John R. Bladon, president and founder, has been immersed in turfgrass, horticulture and the environment since childhood. His love affair with the environment and sustainability was nurtured by his mother and father, the latter of whom was a forward-thinking Horticulturist and the Manager of Grounds at the University of Guelph. Since graduating from University of Guelph and studying at Cornell, John has helped construct and grow in two golf courses and in the early part of his career, spent nine years as a golf course superintendent.
Of late, in addition to having done work for a large multinational within Marketing, Innovation and Agronomy, John has since become an active participant both inside and out of the industry. John completed his PAg and has since become a sustainability professional. He has authored and published in excess of 50 articles and executed more than 50 presentations ranging from business and agronomy, to physiology and chemistry to communications and sustainability. He has lectured to students, golf superintendents, boards of directors and club memberships, food and beverage operations, retail operations, growers and farmers, governments, municipalities and golf course owners alike on a “common sense” approach to management with a focus on sustainability. After having done a series of site consultations on a part time basis, and numerous continued requests from professionals in the field, John launched The Chimera Group; his own management, communications and consulting firm with a small group of strategic partnerships and affiliations. With a clear need for practical solutions in and out of the industry, work began with end user professionals and a wide variety of industry interest groups through on site consultations, strategic communications training, technical support, education and management of data. Chimera also works in partnership to bring industry professionals together with contracted PhDs to educate and problem solve in the field. Collectively, this group is largely thought of as Canada’s authority on sustainability and turfgrass management. They are dedicated to stewardship projects primarily with golf and sport turf facilities from coast to coast and furthering research and education on turfgrasses nationally and abroad.
In his spare time, John enjoys golf, travel and is an avid photographer. He has visited and photographed more than 30 countries around the globe including time spent in New Zealand and Australia, Central and South America and the Middle East.
