
Dr. Francesca Rotondo is the Program Director of the OSU C. Wayne Ellett Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic, CFAES Wooster Campus. The Clinic offers a broad spectrum of testing for residential and commercial clients to identify pests and cultural/environmental related plant health issues.
Prior to this position, Dr. Rotondo was Research Associate in Dr. Sally A. Miller’s research group in the Department of Plant Pathology at The Ohio State University),working mainly on bacterial diseases of tomato and their management. Under the leadership of Dr. Miller, Dr. Rotondo coordinated the Ohio State Vegetable Pathology Lab’s diagnostics services by being actively involved in the diagnostic process and interactions with growers and Extension Educators.
From 2011 to 2012, Dr. Rotondo worked as a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, in Tucson. During this period, Dr. Rotondo investigated speciation processes among closely related Alternaria taxa that differ primarily in their host associations.
She received her degrees from the University of Bologna, Italy (B.Sc. in Biology, M.S. in Environmental Ecology, and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology).