In July 2009 the UT Institute for Agriculture announced a $1.5 million partnership with AstroTurf to create the Center for Safer Athletic Fields to make well-researched comparisons of natural grass and synthetic surfaces. Its location in Knoxville (at the East Tennessee Research and Education Center, on land along Alcoa Highway) enables scientists to conduct research on a variety of surfaces from both cool and warm season climates. The outdoor research facility consists of 60 small-scale, athletic-research fields constructed from a variety of playing surfaces.