A New Face at the U of M: Jonah Reyes Joins the Turfgrass Science Program By Sam Bauer Recently we said farewell to Matt Cavanaugh as he transitioned back to the life of a superintendent working with Dale Hiebert at Rush Creek Golf Course in Maple Grove. We would like to thank Matt for his hard work and dedication during his time with our program and we wish him all the best. Jonah is a local to Minnesota and he received a B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota in Environmental Horticulture. After graduation, Jonah worked as a Landscape Foreman in Hawaii, followed by an eight year tenure as an Irrigation Foreman working on the St. Paul Campus. Jonah is a high energy guy and is very knowledgeable about turfgrass management. We look forward to working with Jonah. In Jonah’s own words: “My passion for the green industry began at a very young age, learning the hard way. With a tile spade in hand I innocently agreed to dig out the entire boulevard of grass so my mother could plant flowers. I was unaware of the value of hard work at the time, but have grown to appreciate it after 20 years in the industry. During high
school I worked for a couple of landscape companies, and then traded in my spade for a degree. I graduated from the U of M in 2002 with a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and hopped a plane to the island of Oahu, Hawaii. When I wasn’t surfing or at a luau I was gaining valuable knowledge about irrigation. After 3 years of island hopping I was desperate to enjoy the good ol’ Minnesota winters again, haha. I returned to Minnesota in 2008 and was employed as an irrigation technician with the Landcare Department at the U of M. I am very thrilled to join the turfgrass team here. I hope that my “spade” of working knowledge is an asset to this brilliant team and I look forward to meeting all of you in the near future.”
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