizal-containing bioinoculants on bentgrass greens.

Outreach

“Fescue Establishment”. Production Meeting. Roseau (MN), February 2019.
“Consumer Mixture Drought Trials”. MTGF Field Day, University of Minnesota, St. Paul (MN), August 2018.

Honors and Awards