Department of Horticulture
133 Horticulture Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-1100

Phone: 515-294-0036
Fax: 515-294-0730
Email: nchris@iastate.edu

Books: via Amazon.com
Turf Blog: http://www.iaturf.blogspot.com/

Research Focus

 Dr. Christians' area of research interest is in the development of naturally occurring herbicides for the turf industry. U.S. Patent 5,030,268 on the use of corn gluten meal as a natural herbicide was issued in 1991. The patent was reissued in 1993 with broader claims that cover the use of corn gluten meal on field crops and home gardens under number RE #34,594. Two additional patents were also issued in 1993 on the technology. Patent # 5,290,749 on the use of hydrolyzed proteins from corn and other grains that were shown to have higher levels of herbicidal activity than the corn gluten meal was the first to be issued. Patents were also filed in the US and Canada in 2011 on improvements on the corn gluten technology.  Christians is also involved in several other projects, including the use of coproducts from the biofuel industry in the turfgrass industry.

Teaching/Advising Responsibilities

 Dr. Christians teaches Hort 351, Turfgrass Establishment and Maintenance, Hort. 451, Advanced Turfgrass Maintenance. He has extensive internship program under Hort 391 and advises several special projects each year under Hort 490. He advises a large number of undergraduates and has a very active graduate program.  In 2011, he became a part of the Master of Agronomy distance education program.  For more information, see http://masters.agron.iastate.edu/.  In 2012, he will be offering Hort. 351 on the web (http://www.agde.iastate.edu/course/viewCourse.php?courseID=S2012HORT%20351%20XW)

Organizations/Appointments/Activities

Dr. Christians has no official extension program, but is involved in several extension related activities with the turfgrass industry each year.

Patents

• Christians, N. E. 1991. Preemergence weed control using corn gluten meal. U.S. Patent 5,030,268. (Reissued with broader claim in September, 1993).
• Christians, N. E., Liu, D. L., and Garbutt, J. T. 1993. Preemergence weed control using plant protein hydrolysate. U.S. Patent issued in October, 1993
•  Christians, N. E., Liu, D. L., and Garbutt, J. T. 1993. Preemergence weed control using peptides from corn gluten hydrolysate. U.S. Patent issued in October, 1993
• Christians, N. E., Liu, D. L., and Garbutt, J. T. 1994. Preemergence weed control using natural hericides. Canadian Patent 2,144,321.
• Christians, N. E., Garbutt, J. T., and Liu, D. L., 1994. Preemergence weed control using natural hericides. Australian Patent 679,107.
• ISURF 3623:   Activation of High Protein Corn Gluten by pH Modification has been filed for a  patent applications in the US and Canada in 2011
•  ISURF 3916:   Improving the Efficacy of Corn Gluten Meal as an Herbicide Using Dry Acid Treatment has been filed in the US in 2011.

Selected Publications

The Turfgrass Information Service at http://turf.lib.msu.edu/foundstu.html currently lists 1111 published works by Nick Christians as of October 2011.  This includes refereed papers, popular publications, abstracts, and published research reports.

• 126 refereed publications
• 231 popular articles
• 154 published abstracts
• 600 published research reports

Books

Corn Gluten Meal Research Site

• Corn Gluten Meal
• How To Use Corn Gluten Meal
• Get the Real Thing

Turfgrass Central

• http://www.hort.iastate.edu/turfgrass/

Course Information

• http://www.hort.iastate.edu/courses/syllabi/

Complete Resume for Nick Christians

Research Reports

Horticulture Extension Publications

Turf Club Blog
Turf Blog

Research