Elisabeth Kitchin

Kitchin received her B.S. in Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems from North Carolina State University, where she was introduced to the turfgrass industry while working under Dr. Jim Kerns. She received her M.S. in Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science from Virginia Tech under the Dr. David McCall and Dr. Shawn Askew. Her research focused on precision turfgrass management, including machine learning for pest detection, targeted pesticide applications, and the use of soil moisture sensors and modeling to improve irrigation decision-making. Kitchin is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology, Physiology, and Weed Science at Virginia Tech under Dr. McCall.