Bayer Expands Green Solutions Team of Technical Specialists

Turf scientist Derek Settle, Ph.D., joins the team from the Chicago District Golf Association to provide tailored solutions to customers in turf and ornamentals market.

Derek Settle Of Bayer

Bayer Environmental Science has named Derek Settle, Ph.D., as the newest addition to its growing team of technical service specialists for the turf and ornamentals (T&O) market—known as the Green Solutions Team. Bayer’s Green Solutions Team provides customers the scientific expertise to address their unique business goals and challenges, while helping to support the industry as a whole with scientific thought leadership, education and training.

Settle was previously the director of turfgrass programs at the Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA). He successfully promoted turf science as a member benefit to the superintendents of public and private golf courses throughout the Midwest by offering complementary turf diagnostics, research and communications support.

Now at Bayer, Settle will focus on providing scientific expertise to customers in the southeastern and southwestern U.S., and helping transition new products from development to market.

Settle is no stranger to Bayer, having spent seven growing seasons testing and evaluating Bayer fungicides in his work at the CDGA.  With a primary focus on turfgrass diseases that thrive in the Midwest, Derek’s research in this role focused largely on assessing the performance of solutions such as Bayer’s portfolio of StressGard™FT fungicides. 

Settle has a doctorate in Plant Pathology from Kansas State University (2004). His post-doctoral research in Plant Pathology with Dr. Lee Burpee and Dr. Paul Raymer at The University of Georgia-Griffin (2005) helped support a USGA-funded study and focused on assessing the susceptibility of seashore paspalum to Sclerotinia homoeocarpa. He holds a Master of Science in Horticulture (2000), as well as a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture with a focus on Landscape Design (1997) from Kansas State University.

Background on Bayer’s Green Solutions Team. Founded in 2009, Bayer’s Green Solutions Team provides scientific support and technical product training to help regional sales teams, distributors and end-user customers optimize Bayer’s professional T&O products and ensure they are used most effectively. The team’s customer-centric approach goes beyond a product focus, offering  solutions for holistic turf care that take into consideration all aspects of turf management. The Green Solutions specialists also support internal and external technical presentations, develop educational articles and resources, coordinate product demonstration tests, and maintain relationships with university constituents that test and recommend Bayer products.

Companies in this article
Latest